Business
I graduated from mortuary school in 1980 and in June of that year entered the funeral profession. Life was pretty simple, families were of the nuclear type, services only differed dependent on what religion the deceased belonged to, and there was no cremation in my little area of Minnesota. I tell this story often —…
Read MoreRecently as I peruse articles about the death care business I’ve been surprised by the number of articles that deal with some type of government funded “cut” coming to funeral service. Just a week after posting about the Province of New Brunswick (Canada) reducing government support for indigent funeral and cremation services, I have discovered…
Read MoreThe province of New Brunswick in Canada has just approved a new three-year contract with the 64 funeral homes and 500 funeral directors in the province for payment of those people who cannot afford to pay for their own funerals. According to the recent release from cbc.ca most funeral practitioners are not happy. When asked…
Read MoreWe have not been listening if we don’t understand how important a branding image is to businesses as they continue to move forward and grow. Your mind will see an image and immediately conjure up some type of feeling toward that image. American companies learned long ago that bringing a positive image up in your…
Read MoreOur youngest son graduated from high school yesterday and today my wife and I booked a short trip to Rhode Island to take in the longest continuous running July 4th Parade in the country in Bristol, Rhode Island. Literature says that the parade has been continuously operated since 1787. We are hoping for a little…
Read MoreThere is no doubt that the death care industry continues to consolidate and there is also no doubt that while being large, slow, and methodical may create some problems, it can also use economies of scale to its advantage. For about 35 years I was the owner/operator of a small town funeral home and I…
Read MoreSo, I’m the odd type of guy that peruses obituaries and hones in on one or two a day to read of people I have never met. I find it very fascinating and it is always interesting to see of the different and unique lives that have been lived. Certainly, as a funeral director, it…
Read MoreI can remember back in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s when itemized pricing was new and being forced upon funeral homes nationwide as part of a consumer protection Federal Trade Commission rulings on funeral service in the USA. In my opinion, in the long run, the FTC rulings on itemization actually not…
Read MoreThe Marshall Independent of Marshall, Minnesota ran an interesting article the other day that featured Marshall native Alex Erickson and his story about returning to his hometown of Marshall after working in the metropolitan city of Minneapolis for a few years. We have known for sometime in rural America that the best way to grow…
Read MoreThe Beck family has served the Liberty Hill, Texas area for more than three decades. The Beck family also operates funeral chapels in Cedar Park and Round Rock, Texas, and loves to provide personal service to those they serve. The funeral homes are operated by family members, Blake Henderson and Jan Beck Cleveland. According to…
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