Funeral Director Daily

Memorial Day 2023 — May God Bless their memories

By Funeral Director Daily / May 29, 2023 /

    I bring you this Memorial Day thought and tell you that it is a slight reprise from an Easter message of thanks that Funeral Director Daily produced during the days of the pandemic lock down. . . . The crux of the message, with a little editing to bring it up to date,…

Pandemic’s death benefit payments come to an end. . .average award about $6,275

By Funeral Director Daily / May 26, 2023 /

    President Donald Trump declared a nationwide pandemic public health emergency on January 31, 2020.  That public health emergency has now expired as of midnight on May 11, 2023. . . . a period of over three years in length.   I certainly don’t have to remind anyone who lived through it of the…

Maybe the word is getting out. . .it’s honorable and rewarding

By Funeral Director Daily / May 25, 2023 /

    I served as a “front line” funeral director for over 33 years.  I did my share of night calls, prep room work, arrangements, and funeral duty.  One thing that I take from that experience is that “I always felt, by the way I worked with a client family, like I could make a…

Digital and online arrangements and artificial intelligence. . do we need to embrace it?

By Funeral Director Daily / May 24, 2023 /

    Our funeral home experts from the podcast “Two Guys and a Question” are back with what I thought was a really thought provoking commentary.  It seems like all we hear about now is “artificial intelligence” and in the death care field how that is going to lead to digital and online arrangements.  …

Security National Financial Corporation: Balance leads to 1Q 2023 profitability

By Funeral Director Daily / May 24, 2023 /

    Security National Financial Corporation (SNFC) issued their report on their results for the 1st Quarter of 2023 last week and in doing so credited their “balanced nature of their businesses” for the performance.   We follow SNFC because of their involvement in what they term their “Memorial Segment” — a portion of their…

TPG Capital back in the game for InvoCare

By Funeral Director Daily / May 23, 2023 /

    It was announced last week by InvoCare, Australia’s largest death care provider, that San Francisco based private equity firm TPG Capital had sweetened their offer to acquire the company.  As you may recall, TPG Capital made an unsolicited offer on March 7 to the InvoCare board to acquire the company for a total…

CANA’s Certified Cremation Specialist Training opens regisitration in June, What’s new from NFDA’s podcast series, and some news from Anthem Partners

By Funeral Director Daily / May 22, 2023 /

    The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) has announced that the final cohort of the 2023 class for their Certified Cremation Specialist training may begin filing applications on June 1.  The program is an online program that spans 17 weeks and comprises eight courses.  According to the registration form that you can see…

Carriage Services announces national preneed partnerships

By Funeral Director Daily / May 22, 2023 /

    It was less than three weeks ago, on May 4, when listeners of Carriage Services earnings call got an idea that something was going to be decided in the way that the company handled their preneed business.  In that call, of which you can read the transcript here, Vice-Chairman, President and Chief Operating…

Will Illinois bill set a precedent for the future of cremation remains

By Funeral Director Daily / May 19, 2023 /

    A reader of Funeral Director Daily recently sent me information on Illinois HB 1367 that is a bill under consideration in the state legislature of Illinois that the bill’s author states in this radio interview will (allow for a) “concept of how cremated remains are handled in the future”.   According to this…

Your employees and marijuana use

By Funeral Director Daily / May 18, 2023 /

      I recently read an article in the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Memorial Business Journal about what employers need to know about the increasing legalization of marijuana and how it will possibly affect employer/employee relations.     Back in 1990 the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed and put into effect…