I’ll agree right off the top of this article that after working for about 35 years in the industry that I may be a little biased.  I’ve always thought that small town funeral directors are some of the nicest people in the world and today I just thought it might be appropriate to tell of two who were in the news on different sides of a transaction and certainly are a credit  to their communities and our industry.

An article from the Kitsap Sun that you can read here pertains to the Cook Family Funeral Home on Bainbridge Island, Washington.  The article talks about the funeral home that has been the only funeral home for residents on water-locked Bainbridge Island since the 1940’s.  The funeral home will get its 5th owners since that time as Tim Dinan and Alison Hahn purchased the funeral home and took over on March 1.  Dinan is a 4th generation funeral director originally from Philadelphia who has worked in the business for over thirty years.  Hahn is his fiance and is ready to jump right in working in the funeral home business.

Previous owners David and Doreen Cook, who have operated the funeral home since 2005 have been very active in the community and have helped the business play a special role by being major sponsors to the island’s Grand Old Fourth of July celebration as well as providing financial support to the Bainbridge Island Historical Society, the Bainbridge Public Library, Island Volunteer Care Givers, and Toys for Tots.

Cook stated he and his wife were very careful whom they choose to take over the business, ensuring the new owners “shared the same philosophy and sense of community” that we did.

Funeral Director Daily take:  So many times in our industry it is about that “fit” for our community when an owner wants to move away from the ownership into retirement.  I think that many times it starts out being about the money, but at the end of the day, a great sum of money is not worth it to most family funeral homes if they cannot have the assurance that the community that they nurtured will not be taken care of.