I had almost forgot that Hillenbrand Inc., the former parent company of Batesville, had itself agreed to be sold to Lone Star Funds last August (2025). I was reminded of that transaction from this recent update in Financier Worldwide. The $3.8 billion transaction “will take Hillenbrand private and marks a significant strategic shift for…
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 article from CNBC titled “An industry focused on death faces an existential crisis”, family-owned monument dealers have seen United States…
Tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 16, Death Care professionals will come together with another of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) sponsored virtual Funeral Professionals Peer Support Meetings. . . . .A press release from CANA makes this comment, “Between family obligations, work commitments, and winter weather, the holiday season can herald a…
Late last week we received this press release that indicates that Park Lawn Corporation acquired eight stand-alone funeral homes in locations spanning the greater Oklahoma City market. It represents Park Lawn’s entrance into the state of Oklahoma. The press release announced “Park Lawn Corporation is pleased to announce that, effective December 1st, it…
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 another article, that you can access here, titled “The Financial Toll of Grief: More than 1 in 3 Americans took…
BUSINESS
ASD named one of America’s Most Innovative Companies
Today’s Article includes an NFDA Convention Preview Who says Death Care is not “innovative”? Just this week I learned that ASD – Answering Service for Directors was named to Fortune‘s 2026…
“Margin Repair”: That sounds like what our profession needs.
I’m writing this article on Monday morning after just returning from a trip to Starbucks where I had the opportunity to read Monday’s Wall Street Journal. One of the articles that I read was…
Wages, credit, inflation. . . . How are those factors coming together to influence revenue per case
“Revenue per Case” (RpC) is a very important metric in your funeral home to illustrate how much money comes into the your funeral home for every death call you care for. The goal,…
FINANCE
Park Lawn adds Illinois funeral homes to its group
As certain as the Minnesota weather will turn chilling cold in January you can count on at least one of the national acquisition and consolidation funeral home companies to announce an acquisition on the…
Carriage Services expands Revolving Credit Facility
At the end of September public company funeral home and cemetery consolidator and operator Carriage Services made some moves that they hope will enhance their long-term flexibility. In essence, Carriage Services made this…
Park Lawn Corp purchases business assets of historic Texas funeral home. . . .Strategy may start a trend of facility closures
This recent article from the Waco (TX) Tribune-Herald will give you full information on the recent purchase of the business assets of the historic Connally-Compton Funeral Home in Waco, Texas, by the Park…
REGULATIONS
ASD named one of America’s Most Innovative Companies
Today’s Article includes an NFDA Convention Preview Who says Death Care is not “innovative”? Just this week I learned that ASD – Answering Service for Directors was named to Fortune‘s 2026…
Not a Good Look: “Dysfunctional Death Care System” becoming an issue in Chicago mayor’s race
In August of this past summer (2026) 56 decomposed bodies were found improperly stored in a funeral home in Chicago. It’s not the first time or the first place something like this has…
Preneed: Your funeral home’s reputation may be tied to your preneed provider
I came across an interesting article the other day that reminded me of the unease that I always had in selecting our funeral home’s preneed insurance partner. My unease had nothing to do…
CEMETERY
The Start of Something Good
I learned of the advent of the upcoming first annual National Cremation Remembrance (or Placement) Day earlier this year from my friends at Crowne Vault. The company was one of the first to…
Will the dispersion of Natural Organic Reduction soil be an issue?
Back in August the Worcester (Maryland) County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) approved Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) firm Earth Burial’s request to spread NOR soil on a 14-acre property in the county. According to…
Recollections of 9/11. . . 25 years later
So today, September 11, 2026, marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks on America. For those of us who are baby boomers, that day is seared in our memory as are…
CREMATION
The Start of Something Good
I learned of the advent of the upcoming first annual National Cremation Remembrance (or Placement) Day earlier this year from my friends at Crowne Vault. The company was one of the first to…
Not a Good Look: “Dysfunctional Death Care System” becoming an issue in Chicago mayor’s race
In August of this past summer (2026) 56 decomposed bodies were found improperly stored in a funeral home in Chicago. It’s not the first time or the first place something like this has…
Will the dispersion of Natural Organic Reduction soil be an issue?
Back in August the Worcester (Maryland) County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) approved Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) firm Earth Burial’s request to spread NOR soil on a 14-acre property in the county. According to…
PRENEED
Wages, credit, inflation. . . . How are those factors coming together to influence revenue per case
“Revenue per Case” (RpC) is a very important metric in your funeral home to illustrate how much money comes into the your funeral home for every death call you care for. The goal,…
Preneed: Your funeral home’s reputation may be tied to your preneed provider
I came across an interesting article the other day that reminded me of the unease that I always had in selecting our funeral home’s preneed insurance partner. My unease had nothing to do…
The shifting preneed trend and the need to make preneed a priority
I recently read a blog post on the Funeral Directors Life (FDL) blog written by Todd Carlson, Executive Vice-President and Chief Sales officer at Funeral Directors Life. The article was titled “Three preneed trends…
PRODUCTS
ASD named one of America’s Most Innovative Companies
Today’s Article includes an NFDA Convention Preview Who says Death Care is not “innovative”? Just this week I learned that ASD – Answering Service for Directors was named to Fortune‘s 2026…
Wages, credit, inflation. . . . How are those factors coming together to influence revenue per case
“Revenue per Case” (RpC) is a very important metric in your funeral home to illustrate how much money comes into the your funeral home for every death call you care for. The goal,…
PlotBox to showcase “end-to-end” funeral home software at NFDA
I recently learned from a press release from PlotBox that the company intends to “showcase their end-to-end Funeral Home software, built for the complexity of modern deathcare, at this year’s NFDA International Convention…
