Regulations
An interesting situation concerning “non-combustible” cremation remains was brought to light by this front-page lead story article in an edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune last week. The article is entitled, “Lakewood Cemetery alleged theft spotlights market for metal implants left after cremation”. It goes on to explain that a former employee of the…
When you look at the map the Ohio River separates the states of Ohio and West Virginia as well as the cities of Steubenville, Ohio, and Weirton, West Virginia. Now, however, the bridge over the Ohio River will not only connect the states and cities but two historical funeral homes as well. It…
Imagine it is lunch time at the funeral home you work at when you get a call from the hospital two miles away that you need to immediately bring the best casket you have to the hospital. And, by the way, it is for the President of the United States. That’s the call…
According to this recent article from Stat, life expectancies in America have dropped and the gap between Men’s life expectancies and Women’s life expectancies continues to widen. The statistics show that men now have life expectancies 5.8 years less than women. Overall United States life expectancies have dropped from 78.8 years…
An ongoing debate with cemeteries: Community assets for enjoyment or sacred spaces for the deceased?
There is no doubt that with the advent of rising cremation in our society cemeteries are used less and less, as a percentage of all deaths, by families as places of permanent memorialization. However, there is still a large group of families that “do” select a space in a cemetery for the permanent…
Sometimes we have to be reminded of how wide reaching a career in mortuary science can be. I’ve been an advocate of mortuary schools not only training students to become competent morticians but of also asking them to teach Financial Literacy and Business Economics so that those who begin as embalmers and…
I live in America which is a representative democracy with the freedom for individuals to attain through education, hard work, creative enterprise, investment, and sometimes just plain luck the ability to gain and collect more resources than others. To that same end, the country offers no guarantee that your work and life will end…
As you know there are always issues going on in our nation’s capital of Washington, DC. And, some of those issues will touch on the business of Death Care. Today from my latest observations, some things I’ve researched, and some of the things I took in at the recent National Funeral Directors Association…
Tomorrow, Thursday, September 7, 2023, you can join a public workshop led by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the new proposals to the “Funeral Rule”. The workshop, taking place in Washington, DC, can be joined live online and according to the Federal Trade Commission, it will explore many of the issues raised…
