Park Lawn Corporation today released the results of their 3rd Quarter operations. The company reported that their revenue increased by over 29% to a $22.4 million mark in 3Q 2017 as compared to $17.3 million in 3Q 2016. All dollar figures are reported in Canadian dollar figures. The company had several one time non-recurring expense…
Pre-Need insurance means different things for different funeral homes. Some funeral homes use pre-need to build market share, some use pre-need as a cash-flow tool, and some use pre-need as a means of providing revenue and net income to the bottom line. Probably more often than not, funeral homes use pre-need for a combination of…
Late on Thursday Carriage Services issued two press releases indicating that they had closed the purchases of two funeral firms in the corridor between Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado. The public death care company announced that they had acquired Carroll-Lewellen Funeral and Cremation Services in Longmont, Colorado and also acquired the Viegut Funeral Home in…
There is no doubt that we all agree that what happened in that small Texas town last Sunday was a great tragedy beyond proportions. It should never have happened — but it did. From where I sit, in Minnesota, over 1000 miles away from the village of Sutherland Springs, Texas, it seems so distant —…
We have talked about it here before — how the American death care business is changing. It all has to do with the changing culture of the American populous. Not much has changed in what is accepted in America at the time of death — for the past forty years we have accepted burial, funerals,…
BUSINESS
Grief and Bereavement — Funeral Directors need to lead the education of such in society
In the past month part of my thoughts have been at the intersection of “Education and Grief”. And, it has brought me to a way of thinking that maybe the two thoughts need…
Can funeral homes learn a thing or two from Delta Airlines
Last week Delta Airlines reported record revenue for the 2nd Quarter of 2025 and also reported that their earnings for the quarter were higher than expected. All of this happened in a quarter where…
Peer Support: How far is too far??
We are already coming up on the third Tuesday of the month and that means it is time for another Cremation Association of North America (CANA) sponsored funeral professionals peer support online meeting. This…
FINANCE
Matthews International: “Memorialization and more”
A few days ago The Pittsburgh Business Times published a feature story on hometown company Matthews International. It’s a very interesting article that goes back into the history of the company and how it…
Death Care Index is “Flat” year-to-date. . . . lags major indexes
The end of trading on Monday marked the end of the first-half of the year for stocks. And, it was a significant day as on Monday the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both recorded All-Time…
Growth vs. Income
Last week I read this article authored by Kenio Fontes from Seeking Alpha concerning Death Care behometh Service Corporation International (SCI) and titled “The quiet dividend machine you probably overlooked“. As is the…
REGULATIONS
Catholic Diocese of Fresno, California files for bankruptcy. . . says cemeteries and preneed will not be affected
This article from Angelus tells of the the July 1, 2025, bankruptcy filing of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno, California. The article makes this comment about the filing: In the Chapter 11…
“Reclaiming” cemetery lots can both add revenue and aid families
I read a this recent article about the Arlington Cemetery located in the City of Arlington within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The article had to do with re-opening the cemetery for sales of lots…
Natural Organic Reduction is now legal in Minnesota. . . Return Home to expand to the state
As of July 1, 2025, Natural Organic Reduction, or Terramation as some call it, became a legal form of disposition in the state of Minnesota. According to information that I believe reliable, Minnesota…
CEMETERY
Catholic Diocese of Fresno, California files for bankruptcy. . . says cemeteries and preneed will not be affected
This article from Angelus tells of the the July 1, 2025, bankruptcy filing of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno, California. The article makes this comment about the filing: In the Chapter 11…
“Reclaiming” cemetery lots can both add revenue and aid families
I read a this recent article about the Arlington Cemetery located in the City of Arlington within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The article had to do with re-opening the cemetery for sales of lots…
Memorial Day 2025 — May God Bless their memories
I bring you this Memorial Day thought and tell you that it is a slight reprise from an Easter message of thanks that Funeral Director Daily produced during the days of the pandemic lock…
CREMATION
A case for “Tradition”
HBO’s recent documentary “The Mortician” probably gave the Death Care profession some bad publicity. However, at least in one case as evidenced by this article in The Free Press titled “My husband wants…
Memoria aims to be the “technology disrupter” of Deathcare
I don’t know what Death Care will look like ten years from now but I do know that change happens, and in some way, the logistics of it will be different than…
Consumer group calls for “cutting out the funeral director as middleman” on direct cremations
We noticed in this article last week that a consumer group has asked for the removal of funeral directors as “the middleman in cremations, saying it’s costing people money”. Among other things, the…
PRENEED
Could the “Big, Beautiful Bill” help sell Preneed
If you have been anywhere near a television, radio, smart phone, newspaper, or other news media you know that President Trump’s signature piece of legislation, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” was passed and signed into…
The Psychology of Commitment
When you are in a competitive business you need to acquire customers and then find a way to make sure that those customers are “commited to you”. Many times acquiring the customer might…
OneRoom brings Revenue Generation to your streaming
We recently received a press release from OneRoom, a trusted leader in funeral streaming. The press release made known that the company has launched its new “Rev Gen Bundle” – defined as a…
PRODUCTS
From Mention to Trend to Custom. Sustainability is growing in Death Care choices
Recently I came across this article from the website of 24/7 Wall Street about “Eco-friendly” funerals. The article appears to be a public relations article on the website intended for readers to look…
Changing demographics among morticians may bode well for Mortuary Lift Company
I never know what will catch my eye as I peruse articles that I believe may contain information that will be helpful to the business operators of funeral homes, crematories, preneed agencies, and cemeteries. …
Memorial spaceflight operator loses craft, 166 remains evidently lost at sea
Celestis, the memorial spaceflight program for cremated remains, recently lost its spacecraft from the Perseverence flight and the 166 cremated remains and/or human DNA carried with it. This article from MSN states that…
