Fact can be stranger than fiction: Lone funeral home in one of America’s highest per capita income counties struggles

By Funeral Director Daily March 6, 2025

Many of us have gotten accustomed to watching the television series “Yellowstone” in recent years.  While that series takes place in Montana, a county in Wyoming that borders Idaho and Montana contains 40% of Yellowstone National Park’s total area.  Teton County of Wyoming, also “had the highest average incomes per capita of any county in…

Carriage Services Earnings Call: Lots of cliches come to mind

By Funeral Director Daily March 5, 2025

  I recently read the Carriage Services Earnings Call transcript from last week which pertained to the company’s 4th Quarter of 2024 as well as their financial year end for 2024.  It’s interesting that as I read the transcript, which you can access here from Seeking Alpha, several well-meaning cliches came to my mind. .…

The “Loop Living Cocoon” finds partners, acceptance

By Funeral Director Daily March 4, 2025

  New products come to market all the time. The issues for companies with new products include how to make potential consumers aware of them and how to distribute the product to those consumers.   The Loop Biotech “Living Cocoon” is a new poduct for green burials.  According to an article in Funeral Service Times…

Carriage Services: Executing on Plan?

By Funeral Director Daily March 3, 2025

  Last week public funeral home and cemetery consolidator and operator Carriage Services released their 4th Quarter 2024 and Year End 2024 financial results.  One of the items that the company mentioned in the press release which you can read here is “lower volumes we began experiencing in October”.   I mention that simply because…

Batesville wins patent infringement case

By Funeral Director Daily February 28, 2025

    Earlier this week Funeral Director Daily learned from this press release from Batesville that “the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana awarded summary judgment in favor of Batesville Casket Company, LLC and Batesville Services, LLC and against Vandor Group, Inc., rejecting Vandor’s claims that Batesville’s cardboard rental insert, which the…

BUSINESS

Daughter completes acquisitions of family’s firms

By Funeral Director Daily | June 4, 2026

    According to this article from the Delaware County (PA) Daily Times Bridget Monaghan Wibble has completed the purchase of the historical Oliver H. Bair Funeral Home that was owned by her father since…

Is the “Choice” of cremation a mirage that may disappear??

By Funeral Director Daily | June 3, 2026

  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…

The NFL “Fan Experience” will soon include cremated remains permanent placement

By Funeral Director Daily | June 2, 2026

  This recent article from the Jacksonville Daily Record makes note that the new Jacksonville Jaguars’ football stadium that will be the home of that franchise in the National Football League (NFL) has agreed to…

FINANCE

Public Funeral Home/Cemetery company stock prices have dropped. Why?

By Funeral Director Daily | June 5, 2026

    A friend of mine reached out via text message the other day and asked if I had any idea why the stocks of public company funeral home and cemetery operators Service Corporation International…

Daughter completes acquisitions of family’s firms

By Funeral Director Daily | June 4, 2026

    According to this article from the Delaware County (PA) Daily Times Bridget Monaghan Wibble has completed the purchase of the historical Oliver H. Bair Funeral Home that was owned by her father since…

Funeral homes in Michigan change hands

By Funeral Director Daily | May 26, 2026

  “It’s been a good run.”  That’s what funeral director John Kaatz said according to this newspaper article announcing the sale of four funeral homes that he was associated with.   Kaatz, who succeeded his…

REGULATIONS

The advantages of “Involvement”

By Funeral Director Daily | June 1, 2026

  About two weeks ago I decided to take in the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association convention.  Now, I have not attended that particular convention for 5-7 years and decided to this year only because a…

Connecticut budget includes money for victims of allegedly stolen pre-arrangements

By Funeral Director Daily | May 28, 2026

    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…

Memorial Day 2026 — “Freedom isn’t free”

By Funeral Director Daily | May 25, 2026

    As we stop today to reflect on the memory of not only our military personnel from the Revolutionary War on, we remember that the holiday was officially started to pay respects to those…

CEMETERY

The NFL “Fan Experience” will soon include cremated remains permanent placement

By Funeral Director Daily | June 2, 2026

  This recent article from the Jacksonville Daily Record makes note that the new Jacksonville Jaguars’ football stadium that will be the home of that franchise in the National Football League (NFL) has agreed to…

Crowne Vault shares initiative creating “a path for permanent placement” of cremated remains

By Funeral Director Daily | May 29, 2026

      Crowne Vault, the Indiana-based company that is a leading presence in serving the Death Care profession with American-made cremation vaults is supporting a new initiative for the profession that hopes to bring…

Memorial Day 2026 — “Freedom isn’t free”

By Funeral Director Daily | May 25, 2026

    As we stop today to reflect on the memory of not only our military personnel from the Revolutionary War on, we remember that the holiday was officially started to pay respects to those…

CREMATION

Is the “Choice” of cremation a mirage that may disappear??

By Funeral Director Daily | June 3, 2026

  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…

The NFL “Fan Experience” will soon include cremated remains permanent placement

By Funeral Director Daily | June 2, 2026

  This recent article from the Jacksonville Daily Record makes note that the new Jacksonville Jaguars’ football stadium that will be the home of that franchise in the National Football League (NFL) has agreed to…

Crowne Vault shares initiative creating “a path for permanent placement” of cremated remains

By Funeral Director Daily | May 29, 2026

      Crowne Vault, the Indiana-based company that is a leading presence in serving the Death Care profession with American-made cremation vaults is supporting a new initiative for the profession that hopes to bring…

PRENEED

Connecticut budget includes money for victims of allegedly stolen pre-arrangements

By Funeral Director Daily | May 28, 2026

    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

By Funeral Director Daily | May 27, 2026

  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

By Funeral Director Daily | May 11, 2026

  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

Is the “Choice” of cremation a mirage that may disappear??

By Funeral Director Daily | June 3, 2026

  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…

The NFL “Fan Experience” will soon include cremated remains permanent placement

By Funeral Director Daily | June 2, 2026

  This recent article from the Jacksonville Daily Record makes note that the new Jacksonville Jaguars’ football stadium that will be the home of that franchise in the National Football League (NFL) has agreed to…

Crowne Vault shares initiative creating “a path for permanent placement” of cremated remains

By Funeral Director Daily | May 29, 2026

      Crowne Vault, the Indiana-based company that is a leading presence in serving the Death Care profession with American-made cremation vaults is supporting a new initiative for the profession that hopes to bring…