Funeral Director Daily

Hillenbrand sale progressing, but some questions remain

By Funeral Director Daily / December 17, 2025 /

I had almost forgot that Hillenbrand Inc., the former parent company of Batesville, had itself agreed to be sold to Lone Star Funds last August (2025).  I was reminded of that transaction from this recent update in Financier Worldwide.   The $3.8 billion transaction “will take Hillenbrand private and marks a significant strategic shift for…

Cremations, and now tariffs creating headwinds for monument dealers

By Funeral Director Daily / December 16, 2025 /

  American monument dealers have become accustomed to dealing with the rising cremation rates in the country and the dwindling sales opportunities for cemetery monuments that fact brings.   But now, according to this recent article from CNBC titled “An industry focused on death faces an existential crisis”, family-owned monument dealers have seen United States…

Give yourself some time

By Funeral Director Daily / December 15, 2025 /

    Tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 16, Death Care professionals will come together with another of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) sponsored virtual Funeral Professionals Peer Support Meetings. . . . .A press release from CANA makes this comment, “Between family obligations, work commitments, and winter weather, the holiday season can herald a…

Park Lawn purchases 8 funeral homes in greater Oklahoma City

By Funeral Director Daily / December 15, 2025 /

  Late last week we received this press release that indicates that Park Lawn Corporation acquired eight stand-alone funeral homes in locations spanning the greater Oklahoma City market.  It represents Park Lawn’s entrance into the state of Oklahoma.   The press release announced “Park Lawn Corporation is pleased to announce that, effective December 1st, it…

More Americans take on debt to cover funerals

By Funeral Director Daily / December 12, 2025 /

  I came across this recent article from USA Today titled “Americans are going into debt over death.  Here are affordability tips.”  Reading that article led me to a survey and results from Debt.com and another article, that you can access here, titled “The Financial Toll of Grief: More than 1 in 3 Americans took…

The Green Funeral movement is alive in New York City

By Funeral Director Daily / December 11, 2025 /

  Amy Cunningham is a friend of mine.  She was a writer/editor who has become a funeral director and she has teased me that I was a funeral director who has became a writer/editor with Funeral Director Daily.   This second career for Ms. Cunningham has brought her to the forefront of a growing movement…

Opinion: The Jewish Faith and Cremation

By Funeral Director Daily / December 10, 2025 /

  I grew up in the very homogeneous community of Alexandria, Minnesota.  From this Wikipedia article you can see that the city at the time of my growing up had a population of a little over 6,000.  Today, according to the same Wikipedia article the community’s “metropolitan area” – those that live, work, and/or attend…

Finding an outlet. . . . to care for yourself.

By Funeral Director Daily / December 9, 2025 /

  In today’s world we have begun to realize that the stress of certain employment, including being a funeral director, can have adverse effects on one’s physical and mental health.  To that end, it is probably important that one has a hobby or other interest that can take his or her mind off the constant…

The public Death Care companies are in the news

By Funeral Director Daily / December 8, 2025 /

  With the advent of increased private equity ownership in the Death Care business there are not a lot of public companies to draw information from that you can compare with your own funeral home.  Quite frankly, the only two public companies where I seem able to find “comparable information” with locally owned funeral firms…

More breakthrough technologies from OneRoom available

By Funeral Director Daily / December 5, 2025 /

  The streaming, recording, and re-watching of Death Care memorial events is becoming more and more a staple of what consumers are now expecting from their Death Care event professional.  And much like any new technology there are bound to be breakthroughs in how that service is provided as we move forward.   Earlier this…