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
Canadian funeral firm sells three funeral homes to non-profit organization
We learned last week from this article in the Peterborough (Ontario) Examiner that the Hendren Funeral Homes have sold their three funeral homes to Opus Tribute Group. According to the article, “Opus Tribute Group…
Jefferson movie to soon be streaming
It’s been about three years since we told you that Producer Dean Jones and actor Kevin Sorbo were filming the production of a movie based on the real-life of funeral director Danny Jefferson. …
Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA
Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA? A reader sent me an article earlier this week that brings these three topics into a Venn diagram sort of picture for me. First of all, the…
FINANCE
Propel Funeral Partners acquires three firms, provides guidance
Propel Funeral Partners recently announced that they had acquired three funeral businesses that operate out of four separate properties and do an approximate combined 700 services annually. The company announced that the aggregate revenue…
Canadian funeral firm sells three funeral homes to non-profit organization
We learned last week from this article in the Peterborough (Ontario) Examiner that the Hendren Funeral Homes have sold their three funeral homes to Opus Tribute Group. According to the article, “Opus Tribute Group…
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…
REGULATIONS
Canadian funeral firm sells three funeral homes to non-profit organization
We learned last week from this article in the Peterborough (Ontario) Examiner that the Hendren Funeral Homes have sold their three funeral homes to Opus Tribute Group. According to the article, “Opus Tribute Group…
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…
Current Events and Death Care
I got up yesterday morning and took a look at the news feed that I recieve in my e-mail inbox. I started looking at the headlines of the articles and realized that each one…
CEMETERY
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…
Cuba’s crisis with death
Cuba, the island country only 90 miles off the Florida coast has a crisis with death and Death Care. If you look at the Wikipedia page for Cuba you will notice that the population…
CREMATION
Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA
Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA? A reader sent me an article earlier this week that brings these three topics into a Venn diagram sort of picture for me. First of all, the…
Cuba’s crisis with death
Cuba, the island country only 90 miles off the Florida coast has a crisis with death and Death Care. If you look at the Wikipedia page for Cuba you will notice that the population…
Is the “Choice” of cremation a mirage that may disappear??
On a rainy Monday Minnesota morning earlier this week I was doing my run indoors on the treadmill while I watched CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” business news broadcast. On that show Softbank CEO…
PRENEED
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…
Consumer Preneed motivations from Homesteaders survey results
Preneed insurance provider Homesteaders Life Company released their 8th annual Preneed Motivators survey last week. According to this press release from which you can download your own copy of the survey results, “. .…
SCI Earnings Call: CEO Tom Ryan answers on Preneed and Managing
Service Corporation International reported on their 1st Quarter of 2026 about ten days ago and then followed that up with an Earnings Call with stock analysts that follow the company. As usual Funeral Director…
PRODUCTS
Jefferson movie to soon be streaming
It’s been about three years since we told you that Producer Dean Jones and actor Kevin Sorbo were filming the production of a movie based on the real-life of funeral director Danny Jefferson. …
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…
Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA
Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA? A reader sent me an article earlier this week that brings these three topics into a Venn diagram sort of picture for me. First of all, the…
