Park Lawn situation: In Substack article, author Russo opines on the events of last week

By Funeral Director Daily April 23, 2026

  On Monday of this week Substack, under their “On Deathcare” platform released a very well researched article by author Tony Russo titled, “Why are we still pretending Homesteaders is ‘just’ a Park Lawn investor?”   You can access the article here.   (Editor’s Note:  Sorry for the delay.  This article was scheduled to be…

Parting Stone hires former customer and industry award recipient, continues march forward with funeral home partners

By Funeral Director Daily April 22, 2026

  Parting Stone, the pioneer in solidified remains, announced last week in a press release that they have hired the 2025 recipient of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Inspiration Award, Katey Houston, “. . to lead strategic engagement between funeral professionals and the families they serve.”   According to the press release, “Houston’s background…

Traditional funeral homes: Is your clientele “aging out”?

By Funeral Director Daily April 21, 2026

  That might be an odd headline for a funeral home article, but I had the thought process this week when I wondered if the market for “traditional funerals” has “aged-out”.  And, if so, what do you do about it?   My process started on Friday night of last weekend when my wife, Angie, asked…

Batesville makes investment in Eterneva, will “leverage” client relationships

By Funeral Director Daily April 20, 2026

  Last week Batesville announced in this press release that they had “made an equity investment in Eterneva and formed a strategic partnership with the company to expand access to custom memorial diamonds.”  Batesville also made this comment in the release, “Batesville will leverage its national network of customer relationships to bring Eterneva’s memorial diamond…

Make sure your obituary postings get seen

By Funeral Director Daily April 17, 2026

  It’s imperative in today’s information age where all kinds of information is available to the public that the obituaries your funeral home disseminates get seen by the appropriate audience.  It’s no different than what I do with Funeral Director Daily — using the right techniques to make sure my postings on Facebook get maximum…

BUSINESS

Pure Cremation exec: Is the “At-Need choice” death market contracting?

By Funeral Director Daily | July 14, 2026

  The number of deaths in the United States is expected to grow 26.3% from 2019 (the last year prior to the pandemic) until 2040 by certain estimates.  Estimates for the number of deaths in…

Anthem Partners announces strategic partnership with Family Shield Credit

By Funeral Director Daily | July 10, 2026

In a press release from earlier this week funeral home operator Anthem Partners announced that they have formed a partnership with Family Shield Credit in order to provide families with “flexible, budget-friendly payment options while…

Parting Stone enforces patent protection

By Funeral Director Daily | July 9, 2026

    It’s just the way it works.  If you are a company or other entity that seeks patents to protect your intellectual property you have to be able to fight off others who may…

FINANCE

Park Lawn adds another Oklahoma funeral home to their group

By Funeral Director Daily | July 13, 2026

  History will tell us that the oil boom in Oklahoma began in 1897 when a massive discovery of oil was discovered near Bartlesville.   Since December 2025 the folks at Park Lawn Corporation seem…

Pinnacle Funeral Service makes another acquisition

By Funeral Director Daily | July 8, 2026

  We learned earlier this week that Pinnacle Funeral Service had acquired Gent Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Alton, Illinois.  You can learn more about the acquisition from this article on the Pinnacle Funeral…

Will a “Hawkish” Federal Reserve put more interest costs on your business?

By Funeral Director Daily | July 7, 2026

  My routine is pretty normal during the work week.  I get up before 6 am, put the coffee on, do my devotions, and then enjoy the coffee for a few minutes while watching the…

REGULATIONS

Parting Stone enforces patent protection

By Funeral Director Daily | July 9, 2026

    It’s just the way it works.  If you are a company or other entity that seeks patents to protect your intellectual property you have to be able to fight off others who may…

Recompose: On the “Grow”

By Funeral Director Daily | July 2, 2026

  I started publishing Funeral Director Daily about the same time that entrepreneur Katrina Spade was involved in a pilot research project with Washington State University on the possibility and merits of composting human remains. …

The potential Venezuela Death Care crisis

By Funeral Director Daily | June 29, 2026

  As you are well aware of two large-scale earthquakes occured in Venezuela last week.  As I write this article on Saturday morning June 27, the official death toll in the country is listed at…

CEMETERY

Everstory Partners adds New Jersey cemetery to its group

By Funeral Director Daily | June 22, 2026

    Everstory Partners the cemetery heavy company that operates more than 460 cemeteries, funeral homes, and crematories in the United States and Puerto Rico announced last week that they had acquired the Franklin Memorial…

Cemetery sued over private casket-lowering policy

By Funeral Director Daily | June 18, 2026

  When I was a practicing funeral director I was well aware of safety concerns at the cemetery when the casket was lowered into the vault and grave.  Our good friends from Wilbert Vault were…

Cuba’s crisis with death

By Funeral Director Daily | June 11, 2026

  Cuba, the island country only 90 miles off the Florida coast has a crisis with death and Death Care.  If you look at the Wikipedia page for Cuba you will notice that the population…

CREMATION

Pure Cremation exec: Is the “At-Need choice” death market contracting?

By Funeral Director Daily | July 14, 2026

  The number of deaths in the United States is expected to grow 26.3% from 2019 (the last year prior to the pandemic) until 2040 by certain estimates.  Estimates for the number of deaths in…

Parting Stone enforces patent protection

By Funeral Director Daily | July 9, 2026

    It’s just the way it works.  If you are a company or other entity that seeks patents to protect your intellectual property you have to be able to fight off others who may…

Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA

By Funeral Director Daily | June 19, 2026

    Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA?   A reader sent me an article earlier this week that brings these three topics into a Venn diagram sort of picture for me.   First of all, the…

PRENEED

Pure Cremation exec: Is the “At-Need choice” death market contracting?

By Funeral Director Daily | July 14, 2026

  The number of deaths in the United States is expected to grow 26.3% from 2019 (the last year prior to the pandemic) until 2040 by certain estimates.  Estimates for the number of deaths in…

Anthem Partners announces strategic partnership with Family Shield Credit

By Funeral Director Daily | July 10, 2026

In a press release from earlier this week funeral home operator Anthem Partners announced that they have formed a partnership with Family Shield Credit in order to provide families with “flexible, budget-friendly payment options while…

Connecticut budget includes money for victims of allegedly stolen pre-arrangements

By Funeral Director Daily | May 28, 2026

    Earlier this month, as you can read in this article from NBC Connecticut, the legislature of Connecticut passed their state budget which included the “Act Concerning Unlawful Funeral Service Practices”.  The state appropriated…

PRODUCTS

Anthem Partners announces strategic partnership with Family Shield Credit

By Funeral Director Daily | July 10, 2026

In a press release from earlier this week funeral home operator Anthem Partners announced that they have formed a partnership with Family Shield Credit in order to provide families with “flexible, budget-friendly payment options while…

Parting Stone enforces patent protection

By Funeral Director Daily | July 9, 2026

    It’s just the way it works.  If you are a company or other entity that seeks patents to protect your intellectual property you have to be able to fight off others who may…

Recompose: On the “Grow”

By Funeral Director Daily | July 2, 2026

  I started publishing Funeral Director Daily about the same time that entrepreneur Katrina Spade was involved in a pilot research project with Washington State University on the possibility and merits of composting human remains. …