The pyramids in Egypt were built to give permanent memorialization to the rulers of that land. The tomb of the 13th Disciple to Christ, Matthias, can be seen to give credence to his life. George Washington, known by many as the Father of America has a burial site at his Mount Vernon home. However, there can be no doubt that we are on a trend line to make permanent memorialization an afterthought to human life. And, I think that is […]
As we wrap up another week at Funeral Director Daily we bring you some news that is seeming to happen because of the COVID situation and some news that just continues to happen as business opportunities present themselves regardless of the COVID situation across the world. Our first item, that we cannot remember happening in the non-COVID world, is that of great back-ups and delays at some of America’s cemeteries. This print article and video story from ABC – 7 […]
It was reported in this press release from the United States Attorneys District of Wyoming office that a treasure seeker in the Forrest Fenn inspired treasure hunt had pleaded guilty to charges of “excavating or trafficking in archaeological resources, and injury or depredation to United States property” within Fort Yellowstone Cemetery. This is not the typical Funeral Director Daily article but it is a tale that I found very interesting and, quite frankly, was amazed that I had not heard […]
There is an old saying about location, location, location. However, if you are in the sales business you know you have to have the proper inventory also. We have a lot of subscribers in the cemetery business at Funeral Director Daily. Some of these subscribers work for the big companies like Service Corporation, Park Lawn, StoneMor, and Carriage Services. And, a lot of these subscribers operate non-profit community cemeteries, including many funeral directors that sit on the boards of these […]
Vale Cemetery of Schenectady, New York, was recently given the American Cemetery Excellence Award (ACE Award) as presented by American Cemetery and Cremation magazine. While the magazine calls it the ACE Award, I like to just refer to it as the “Cemetery of the Year” award because the magazine awards only one cemetery annually. According to Patti Martin Bartsche, managing editor for American Cemetery and Cremation magazine, “There is certainly a lot of wonderful history to be explored in a […]
Over the last couple of years that I have published Funeral Director Daily, I’ve written on this topic a couple of times. “This topic” is that of smaller association cemeteries and the financial plights more and more of them seem to be falling into. I limit this discussion to “association cemeteries” simply because church cemeteries, municipal cemeteries, veteran cemeteries, and for-profit cemeteries have something to fall back to when the revenues start coming up less than the expenses. Association cemeteries, […]
This article will be published on Friday morning because I figure it won’t be real business like, but it will be something that the reader can carry into the weekend. Lots of people talk about PK’s – Preacher’s Kids – but there is another group of us who grew up in a funeral home or near a funeral home and sometimes were expected to toe the line even more properly than PK’s because we were Funeral Director’s Kids (FDK’s). . […]
I don’t think that there is any doubt that at one time we viewed cemeteries as a “place for the dead”. However, you could argue that over the years, while cemeteries still carry the reverence of places where we lay our loved ones to rest, they have become not only a place for the dead, but a “place for the living” also. I point that out as, especially urban cemeteries, have become places to walk a dog, to hold yoga […]
We’ve now moved into the 4th quarter of 2020 and with that timing we have had 6 full months of the COVID world results in death care. We know from listening to the news, looking at public death care company reports, and anecdotal reports from our colleagues that while funeral homes have been learning to do business in the COVID world, the financial results still probably lag where we want them to be. We know that there has been a […]
This article from the Daily Chronicle tells how Recompose founder Katrina Spade has been working since 2014 to bring Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) to an acceptable and legal process of human disposition. She not only had to prove the science behind what many call “human composting” but had to find a legislative body to approve the method in a state. Since that time a Washington State University scientist has used the remains of six terminally ill patients to prove the […]
