A “Reflections by Duey” mural

It was in June 1980 when I was a rookie funeral director that a gentleman stepped into our funeral home and we were introduced for the first time.  The gentleman was another young funeral director who had left the world of funeral directing to become a representative of one of the major casket companies.

That gentleman was Duane “Duey” Williams and we became good friends and partners in the method of putting the proper caskets on the funeral home’s showroom floor that would allow for proper and representative selection by the funeral home’s client families.  You see, I always looked at factory or distributor representatives not as sales people, but as partners who could help me develop the channels of service or merchandise selection that my client families would appreciate.

Duey’s relationship with me — one that led to high client satisfaction — is in that element of what I appreciated about the funeral director profession.  That’s the trusting relationships that were built with many — in the supplier profession, the clergy profession, the cemetery profession, and especially the relationships that were built with the families I served.

I’m proud to say that Duey Williams and I go back over 40 years and even though he has not served as an advisor to me for the last twenty of those years we still visit on the phone at times and I even had the chance to talk in person with him at the NFDA convention in Baltimore.

While Duey had a great career in the casket sales profession he left that over 20 years ago to build a business in the trade show arena.  Specifically, his company designs and builds trade-show booths for exhibitors.  In Baltimore at NFDA, I actually stood with Duey in a very large exhibit space that was designed and built for a major company in the death care space by Duey’s company.

However, Duey has never lost his funeral home roots.  As a matter of fact he has resurrected a product that he originally thought about 20 years ago.  It’s a product that adds to the personalization of services and a product that can set your funeral home apart from others if you use it regularly.  He’s now introducing the product with its 15 different backdrop themes to the funeral home world.  (Click here for the “Reflections by Duey” website to learn more)

“Reflections” is a high resolution backdrop intended to be placed behind the casket or cremation urn in the funeral home during visitations and funerals.  One funeral home user says this about the product, “Being able to customize the experience for families is what separates the truly innovative firms from all the rest.”  

If you’re looking for a way for your funeral home brand to stand out take a look at the options available with “Reflections by Duey”.

Reflections by Duey website

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