We’ve noticed at Funeral Director Daily that readership drops by about 33% in the last half of December. It was particularly noticeable this year as we reached a record of over 21,000 page views in November only to see the latter half of December come in with run-rates of page views at less than…
Back in September 2024 Funeral Director Daily let you know that the Social Secuirty Survivor Benefits Equity Act had been introduced to the the United States House of Representatives. While the bill failed to go anywhere at that time – possibly because of the impending Presidential election and eventual change of leadership – as…
I’ve been thinking about this “Trends” article for the past month. I was going to originally title the article “Back to the Future” on the premise that I’ve seen two trends emerging this year in Death Care. Those trends were (1) The movement “back” towards more simple and natural burials and other disposition…
If you would ask Gemini Artificial Intelligence what percentage of funeral homes will be sold in the next five years, here is the answer that you will be given: “While an exact percentage is hard to pinpoint, a significant portion of funeral homes, potentially around 35-40% of owners, plan to retire or sell…
Tomorrow Funeral Director Daily will unveil its “2025 Business Story of the Year” where I will tell you what I believe is an interesting trend in the Business and Finance of the Death Care profession. It is a trend that I believe will change Death Care ownership in larger volume and faster than…
BUSINESS
Wisconsin acquisition follows “Successful” strategy
A quote from a 1987 Los Angeles Times article on the then growing acquisitions of Pierce Brothers Mortuaries goes like this, “In increasing numbers, long-established mortuaries are closing or, more often, selling to…
CANA partners to offer “Deathcare Business Administration Certification”
To my knowledge there is not an MBA program in Funeral Directing or Death Care to be found anywhere in the United States. However, through a partnership of Goalmakers and the Cremation Association of North…
Chptr makes moves, promotes televised Death Notices
The people at Chptr are not standing still. In the last couple of weeks they have added Death Care industry veteran Glenn Gould to their team in a position that they term President of…
FINANCE
Wisconsin acquisition follows “Successful” strategy
A quote from a 1987 Los Angeles Times article on the then growing acquisitions of Pierce Brothers Mortuaries goes like this, “In increasing numbers, long-established mortuaries are closing or, more often, selling to…
CANA partners to offer “Deathcare Business Administration Certification”
To my knowledge there is not an MBA program in Funeral Directing or Death Care to be found anywhere in the United States. However, through a partnership of Goalmakers and the Cremation Association of North…
Carriage Services’ 4th Q25 and Year-End ’25 Earnings Call “Notes and Quotes”
Last week funeral home and cemetery operator Carriage Services reported on their 4th Quarter of 2025 and their Year-End of 2025 financial results. Earlier in the week Funeral Director Daily published this article on…
REGULATIONS
CANA partners to offer “Deathcare Business Administration Certification”
To my knowledge there is not an MBA program in Funeral Directing or Death Care to be found anywhere in the United States. However, through a partnership of Goalmakers and the Cremation Association of North…
There has to be another side to this story
Late last week Fox 6 TV of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, broke a story pertaining to Death Care that I found to be incredulous. Here’s the headline, “Milwaukee County funeral home debt; officials move to collect…
Does Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) face religious headwinds?
From 2015 to 2021 I served on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. That 12-person governing board for the State of Minnesota got to know each other very well. One of the people…
CEMETERY
There has to be another side to this story
Late last week Fox 6 TV of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, broke a story pertaining to Death Care that I found to be incredulous. Here’s the headline, “Milwaukee County funeral home debt; officials move to collect…
Natural Organic Reduction to be done on the East Coast
Green-Wood Cemetery, the venerable and historic cemetery in New York City announced last week a plan to become the first facility on America’s East Coast that will offer Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) or Terramation…
VA Cemeteries set new record for “Customer Satisfaction”
Funeral directors should feel good about their role in helping the “The Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration earn the highest customer satisfaction score ever achieved by any public or private organization measured…
CREMATION
Private Equity company Epiris to sell a “Structured Minority interest” in Pure Cremation
I’ve watched the growth of direct cremation provider and preneed cremation business Pure Cremation from a start-up to, in my opinion, the most profitable investment in Death Care over the past decade. According to…
Will the large-scale use of Hydrogen-powered cremation come into play?
One of the positive things of living during the winter months in a Florida golf community is that I get to meet and play golf with lots of new people with greatly differing…
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…
PRENEED
Funeral planning: There seems to be a gap between “Perception and Action”
Funeral planning is an interesting topic on an individual basis. In my opinion, regardless of your age, self-mortality is a thought all human beings have at more than one point in their lives. …
Homesteaders celebrates 120 years, $5 Billion in force
In a press release received the other day, Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in Preneed Death Care funding announced that 2026 marks the 120th year for the company. The company issued its first…
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…
PRODUCTS
CANA partners to offer “Deathcare Business Administration Certification”
To my knowledge there is not an MBA program in Funeral Directing or Death Care to be found anywhere in the United States. However, through a partnership of Goalmakers and the Cremation Association of North…
Chptr makes moves, promotes televised Death Notices
The people at Chptr are not standing still. In the last couple of weeks they have added Death Care industry veteran Glenn Gould to their team in a position that they term President of…
Sunset publishes “Estate Settlement Report Card”
“If you are a funeral director and don’t know about Sunset yet you are probably missing out on a tool that your families would thank you for. . . ” Last week MarketWatch…
