It is my opinion that the lack of people to preside over ceremonies for the dead may in the future have a limiting effect on the number of ceremonies that are held. . . . which would be detrimental to those in the funeral home and memorial businesses. I understand that conducting…
The middle of the month came up fast again. . . and at Funeral Director Daily we are excited that we continue to grow. Our readership, as measured by pageviews, is up another 4.5% over May of 2023. . .Thank you for reading us. As for stories of the past 30 days it’s…
About the time that I had completed two-thirds of my term as a member of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents the University hired a new President. Her name was Joan Gabel and she became the first female President of the University of Minnesota, coming to the U of M after…
Service Corporation International (SCI) is the largest operator in North America among funeral home and cemetery operators. They will do somewhere near $4.2 billion in revenue this year while we believe their largest competitors, Carriage Services and Park Lawn Corporation will do somewhere about $400 million and $300 million respectfully. In essence, by…
The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) sponsored Funeral Professionals Peer Support celebrates it’s 3rd birthday with tomorrow night’s virtual meeting. It was in 2021 when the meetings first started and according to information from CANA tomorrow’s meeting “will reflect on three years of change and growth in the funeral profession”. CANA…
BUSINESS
What’s your state’s Death Rate? – Above or Below the National Average?
According to provisional data released from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in January of this year the overall age-adjusted “Death Rate” in the United States for 2025 was about 722 deaths per 100,000…
Service Corporation purchases two funeral homes in Ontario
We learned from this article written by Fort Erie Radio that Service Corporation International (SCI) recently purchased two funeral homes in the Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, community. According to the article, the Williams Funeral…
“Mattering”: Can your funeral home help “It”. . . Can “It” help your funeral home?
It’s not something I thought about ever. And, while I sensed some of the psychological needs associated with it, I’d never thought of it in the sense I learned about it last week. …
FINANCE
Service Corporation purchases two funeral homes in Ontario
We learned from this article written by Fort Erie Radio that Service Corporation International (SCI) recently purchased two funeral homes in the Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, community. According to the article, the Williams Funeral…
Seeking Alpha authors “Bullish” on SCI
When you follow the public companies in Death Care like I do it is unusual to find articles about them appearing very often. But, last week two separate authors of Seeking Alpha gave opinions…
What’s with Private Equity?
I guess “Private” means “Privacy” and that is probably why it is so difficult to get information on how the Private Equity market is doing. The status of the industry is, however, of much…
REGULATIONS
What’s your state’s Death Rate? – Above or Below the National Average?
According to provisional data released from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in January of this year the overall age-adjusted “Death Rate” in the United States for 2025 was about 722 deaths per 100,000…
Offender to be dis-interred and removed from Fort Sam Houston National Military Cemetery
Texas Senator John Cornyn authored a bill that was passed by the Senate, the House, and signed into law by President Trump in late December 2025, that was included in the 2026 National Defense…
Veterans’ Affairs recently grants $77 million to state-operated veteran cemeteries
According to this recent article in Newsweek “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded more than $77 million in new grants aimed at expanding and improving state-operated Veterans cemeteries. The funding, announced…
CEMETERY
Offender to be dis-interred and removed from Fort Sam Houston National Military Cemetery
Texas Senator John Cornyn authored a bill that was passed by the Senate, the House, and signed into law by President Trump in late December 2025, that was included in the 2026 National Defense…
The “Humanity” of Death Care
Funeral Director Daily publishes lots of articles that deal with the business, or money side of Death Care. That’s good. . .and readers seem to like it, however, I never want any of us…
Veterans’ Affairs recently grants $77 million to state-operated veteran cemeteries
According to this recent article in Newsweek “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded more than $77 million in new grants aimed at expanding and improving state-operated Veterans cemeteries. The funding, announced…
CREMATION
Veterans’ Affairs recently grants $77 million to state-operated veteran cemeteries
According to this recent article in Newsweek “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded more than $77 million in new grants aimed at expanding and improving state-operated Veterans cemeteries. The funding, announced…
Washington crematories stymied by air quality regulations
Washington State cremation owners and operators find themselves in somewhat of a Catch-22 when it comes to new cremation equipment. According to this article from the Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Magazine old cremation machines…
Cremations, and now tariffs creating headwinds for monument dealers
American monument dealers have become accustomed to dealing with the rising cremation rates in the country and the dwindling sales opportunities for cemetery monuments that fact brings. But now, according to this recent…
PRENEED
Is a 10% credit card interest rate ceiling good news for funeral homes? . . . Maybe not
Today is January 20. It is the day that President Trump wanted to institute one of his ideas for making life more “affordable”. That idea is a 10% cap on interest rates on credit…
Can you the provide the opportunity for additional Preneed sales in the 1st Quarter of 2026?
“Strike when the iron is hot“. That’s a 15th-century saying that came from the blacksmith trade and meant to suggest that the blacksmith should “bend the metal when it is hot and somewhat flexible”. …
More Americans take on debt to cover funerals
I came across this recent article from USA Today titled “Americans are going into debt over death. Here are affordability tips.” Reading that article led me to a survey and results from Debt.com and…
PRODUCTS
Is a 10% credit card interest rate ceiling good news for funeral homes? . . . Maybe not
Today is January 20. It is the day that President Trump wanted to institute one of his ideas for making life more “affordable”. That idea is a 10% cap on interest rates on credit…
Can you the provide the opportunity for additional Preneed sales in the 1st Quarter of 2026?
“Strike when the iron is hot“. That’s a 15th-century saying that came from the blacksmith trade and meant to suggest that the blacksmith should “bend the metal when it is hot and somewhat flexible”. …
Creedy, Jefferson form advisory firm
Long-time Death Care executives and advisors Alan Creedy and Danny Jefferson have again joined together to form a new firm to help those in the business. A press release issued earlier this week…
