Assurant, Inc., parent company of Assurant Pre-Need, has received a rating of A (Excellent) in its Financial Strength Rating (FSR) according to a note in Business Wire of March 2, 2017. Best also affirmed the FSR rating of A- (Excellent) for the life and health subsidiaries of Assurant. According to the article Assurant’s ratings recognize…
There is no doubt that funeral service has changed. There is also no doubt that funeral home owners care about the people they serve. In search of all possible therapies for people in grief and need, the Greenlawn Funeral Home of Springfield, Missouri, has added a comfort dog to its staff. In an article from…
An interesting legal battle is taking shape in Port St. Joe, Florida, where Casey Whatley has received preliminary permission to open a funeral home in a building that has been vacant since 2008 and once had been operated as a Whatley Funeral Home. The plaintiffs contend that a license for operation had not been issued…
A release from the Associated Press announced that the community of Farmersville, Texas, some 35 miles northeast of Dallas and a community of 3500 residents is square in the cross-hairs of America’s issue with the Muslim religion. On Monday night a group led by Shamsur Rahman moved a step closer to getting permission from the…
Edward Leon, an owner of two other mortuaries in the Sonoma Valley has purchased the Duggan Mission Chapel in Sonoma Valley according to an article in the Index Tribune. The Duggan family is well known in funeral home circles in Northern California where relatives still own mortuaries in San Francisco and Daly City. According to…
BUSINESS
Homesteaders celebrates 120 years, $5 Billion in force
In a press release received the other day, Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in Preneed Death Care funding announced that 2026 marks the 120th year for the company. The company issued its first…
Does Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) face religious headwinds?
From 2015 to 2021 I served on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. That 12-person governing board for the State of Minnesota got to know each other very well. One of the people…
Responsibility, Balance, and Gratitude all lead to positive mental health
The longer we live, the more we learn about ourselves and others. As you may know my wife, Angie, and I winter for three months in Southwest Florida. This past week I’ve been…
FINANCE
Park Lawn Corporation adds Mississippi operation with 20+ locations
In an announcement released yesterday, March 2, Park Lawn Corporation announced the acquisition of “substantially all of the assets of South Mississippi Funeral Services, LLC, comprised of a group of businesses located in southern…
Carriage Services Year-End 2025: Higher Revenue, Higher Margins, Higher Profit
In a press release issued last week Carriage Services, the Houston-based publicly operated funeral home and cemetery operator, reported the results of their 2025 4th Quarter and their 2025 Year-End results. When one takes…
Service Corporation: Notes and Quotes from the 4Q25 and Year-End 2025 Earnings Call
As has become our custom, Funeral Director Daily reports and gives our commentary on Quarterly and Annual financial reports of the public companies in Death Care. And, then it comes to the principals of…
REGULATIONS
Does Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) face religious headwinds?
From 2015 to 2021 I served on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. That 12-person governing board for the State of Minnesota got to know each other very well. One of the people…
Responsibility, Balance, and Gratitude all lead to positive mental health
The longer we live, the more we learn about ourselves and others. As you may know my wife, Angie, and I winter for three months in Southwest Florida. This past week I’ve been…
“Burial Battle” looms as casket company sues Oklahoma State Funeral Board
For a period of time it was unknown to the owners of Caskets of Honor, located in Calvin, Oklahoma, that selling caskets in their home state was illegal without the procurement of a funeral…
CEMETERY
Natural Organic Reduction to be done on the East Coast
Green-Wood Cemetery, the venerable and historic cemetery in New York City announced last week a plan to become the first facility on America’s East Coast that will offer Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) or Terramation…
VA Cemeteries set new record for “Customer Satisfaction”
Funeral directors should feel good about their role in helping the “The Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration earn the highest customer satisfaction score ever achieved by any public or private organization measured…
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…
CREMATION
Private Equity company Epiris to sell a “Structured Minority interest” in Pure Cremation
I’ve watched the growth of direct cremation provider and preneed cremation business Pure Cremation from a start-up to, in my opinion, the most profitable investment in Death Care over the past decade. According to…
Will the large-scale use of Hydrogen-powered cremation come into play?
One of the positive things of living during the winter months in a Florida golf community is that I get to meet and play golf with lots of new people with greatly differing…
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…
PRENEED
Homesteaders celebrates 120 years, $5 Billion in force
In a press release received the other day, Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in Preneed Death Care funding announced that 2026 marks the 120th year for the company. The company issued its first…
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”. …
PRODUCTS
Does Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) face religious headwinds?
From 2015 to 2021 I served on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. That 12-person governing board for the State of Minnesota got to know each other very well. One of the people…
“Burial Battle” looms as casket company sues Oklahoma State Funeral Board
For a period of time it was unknown to the owners of Caskets of Honor, located in Calvin, Oklahoma, that selling caskets in their home state was illegal without the procurement of a funeral…
Tukios introduces new AI Photo Engine
I was a funeral director that operated my own funeral home with the help of five or six other licensed funeral directors. Much of the last 15 years of my work-life consisted of…
