A recent press release by Homesteaders Life Company, a funeral industry pre-arrangement company, announced that a succession plan for the leadership of the company was recently passed at their May 2017 meeting. Using forward thinking the board accepted CEO Stephen Lang’s pending retirement in March 2018 and approved the plan to have COO Stephen Shaffer…
The above headline has shown up in a news story and web-site story from WHEC TV in Rochester, New York. While attention grabbing, the news feature and story does eventually tell people that while there can be a wide variety of ranges for similar services, many times you do get what you pay for at…
In the past ten days I have had the opportunity to participate in my annual golf outing over four days in Las Vegas, Nevada, with 127 other death care industry operatives from all aspects of the industry. The event, which is a get-together of old friends, is spearheaded by Johnson Consulting’s Tom Johnson, and is…
It probably should not take this long but a monument proposed three years ago in 2104 to honor Vietnam era helicopter pilots has just been approved by Congress for acceptance and placement into Arlington National Cemetery. An article in Military acknowledges that the idea for the monument was spearheaded in 2014 by Retired Air Force…
A Benton, Kentucky funeral home has had his funeral home searched as allegations of fraud have been leveled against him. According to the West Kentucky Star.com article, the Kentucky Department of Insurance is investigating complaints from customers who allegedly paid Filbeck-Cann & King Funeral Home owner Tim King to buy insurance policies that he never…
BUSINESS
National “Cremation Placement Day” coming on October 17
If you are in the Death Care business you know that the number of cremated remains that reside in peoples’ homes is a large, and more than likey, growing number. Some estimate that…
Can “Roll-ups” work in a “Price-Sensitive” environment
Earlier his week I heard from a couple of people who notified me that Foundation Partners Group (FPG) apparently had a recent round of employee layoffs. That seems to be confirmed by employee and…
Somebody finally said it, “Industry revenue for Death Care is estimated to drop”
Over the years that I owned and operated a funeral home I saw an increasing cremation percentage almost every year. And, like most funeral homes, my charges for traditional burial were more than my…
FINANCE
Can “Roll-ups” work in a “Price-Sensitive” environment
Earlier his week I heard from a couple of people who notified me that Foundation Partners Group (FPG) apparently had a recent round of employee layoffs. That seems to be confirmed by employee and…
Somebody finally said it, “Industry revenue for Death Care is estimated to drop”
Over the years that I owned and operated a funeral home I saw an increasing cremation percentage almost every year. And, like most funeral homes, my charges for traditional burial were more than my…
Private Equity: Is there a slump in redemptions going on?
Private Equity (PE) ownership in the funeral, cremation, cemetery, casket, and Death Care supply industry has been a hot topic over the past couple of years. Private Equity companies have been purchasing, aiding in…
REGULATIONS
Texas “regulatory issue case” and resulting lawsuit moving forward
In March 2025 the Texas Funeral Service Commission sent a cease and desist order to the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) ordering “the mosque to stop what it alleged were unlicensed funeral services, and…
Parting Stone enforces patent protection
It’s just the way it works. If you are a company or other entity that seeks patents to protect your intellectual property you have to be able to fight off others who may…
Recompose: On the “Grow”
I started publishing Funeral Director Daily about the same time that entrepreneur Katrina Spade was involved in a pilot research project with Washington State University on the possibility and merits of composting human remains. …
CEMETERY
National “Cremation Placement Day” coming on October 17
If you are in the Death Care business you know that the number of cremated remains that reside in peoples’ homes is a large, and more than likey, growing number. Some estimate that…
Everstory Partners adds New Jersey cemetery to its group
Everstory Partners the cemetery heavy company that operates more than 460 cemeteries, funeral homes, and crematories in the United States and Puerto Rico announced last week that they had acquired the Franklin Memorial…
Cemetery sued over private casket-lowering policy
When I was a practicing funeral director I was well aware of safety concerns at the cemetery when the casket was lowered into the vault and grave. Our good friends from Wilbert Vault were…
CREMATION
National “Cremation Placement Day” coming on October 17
If you are in the Death Care business you know that the number of cremated remains that reside in peoples’ homes is a large, and more than likey, growing number. Some estimate that…
Can “Roll-ups” work in a “Price-Sensitive” environment
Earlier his week I heard from a couple of people who notified me that Foundation Partners Group (FPG) apparently had a recent round of employee layoffs. That seems to be confirmed by employee and…
Pure Cremation exec: Is the “At-Need choice” death market contracting?
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…
PRENEED
Pure Cremation exec: Is the “At-Need choice” death market contracting?
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
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
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
“Complimentary Disposition”. . . Another uphill climb for the traditional operator?
Recently, to prepare for a presentation at the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) annual convention I’ve been looking into the future to try and see where Death Care is going. And, I’ve been…
OneRoom’s “Stories” feature is proving successful
There seems to be an amazing number of technological advances coming into Death Care that can help funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries enhance the services that they provide. Many of these breakthroughs can…
The Natural Funeral brings Natural Organic Reduction to the local level
In a press release we received last week we learned that The Natural Funeral, Inc. of Colorado is bringing their Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) program to the Northeast and Southeast parts of the United…
