The funeral service community mourns the passing of Tom Johnson, who passed away Thursday, December 21^st.

 

A native of Indiana, Tom Johnson embarked on a remarkable career revolutionizing the funeral service landscape. His journey included significant roles at Batesville Casket Company, International Funeral Service, and Pierce Brothers Mortuaries and Cemeteries, where he propelled the industry forward with visionary leadership and strategic innovations. Tom’s entrepreneurial spirit led to the founding of Prime Succession and later the establishment of Johnson Consulting Group. He served as a Board Member for both Hillenbrand Industries and Great Western Insurance Company. In addition, Tom was a great supporter of the Funeral Service Foundation, where he served on the Board of Trustees.

 

Tom will be remembered for many accomplishments. One of his greatest legacies will be his formation of the long running Memorial Classic Golf tournament hosted annually to honor and remember his friends in funeral service. The Memorial Classic is a philanthropic force that gives back to the funeral service profession. Since becoming a charitable organization, Tom has raised over $1,000,000 through this annual event to provide scholarships in conjunction with the Funeral Service Foundation and the ICCFA Educational Foundation.

 

Tom Johnson’s visionary leadership and exceptional contributions have left an incredible mark on many individuals in the funeral service community.

 

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, December 29 in Batesville, Indiana.  To learn more about those arrangements you can click here to link to the obituary page of Weigel Funeral Home of Batesville.

You can also access information on the services and more from Legacy.com here

 

The following is an exerpt that Funeral Director Daily had written in addition to an article pertaining to the very successful Memorial Classic Golf event.    This message truly rings true more than ever today. . .

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  I was first invited to the Memorial Classic by Tom Johnson in 1991.  Over the next 32 years I have missed only a handful of the annual events.  For me over those 32 years I’ve had friendships created with some of the finest people you could think of. . . . people who are caring for families and moving the greater funeral service profession forward every day.

 

And, I greatly look forward to their company over three or four days every year.

 

Regrettably, many of those people whom I first became friends with in the early days of my tournament experiences have passed away.  Those people had become great friends and mentors to me and the wisdom learned from many of them continues to help me to this day.

 

Fortunately, the circle continues unbroken as each year some of the finest younger funeral professionals that I know replace those who no longer participate.  Every year when I attend the Memorial Classic I remember the wisdom, friendship, and kindness of those who have gone before me and I recognize the newer, younger talent of our profession that is working today to continue the great funeral service legacy of this profession.

 

A Final Note:  I’ve been really blessed to have worked in the funeral service profession and equally blessed more than I deserve in economic aspect of the business.  I can directly relate parts of the business success to listening to the wisdom and advice many gave to me and Tom Johnson is one of those people– and I appreciate that greatly.  And, I don’t think I’m the only one who will say that about the humble man from Batesville, Indiana.

 

As a young funeral director invited to the Memorial Classic I used the opportunity to mingle and learn from the professions best over the four days each year. . . .no where else did this small-town operator have the opportunity presented to him  to talk with the Presidents of Batesville or Aurora Casket on a one-on-one basis. . . or talk with the leaders of SCI. . . or some of the great suppliers or consultants in the business like Mike Dibease, Bill Cutter, Chip Ray, Glenn Gould, Bill Bischoff, and Mike Fleming. . .or the profession’s preneed executives, . . . or some of the great individual funeral home operators such as Joe Weatherford and John Smith, or the legendary consolidators like Bob Horn and Jim Price, or past NFDA Presidents like John Carmon, or simply discuss the profession with some of death care’s historic largest private funeral home owner families.

 

As a young funeral home owner, what I learned and osmosed from just being around these people played a great part in building a funeral business. . . .it is that sense of “being able to help” that is part of what drives me to mentor young people in our profession.

 

Like many others, The Memorial Classic is much more than a golf tournament to me. . . .I’ve become a sponsor and donor and hope that it continues so other young funeral directors may have the same opportunity that I once had.

 

So, thank you Tom Johnson for your vision and leadership of this event over the years.  It’s been greatly appreciated from this 14-handicapper from Minnesota . . .and especially appreciated from those mortuary science students who receive education assistance from the funds that are raised at each and every event.

 

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