Last week I again had the privilige to attend what is now known as the “Tom Johnson Memorial Classic“.  The “Classic” is part golf, part Death Care, but is really all about “Relationship Building and Friendship”.  This year’s “Classic” was the 41st annual event.

I’ve been to about 25 or so of these events over the 30-plus years that I’ve been invited. . . . and the event has never failed to live up to my expectations.  This year’s event was different for me though — as the founder and man who originally invited me was not present at the event.  Tom Johnson died in December 2023.

Tom Johnson
1950-2023

Johnson had an incredible career in funeral service. . . . . growing up in Batesville, Indiana, he attended school at Butler University on a baseball scholarship and right out of college accepted a position with his hometown Batesville Casket.  He went on to work for International Funeral Service  followed by managing and growing the Pierce Brothers Mortuaries and Cemeteries in Los Angeles.  Tom then became Founder, President, and CEO of Prime Succession – a funeral home and cemetery operation that grew to about 184 facilities in a short period of time.

Following the sale of Prime Succession, Johnson’s next act and what many of us remember him as was that of Founder of Johnson Consulting Group — a premier funeral home consulting company now headed by his son, Jake Johnson.

While the man was obviously very good at business. . . from my point of view, his expertise that was better than anybody else, came from his ability to build relationships with anybody.  I was a 150-call, 34-year old funeral home owner when I sought his counsel.  At a time when he was managing a business with about 184 units under his direction, he never failed to pick up the phone and answer my questions.   Over 20 years after our first conversation he guided me on the succession plan and executed the sale of my funeral business.

There is no doubt that he built a solid relationship with me and I became a better funeral home owner/operator, and quite frankly, a better human being for having these conversations with him.  Those conversations led to an invitation to the Memorial Classic and an opportunity that few in our profession get — an opportunity that I am still grateful for and to this day do not take for granted.  It’s simply a privilige to be invited to the “Tom Johnson Memorial Classic”.

I didn’t play very good golf last week, but quite frankly that’s not what matters at the “Tom Johnson Memorial Classic”.  I met new people and picked up on old relationships with those that I’d met before  —  That’s what it is about now.  As a matter of fact, in Tom’s memory, Batesville Casket commissioned “Remembrance Coins” for all participants with the “Classic logo” on the front and Tom Johnson’s signature on the back.  In addition, on the back of the coin they captioned Tom’s mantra with the slogan, “It’s about relationships“.

As we age it appears that we like to think about the future. . . and in funeral service the future of our profession.  Tom Johnson was no different.  It was about golf and about relationships, but sometime in the past decade or so, the Memorial Classic also became about philanthrophy.  And, philanthropy to funeral service students specifically.

Over that time period the Tom Johnson Memorial Classic has raised over $1,000,000 for funeral service students with the money raised passed on to the Funeral Service Foundation and the International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association (ICCFA) Education Foundation to disburse.

According to a count of late last week (donations may still be coming in) the 2024 Tom Johnson Memorial Classic had totaled in excess of $150,000 in contributions from this year’s event.  In an e-mail I received from Jake Johnson he said, “I was just overwhelmed with the generosity.  Dad would be proud of the group!”

The Obituary of Thomas H. Johnson

By the way — Tom Johnson was a humble human being. . . He never added his name to the event — it was added by his friends and colleagues out of their admiration and respect for the man.  May God Bless the memory of Tom Johnson.

You can learn a little more about the Tom Johnson Memorial Classic here.

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