I just returned from an annual event that takes place each year and benefits the Funeral Service Foundation and the ICCFA Educational Foundation.  The event, dubbed The Memorial Classic and started by Johnson Consulting Group founder Tom Johnson over 40 years ago completed its 2022 event last week.   I’ve been fortunate to have been a part of the annual event since first being invited in 1992.

This year approximately 120 individuals affiliated with death care businesses gathered for three days of golf,  friendship, and camaraderie.  During that time period those individuals and their companies raised funds in memory of those who have served in the death care profession before us.

The money raised goes to the Funeral Service Foundation and the ICCFA Educational Foundation.  And, one of the programs that both of those foundations support is the “Journey to Serve” agenda which hopes to move some of the 200,000 military veterans who separate from active duty each year into the funeral profession as a career.   You can learn about “Journey to Serve” here.

Here is a recent article that was printed on Military.com about the program.

The article makes this comment about the “Journey to Serve” agenda, “Like most sectors of the American economy lately, funeral services are suffering from the same staffing shortages as anyone else. The association (the National Funeral Directors Association) says local funeral homes are undermanned and sometimes overwhelmed by the demand for their services. To remedy this, the NFDA is calling on military veterans to consider joining the industry.”

From my point of view, “Journey to Serve” is very timely.  In talking with many of the Memorial Classic attendees, the highest priority among them seemed to be finding and hiring the next generation of funeral service professionals.  I’m hopeful that “Journey to Serve” will help in that quest.

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