Zacks looks at the funeral industry, an update on the DCI

By Funeral Director Daily October 5, 2020

Last week Vrishali Bagree of Zacks presented an article that appeared on Nasdaq.com.  It was entitled “Rising demand keeps funeral industry going:  Four stocks to watch”.  You can read that article here. In essence the article tells that the Zacks Funeral Services industry is housed within the broader Zacks Consumer Staples sector.  According to the…

Park Lawn acquires West Coast funeral business

By Funeral Director Daily October 2, 2020

Park Lawn Corporation, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, and Houston, Texas, announced in a press release on October 1, that they had reached an agreement to acquire Bowers Funeral Service Ltd. of British Columbia.  You can see the press release here. According to the press release, Bowers Funeral Service is a three location firm with…

Afternoon Edition: “Get to Know Them” — Jennifer Muldowney

By Funeral Director Daily October 1, 2020

The “Get to Know Them” feature of Funeral Director Daily is meant to get our readers to know of others in the death care profession. . . many whom read our publication loyally. In learning who some of our readers are, I’ve been fascinated by all of the differing positions our industry comes in contact…

Black smoke rising. . . bad PR for crematories

By Funeral Director Daily October 1, 2020

In the last couple of weeks we have seen headlines and television news stories about black smoke rising from crematory exhaust stacks.  This article and news video from WSVN of Miami, Florida, shows what appears to be a problem from a crematory near the community’s Little Havana neighborhood. Steven Bedoya, an environmental specialist supervisor of…

Afternoon Edition: Who’s cleaning your funeral home

By Funeral Director Daily September 30, 2020

There is no doubt that one of the costs that funeral homes have encountered in the past six months of the COVID world we find ourselves living in is cleaning and disinfecting the funeral home real estate.  We’ve been told that sometimes it is even hard to find a commercial service that has an opening…

BUSINESS

Here we go again. . . .

By Funeral Director Daily | February 9, 2026

  For as long as I can remember, those of us who work in Death Care have been un-deservedly percieved by many as part of a strange or dark world.  You’re going to see that…

Funeral homes and cemeteries — Where’s the future potential?

By Funeral Director Daily | February 5, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | February 4, 2026

    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…

FINANCE

Matthews 1Q Fiscal 2026: Streamlined company shows Memorialization Segment rise in revenue

By Funeral Director Daily | February 6, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | February 4, 2026

    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

By Funeral Director Daily | February 2, 2026

  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?

By Funeral Director Daily | February 3, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 30, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 22, 2026

    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?

By Funeral Director Daily | February 5, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 30, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 28, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 22, 2026

    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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 7, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | December 16, 2025

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | January 20, 2026

  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?

By Funeral Director Daily | January 14, 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

By Funeral Director Daily | December 12, 2025

  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

Here we go again. . . .

By Funeral Director Daily | February 9, 2026

  For as long as I can remember, those of us who work in Death Care have been un-deservedly percieved by many as part of a strange or dark world.  You’re going to see that…

Is a 10% credit card interest rate ceiling good news for funeral homes? . . . Maybe not

By Funeral Director Daily | January 20, 2026

  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?

By Funeral Director Daily | January 14, 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”. …