Cremation
I learned of the advent of the upcoming first annual National Cremation Remembrance (or Placement) Day earlier this year from my friends at Crowne Vault. The company was one of the first to see the value of such a day and has been one leading the way by extending free marketing and public…
In August of this past summer (2026) 56 decomposed bodies were found improperly stored in a funeral home in Chicago. It’s not the first time or the first place something like this has happened, but when cases like this hit the news it does paint the Death Care profession in a bad light…
Back in August the Worcester (Maryland) County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) approved Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) firm Earth Burial’s request to spread NOR soil on a 14-acre property in the county. According to this recent article from the Ocean City (MD) Today-Dispatch, the Worcester County Attorney has now filed a petition for judicial…
My career in the Death Care business spans from 1980 when I attained my funeral director’s license until today where I keep my eye on what is happening in the business so that I can share with readers my opinions. However, I’ve been out of “active management” of a funeral home for over a…
So today, September 11, 2026, marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks on America. For those of us who are baby boomers, that day is seared in our memory as are the days of the President John F. Kennedy assassination, the day that astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and…
Endswell, the 2022 Death Care start-up that brands itself as “A modern funeral home, is expanding their services to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. And, it won’t be your mom and dad’s funeral home. According to this article in Chapelboro.com, the company has bought ground-floor space in a street-front condominium building where they plan to…
Recently I received a press release from Parting Stone, the solidified remains company, that enlightened me as to some of the reasons so many survivors continue to hold on to cremated remains in the home rather than pursue permanent placement for them. I’ve always thought that the main reason that families continue…
“Death Literacy” is something you may be hearing more about in the days to come. This article from SABR-A Care Collective mentions that “Raising death literacy aims to equip people with the skills not only to help themselves but also to support those within the wider community who might be impacted by death and…
Great Britain’s Pure Cremation, quite possibly the most successful start-up in the history of Death Care, continues to grow their direct cremation business. And, that growth in itself seems to cause some problems. This recent article from BBC News in Great Britain tells of Pure Cremation’s attempt to open a 700-body volume refrigerated…
It’s interesting to me that when I look at the financial results of the public companies in Death Care and also try to understand the continual business potential of Death Care, I seem to see that cemetery financial results are passing funeral home results in many locales. And, I’m coming around to the fact…
