The largest funeral home and cemetery operator in North America, Service Corporation International, reported 4th Quarter 2022 and Year End 2022 financials earlier this week and one of the things we noticed is that quarterly and yearly revenue was less than 4Q2021 and less than Year End 2021. However, that is not unexpected…
We’ve touched on the subject in this forum before — when is the proper age, as a consumer, to look into getting a preneed funeral/cremation account? I’ve opined that our funeral home used to look at Social Security age and then lowered that to age 55 and over. Lately, according to all that I…
It’s pretty common place to read in Funeral Director Daily and other Death Care publications about the national and regional funeral home and cemetery consolidators announcing another acquisition. However, when we were catching up with our reading a few days ago we noticed an acquisition. . . .that was “going the other way”.…
Sometimes I just come across ideas for Funeral Director Daily articles by accident. On Saturday I was going out for my weekly “reward” of a time at a coffee shop and stopped to buy a newspaper to read while there. Since the local Naples Times-Herald was out, I had a choice of the…
Most businesses that I know of are transactional in nature. They take a fee and give their customer a product or service in return for that fee. Funeral homes tend to be transactional — we charge a family for the services and merchandise we render and then we provide those products and/or services…
BUSINESS
Funeral homes and cemeteries — Where’s the future potential?
I’ve been around the Death Care business my whole life. . . . and one thing I can tell you is that, like other businesses, “things” change. For instance, Death Care clientele used to…
Indiana’s “Funeral Centric” bank sold — Sale price said to be $40 million
In a press release issued earlier in January 2026 out of Batesville, Indiana, ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust made the following statement: “ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust, a federally chartered savings bank…
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…
FINANCE
Matthews 1Q Fiscal 2026: Streamlined company shows Memorialization Segment rise in revenue
When it is all said and done, corporate conglomerate Matthews International, with a heavy presence in Death Care, will probably be glad that they have left Fiscal Year 2025 behind and are charging into…
Indiana’s “Funeral Centric” bank sold — Sale price said to be $40 million
In a press release issued earlier in January 2026 out of Batesville, Indiana, ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust made the following statement: “ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust, a federally chartered savings bank…
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…
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
Funeral homes and cemeteries — Where’s the future potential?
I’ve been around the Death Care business my whole life. . . . and one thing I can tell you is that, like other businesses, “things” change. For instance, Death Care clientele used to…
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…
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…
