The Green Funeral. . . a contrarian view?

By Funeral Director Daily February 20, 2023

    The Washington Post recently printed this article which in part said, “. . . .a distinct shift is underway in how we approach death. More than half of Americans are seeking greener funerals, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, and the percentage is rising. The funeral industry is responding: You can now be entombed in a…

SCI 4Q Revenue and Year End Revenue lower than comparables

By Funeral Director Daily February 17, 2023

    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…

When is the right age to establish a preneed account? . . . Maybe on your wedding day

By Funeral Director Daily February 16, 2023

  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…

Another acquisition story . . . except this one’s going the other way

By Funeral Director Daily February 15, 2023

    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”.…

Suicide rates rise in 2021. . . Is the lack of funerals part of the reason?

By Funeral Director Daily February 15, 2023

    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…

BUSINESS

Keeping your brand relevant with the new consumers

By Funeral Director Daily | September 2, 2026

  I’ve came to believe that, at least in part, the reason why consumers select a certain funeral home has changed.  From my point of view, in days gone by almost almost all funeral home…

“Size” has its own set of issues

By Funeral Director Daily | August 31, 2026

  Great Britain’s Pure Cremation, quite possibly the most successful start-up in the history of Death Care, continues to grow their direct cremation business.  And, that growth in itself seems to cause some problems.  …

Oklahoma family business gets initial court win to move forward in casket sales case

By Funeral Director Daily | August 27, 2026

  According to this recent article from the Institute for Justice the District Court of Oklahoma County has ruled that Casket of Honors owners Candice Mentink and Todd Collard may proceed with their case against…

FINANCE

Death Care Index (DCI) once again trails major indexes

By Funeral Director Daily | September 3, 2026

    Over the years I’ve seen many family funeral homes explode in value as they built more market share, acquired more facilities, and simply built a culture of enhancing revenues while at the same…

Matthews International names new President/CEO

By Funeral Director Daily | September 1, 2026

It didn’t take long for Death Care conglomerate Matthews International to name a new President and CEO following this August 4, 2026, press release indicating that current President/CEO Josepah Bartolacci would be retiring after more…

A.S. Turner & Sons has a busy summer — adds a funeral home and terramation service line

By Funeral Director Daily | August 25, 2026

  A.S. Turner & Sons has served the population of Decatur, Georgia, and the greater Atlanta area for more than 120 years.  Funeral Director Daily recently mentioned the firm in this article about The Natural…

REGULATIONS

Oklahoma family business gets initial court win to move forward in casket sales case

By Funeral Director Daily | August 27, 2026

  According to this recent article from the Institute for Justice the District Court of Oklahoma County has ruled that Casket of Honors owners Candice Mentink and Todd Collard may proceed with their case against…

Empty grave case still perplexing, legal issues pending

By Funeral Director Daily | August 12, 2026

    Back in December 2025, Funeral Director Daily, in this article, informed you of the case of the empty grave of CBC Canada Royal Glider Pilot Gordon Patrick.  If you read the article you…

Colorado city tackles cemetery issue

By Funeral Director Daily | August 3, 2026

  The Lafayette  (Colorado) City Council reached an agreement on what action to take to help those who have purchased lots in the Lafayette Cemetery and may not be able to use them due to…

CEMETERY

Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock visit cemetery movie screening

By Funeral Director Daily | August 26, 2026

  It’s interesting to me that when I look at the financial results of the public companies in Death Care and also try to understand the continual business potential of Death Care, I seem to…

Everstory Partners aims for more of the “Upper K”

By Funeral Director Daily | August 14, 2026

Not every consumer is looking for the $999 direct cremation service.  And, the good operators in the Death Care space know that.   There are plenty of ways to buy a burger in many different…

Empty grave case still perplexing, legal issues pending

By Funeral Director Daily | August 12, 2026

    Back in December 2025, Funeral Director Daily, in this article, informed you of the case of the empty grave of CBC Canada Royal Glider Pilot Gordon Patrick.  If you read the article you…

CREMATION

“Size” has its own set of issues

By Funeral Director Daily | August 31, 2026

  Great Britain’s Pure Cremation, quite possibly the most successful start-up in the history of Death Care, continues to grow their direct cremation business.  And, that growth in itself seems to cause some problems.  …

Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock visit cemetery movie screening

By Funeral Director Daily | August 26, 2026

  It’s interesting to me that when I look at the financial results of the public companies in Death Care and also try to understand the continual business potential of Death Care, I seem to…

A.S. Turner & Sons has a busy summer — adds a funeral home and terramation service line

By Funeral Director Daily | August 25, 2026

  A.S. Turner & Sons has served the population of Decatur, Georgia, and the greater Atlanta area for more than 120 years.  Funeral Director Daily recently mentioned the firm in this article about The Natural…

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

Oklahoma family business gets initial court win to move forward in casket sales case

By Funeral Director Daily | August 27, 2026

  According to this recent article from the Institute for Justice the District Court of Oklahoma County has ruled that Casket of Honors owners Candice Mentink and Todd Collard may proceed with their case against…

Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock visit cemetery movie screening

By Funeral Director Daily | August 26, 2026

  It’s interesting to me that when I look at the financial results of the public companies in Death Care and also try to understand the continual business potential of Death Care, I seem to…

A.S. Turner & Sons has a busy summer — adds a funeral home and terramation service line

By Funeral Director Daily | August 25, 2026

  A.S. Turner & Sons has served the population of Decatur, Georgia, and the greater Atlanta area for more than 120 years.  Funeral Director Daily recently mentioned the firm in this article about The Natural…