Service Corporation International Chairman and CEO Thomas Ryan made some interesting comments in his opening statements in last week’s SCI Earnings Call. And, I wonder when looking at the long-range perspective if these comments portend an increasingly successful future for cemeteries and less of that future for traditional funeral homes. Here’s some of…
You can’t read the newspaper or hear the television news without hearing of some new technology that is moving Artificial Intelligence forward. Well, if you are keeping up with Death Care on a daily basis, you will also notice that technology is moving forward fast and furious to help funeral service professionals everyday.…
Funeral Director Daily take: Today is the day that the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in what I refer to as the “Tariff” case. As most Americans know President Trump has actively set tariff rates on different countries around the world by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). It…
If you have been a funeral director for any length of time like I was for 33 years you have probably thought that telling of the experiences you went through would make a good book. There are probably all kinds of death scenes you’ve been at, interesting family dynamics of those you’ve served, and…
In my opinion, small family-owned funeral homes have been one of the bastions for the perception of capitalism and free enterprise in America as long as they have been founded and operated. However, as we move into today’s Election Day in America a recent Gallup Poll now states that 39% of our…
BUSINESS
Technology keeps moving OneRoom forward in streaming services
You can’t read the newspaper or hear the television news without hearing of some new technology that is moving Artificial Intelligence forward. Well, if you are keeping up with Death Care on a…
Another chapter for the book
If you have been a funeral director for any length of time like I was for 33 years you have probably thought that telling of the experiences you went through would make a good…
Gallup Poll: “Image of Capitalism is slipping”
In my opinion, small family-owned funeral homes have been one of the bastions for the perception of capitalism and free enterprise in America as long as they have been founded and operated. …
FINANCE
SCI 3rd Quarter shows a steady course
I was again reminded of stock guru Peter Lynch and his affinity for “boring investments” when I looked at the 2025 3rd Quarter results for Service Corporation International that were issued last week. Lynch,…
Small volume firms need to know their potential value
Within the last month Death Care marketing expert Glenn Gould contributed to a Funeral Director Daily article with this comment, “There are too many funeral homes. NFDA estimated 15,500 firms in 2023; 30%…
There must be profits in Direct Cremation
With the NFDA convention going on in Chicago I thought that I would give attendees something to talk about while exploring the Expo floor. It was only a couple of weeks ago that…
REGULATIONS
Green cemetery case ending up in Federal Court
According to Gemini AI, “(the number of) articles can indicate short-term reactions, they can also foretell longer-term trends by reflecting shifts in public and business attention and sentiment”. And, if you read the number…
Dead people don’t pay taxes
In early October North America’s largest purveyor of Death Care services, Service Corporation International (SCI), received an approved zoning ruling to build Funeraria del Angel, a funeral home and cemetery in San Antonio,…
Veteran Cemeteries will continue with burials. . . but what is open and closed on a government shutdown
Tomorrow is the last day of the federal government’s fiscal year. That is not necessarily a big deal except that the new federal budget year begins on Wednesday and as I write this on…
CEMETERY
Consumers do change habits
Service Corporation International Chairman and CEO Thomas Ryan made some interesting comments in his opening statements in last week’s SCI Earnings Call. And, I wonder when looking at the long-range perspective if these comments…
Green cemetery case ending up in Federal Court
According to Gemini AI, “(the number of) articles can indicate short-term reactions, they can also foretell longer-term trends by reflecting shifts in public and business attention and sentiment”. And, if you read the number…
Dead people don’t pay taxes
In early October North America’s largest purveyor of Death Care services, Service Corporation International (SCI), received an approved zoning ruling to build Funeraria del Angel, a funeral home and cemetery in San Antonio,…
CREMATION
Consumers do change habits
Service Corporation International Chairman and CEO Thomas Ryan made some interesting comments in his opening statements in last week’s SCI Earnings Call. And, I wonder when looking at the long-range perspective if these comments…
There must be profits in Direct Cremation
With the NFDA convention going on in Chicago I thought that I would give attendees something to talk about while exploring the Expo floor. It was only a couple of weeks ago that…
Are we in the midst of a paradigm shift, from “Services selection” to “Memorialization selection”, by the consumer
As things seem to do in my life, circumstances came together this week to have me reflect on changes in the Death Care profession/industry. First of all, here’s three items that came together…
PRENEED
Preneed companies emerge as funeral home lending sources
Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm that provides a wide range of products and services, including investment banking, wealth management, consumer banking, and brokerage services, recently made this comment in an article, “Life…
Co-op Funeralcare increases “Funeral Plan” sales over 17% despite cyberattack
An April cyberattack which you can read about here probably cost the parent company of Great Britain’s largest funeral home operator, Co-op Funeralcare, about a US$ 107 million profit swing but didn’t seem to…
Acquiring client families — “Any Which Way You Can”
As so often happens in my world I’ve had some real life and/or businesses experiences or discussions in the last week or ten days that has made me think about Death Care. And,…
PRODUCTS
Consumers do change habits
Service Corporation International Chairman and CEO Thomas Ryan made some interesting comments in his opening statements in last week’s SCI Earnings Call. And, I wonder when looking at the long-range perspective if these comments…
Technology keeps moving OneRoom forward in streaming services
You can’t read the newspaper or hear the television news without hearing of some new technology that is moving Artificial Intelligence forward. Well, if you are keeping up with Death Care on a…
Another chapter for the book
If you have been a funeral director for any length of time like I was for 33 years you have probably thought that telling of the experiences you went through would make a good…
