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October 2015
MAGAZINE
CEMETERY
CREMATION
FUNERAL
Cremation: Di Troia
works to inspire
memorialization
Cremation:
• Lemasters on cremation
& the Funeral Rule, how
to avoid common mistakes
• Stuart on what every
funeral director should
know about cremation
• Cremation projects
in Michigan, Wisconsin,
British Columbia,
Toronto and New York
Celebrants:
• Stansbury on serving the
growing numbers of ‘nones’
• Funeral director, celebrant
show how they work together
Gould on hamburgers,
funeral service &
the new competition
Cemeteries:
• Mount Auburn’s
memorial conservation
• Why visit a cemetery?
• Evoking reverence
• Restoring the grave of
the man who played God
Van Beck on why you
should keep your cool
ICCFAU yearbook
SALES TIP
•••
••
OF THE WEEK
PRESENTED BY the ICCFA’S
WIDE WORLD OF SALES CONFERENCE
ONE PROFESSION
U N IT E D B Y S A L E S
2016 SALES OLYMPICS
in LAS VEGAS
January 13-15 • MONTE CARLO • $64 room
Program, page 107
Registration form, page 111
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O C TOBER 2 0 1 5
International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association ®:
Promoting consumer choices, prearrangement and open competition
Providing exceptional education, networking and legislative guidance and support
to progressive cemetery, funeral and cremation professionals worldwide
16Cremation/Legal issues
J.P. and Tina Di Troia in one of the niche
areas at US Columbarium at Fresh Pond
Crematory, Middle Village, New York.
Story, page 20.
12President’s Letter
Help put an end to cremation
by Darin B. Drabing
14 Washington Report
The Supreme Court’s power
by Robert M. Fells, Esq.
74Supply Line
82Update
82 Woodlawn Cemetery
will be classroom for
stone masonry students
84 Columbarium extends life
of historic Catholic cemetery
86 Island Funeral Services
dedicates new columbarium
88 Energy-efficient columbaria
use solar, geothermal energy
90 Michigan Memorial
makes creative use of niches
92 Centennial Park and
Carmon Community
Funeral Home promote art
1 12 New Members
1 12 Calendar
113 Funeral museum
plans patriotic tributes,
focus on the holidays
113 Funeral museum,
CANA plan cremation
exhibit, seek artifacts
1 14 Ad Index
1 14 Classifieds
6
ICCFA Magazine
Cremation & the Funeral Rule: Avoiding 3 common mistakes
Do you know what the Funeral Rule says about cremation?
Are you sure your firm’s practices and price lists are in compliance?
by Poul Lemasters, Esq.
20cremation/community outreach
Cremationist Di Troia works to inspire memorialization
With cremation gaining in popularity every year, being in charge
of a crematory should be easy, at least as far as marketing is concerned,
right? Not if you want the crematory to be part of the community,
and the community to understand the importance of choosing a final
resting place.
interview of J.P. Di Troia by Susan Loving
34cremation
What every funeral director should know about cremation
Simply adding “& Cremation” to your funeral home’s name is not
enough to give cremation families confidence in you and your firm.
Families have questions, and you need to be able to answer them
without calling your crematory operator for help.
by Larry Stuart Jr.
38celebrants/cremation
Send in the ‘nones’: Is your funeral home ready for them?
Your target audience right now is baby boomers, right? Partly. But
what about their children, the millennials, who will be in charge of
making or carrying out their parents’ arrangements? Do you offer what
they are willing to pay for?
by Glenda Stansbury, CC, CFSP
44celebrants
Coordinating a service for a woman who raced through life with a
smile The service started with the sound of a motorcycle revving up
and racing off into the distance. It told the story of a woman who died
too soon but packed a lot of life and love into 55 short years.
by Susan Loving
50MANAGEMENT
Hamburgers & funeral service: Both facing new competitors that
could eat their lunch What does your funeral home have in common
with McDonald’s? More than you might think. Funeral service is facing some of the same challenges as the burger chain, and there are no
easy answers.
by Glenn H. Gould
“Like” the ICCFA on Facebook & friend “ICCFA Staff ”
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page 7
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TAB L E OF C ONTENTS
52CEMETERIES/COMMUNITY OUTREACH
ICCFA news
5 reasons to visit a cemetery
A cemetery shouldn’t be a place where families visit only when an
interment or inurnment is taking place. There are lots of reasons
to visit a cemetery, and it’s our job to make sure people hear them.
by Linda Darby-Dowers
103 KIP Award Submission
deadline November 30
103 Cremation Central
ICCFA, associations parter
for cremation programs
56Cemetery design & architecture
104 Keynote speakers
secured for 2016
ICCFA Annual Convention
Creating indoor spaces that evoke a sense of reverence
How do you capture the reverent feeling evoked by a walk through
nature when you move gravesites indoors? It can be done, but it must
be planned for.
by Donald Samick
105 ICCFA member satisfaction
survey: Tell us what you think
62cemetery preservation
Mount Auburn’s efforts restore treasured memorial
The elements can be hard on monuments, especially historic marble
ones. Mount Auburn Cemetery shows how a monument can be
conserved to reveal its original beauty, step by step.
by Meg L. Winslow and Melissa Banta
66Cemetery preservation
Biographer seeks funds to restore grave of the man who played God
George Arliss was a multitalented, Academy Award-winning actor
who left a legacy documented by biographer Bob Fells. Now Fells is
working to restore Arliss’ gravesite. It took years to get permission;
now all he needs is the funding.
by Robert M. Fells, Esq.
70PRofessional Development
If you want to do well in life and work, don’t argue
Winning an argument is a good way to lose friends, respect and
business. If you want to generate goodwill and be successful,
learn to listen more and argue less. In fact, don’t argue at all.
by Todd W. Van Beck, CFuE
94 PRofessional Development/ICCFA News
ICCFA University The best educational experience in the
cemetery, cremation and funeral profession
94 Valedictory speech Bring humility and a drive to improve
to ICCFAU
by Daniel Thomas
October 2015
VOLUME 75/NUMBER 8
ICCFA officers
Darin B. Drabing, president
Michael Uselton, CCFE, president-elect
Jay D. Dodds, CFSP, vice president
Paul Goldstein, vice president
Christine Toson Hentges, CCE,
vice president
Scott R. Sells, CCFE, vice president
Gary M. Freytag, CCFE, treasurer
Daniel L. Villa, secretary
Robert M. Fells, Esq., executive director &
general counsel
Robert Treadway, director of
communications & member services
[email protected]; 1.800.645.7700, ext. 1224
Katherine Devins, communications assistant
Magazine staff
Robert M. Fells, Esq., executive director &
publisher
[email protected] ; 1.800.645.7700, ext. 1212
Rick Platter, supplier relations manager
Brenda Clough, office administrator
& association liaison
[email protected]; 1.800.645.7700,
ext. 1214
Susan Loving, managing editor
[email protected]
8
ICCFA Magazine
Daniel Osorio, subscription coordinator
(habla español)
ICCFA Magazine (ISSN 1936-2099) is published by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association®, 107 Carpenter
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President’s Letter
by ICCFA
2015-2016
President Darin
B. Drabing
[email protected]
➤Drabing is president
and CEO of Forest Lawn
Memorial-Parks &
Mortuaries.
www.forestlawn.com
n To apply for ICCFA
membership:
➤ Download an application
at www.iccfa.com, or
➤ Call 1.800.645.7700
f
12
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ICCFA Magazine
Help put an end to cremation
D
uring my term as the ICCFA president, I’ve cremated remains home, to continue to hold on. In
had the privilege of attending a variety of
those instances, it’s our job to educate families that
conferences and events across the country.
possession of cremated remains in a home is only
Without fail, they’ve all shared a common theme: a
temporary. A day will come when a decision must
focus on cremation. My most recent travels led me
ultimately be made about permanent disposition.
to CANA’s annual convention in San Diego, where
What is the family’s plan for the cremated
I witnessed several presentations and learned much
remains if they move? What will happen to the
about the statistical rise in cremation throughout
cremated remains when the person keeping them
the United States and Canada. There was an array
dies, and who then will have the legal responsibility
of terrific suppliers offering access to the latest in
for their permanent disposition? Where in the house
technology and
will the remains
merchandise.
be kept—a place
There was no one,
of prominence
however, really
or, eventually, a
focused on the
closet or garage?
end of cremation.
We all know
With
this happens,
cremation rates
and we all know
over 70 percent
how the story
in some areas,
ends—poorly.
it’s obvious
Cremated remains
that cremation
are sometimes
One of Forest Lawn’s many cremation memorialization areas.
is a perfectly
misplaced, aban
acceptable choice in dealing with the realities of
doned and, on occasion, discarded unceremoniously.
death. In fact, cremation opens a huge window
We are fortunate that our suppliers have created
of opportunity for celebration, remembrance and
an abundance of options for families to “hold on”
memorialization that doesn’t exist with full-body
while still letting go. Keepsakes, small urns, jewelry,
burial. What isn’t “perfectly acceptable” is the lack
Thumbies, Memory Glass, artwork, tattoos—the
of education, support and follow-through provided
possibilities for remembrances are many and
to families who choose cremation. I think it’s time
growing. These products accommodate the desire to
for our profession to take responsibility for our
hold on to a loved one while still honoring the belief
failure to put an “end” to cremation.
that every life lived needs a permanent memorial.
We all know how the story goes; it plays
Cremation is not a final disposition, merely a
out time and time again in funeral homes and
step along the path of many decisions to be made
cremation societies across the land: “We would like when someone dies. The cremated remains of an
cremation.” Our response: “I understand. Our price
individual deserve the same respect and reverence
for cremation is $X. We can schedule the cremation that society shows to remains accorded full-body
for next week and we will call you when you can
burial. We should anticipate, expect and assume
pick up the cremated remains.” OK, that may be a
that a family will select a final resting place for the
bit harsh, but it does happen, in varying degrees.
cremated remains at the time of arrangement. And,
I know many providers suggest having a service more important, we should be working closely with
before, or after, the cremation and provide a choice
cemeteries to facilitate the selection of a final resting
of urns—but not much more. Rarely do we suggest
place, the coordination of a committal ceremony
a permanent memorial in a cemetery. If we did, we
and the placement of an appropriate memorial to
would see it happen more often. Instead, the end of
stand the test of time.
cremation in our profession is often the solemn walk
Death is part of the human experience. The
to the car, carrying the cremated remains for family
emotion, the ceremony, the memorial—all are
members who believe their only alternatives were to important. Let’s not sell our cremation families
take the urn home or scatter the remains somewhere short by not finishing our jobs. Help put an end to
at a future time and date.
cremation. Let’s do our best to make certain there
The end of every cremation should be a
is a service to honor a life lived and a permanent
permanent memorial—somewhere.
memorial where future generations can come to
I realize the desire in all of us to hold on to those remember. Creating meaning at a time of loss is our
we love, to not let go, even in death. Cremation
reason for being. We create meaning by putting a
facilitates that desire by allowing families to take
r
proper end to cremation.
Perfect Memorials AD
FULL PAGE
page 13
4-COLOR
Washington Report
by ICCFA General
Counsel Robert M.
Fells, Esq.
rfells
@iccfa.com
1.800.645.7700,
ext. 1212
direct line:
703.391.8401
➤Fells is ICCFA executive
director and general counsel,
responsible for maintaining and
improving relationships with
federal and state government
agencies, the news media,
consumer organizations and
related trade associations.
More from this author
➤Funeral Radio. ICCFA
General Counsel Robert Fells,
Esq., talks about legal and
legislative issues affecting
funeral, cemetery and cremation businesses at
www.funeralradio.com.
More resources
➤Wireless. ICCFA members,
send us your email address and
we’ll send you our bi-weekly
electronic newsletter full of
breaking news.
www.iccfa.com
Model guidelines
ICCFA Government and Legal
Affairs Committee’s model
guidelines for state laws and
regulations
Washington Report
Recent columns are available
online
14
ICCFA Magazine
The Supreme Court’s power
T
here is perhaps no court in the entire world
that commands the attention of ordinary
people as much as our own U.S. Supreme
Court. You don’t have to be a lawyer, you don’t
even have to like lawyers, to perk up when a new
Supreme Court decision is announced. The court
is the top point of one of the three branches of the
federal government. The executive (president) and
the legislative (Congress) are elected. Their terms
have limits and they must either be re-elected every
few years or, in the case of the president, must
step down after two terms. The individuals in the
third branch (judicial) are not elected by the people
and, in the case of the Supreme Court, receive
lifetime appointments upon being nominated by the
president and approved by the Senate. This is all
according to the Founding Fathers’ plans, but some
observers are wondering if more accountability
should be required of Supreme Court justices.
Even though nobody elected it, the Supreme
Court is an equal partner with the president and
Congress. The idea is that through a system of
“checks and balances” each branch of government
acts as a check on the other two so none can
usurp power. Thus, a law cannot be enacted
unless approved by a majority of both houses of
Congress and signed by the president. Neither the
executive nor the legislative branch can enact a law
without the approval of the other. A further check
is provided by the Supreme Court in that if a duly
enacted law is challenged as being unconstitutional,
the court has the power to strike it down or to
confirm that it is indeed constitutional. So far, so
good, but there is a problem. Where is the check on
the Supreme Court?
Theoretically, the Supreme Court can strike
down laws enacted by Congress and the president,
and nobody can stop it. In some situations,
Congress goes back to the drawing board and
passes a revised version of legislation the court
found fault with. This happened most memorably
in the 1930s, when President Roosevelt signed
New Deal legislation passed by Congress to help
cope with the Great Depression. The Supreme
Court ruled that the National Recovery Act
contained unconstitutional provisions and struck
it down. Subsequently, Congress passed a new
version designed to address the court’s concerns
and FDR signed it into law. Again, the Supreme
Court examined the legislation, this time finding
that it passed constitutional muster. One of history’s
great questions is whether the court was influenced
by FDR’s threat to “pack” thecourt by appointing
additional justices to obtain more favorable rulings.
In addition to canceling duly enacted laws, the
court also can change or amend laws, thus in effect
making new laws.
It is important to note that the Supreme
Court has limited jurisdiction. It has “original”
jurisdiction when examining federal statutes and
regulations. It also has jurisdiction concerning
disputes between the states. A current example
of this is the case of whether same-sex marriages
performed in states that allow them must be
recognized by states that don’t. So the Supreme
Court has the power to decide what laws a state
may or may not have. That’s a lot of power without
much of a check on it.
Perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of the
Supreme Court’s power involves the fact that its
jurisdiction extends only to issues of legality, not to
issues of morality. In other words, the court has no
jurisdiction over the Ten Commandments. Rulings
through the years such as the Roe v. Wade decision
that authorized legal abortions have been criticized
in some quarters because they did not address the
morality of the question.
Historically, the civil law and the moral law
seem to have run parallel to each other, but this
began to change in the early 1960s. At that time,
the court made a series of rulings concerning
prayer, religion and indeed God in the public
school system. These decisions outraged many
Americans because the effect of the rulings
prohibited organized prayer in public schools and
banned a copy of the Bible or even a picture of the
Ten Commandments from classrooms.
The court was merely affirming the “separ
ation of church and state,” though some legal
scholars criticized the decisions by pointing out
that the First Amendment was meant to protect
religion from intrusion by the government, not
to protect the government from religion. At any
rate, the court made its decisions on legalistic, not
moralistic grounds. It remains an open question of
whether the Supreme Court should include some
moral considerations in its rulings or continue to
issue a series of technocratic decisions with little
or no moral underpinnings. For example, does the
government have any moral obligation to urge its
citizens to a certain level of conduct as a matter
of public policy? In other words, just because an
activity is legal, can it nevertheless be discouraged?
Smoking comes to mind, so there is precedent for
this idea.
The bottom line is that however the Supreme
Court rules, it does not condone or address our
personal behavior, ethics or moral responsibilities
on the issue. There’s another Judge in charge of
r
that.
Supernova AD
FULL PAGE
page 15
4-COLOR
by Poul Lemasters, Esq.
C REMATION / L EGA L ISSUES
Do you know what the Funeral Rule
says about cremation? Are you sure your firm’s
practices and price lists are in compliance?
Cremation & the Funeral Rule:
Avoiding 3 common mistakes
513.407.8114
[email protected]
ICCFA Magazine author spotlight
➤Lemasters is principal of Lemasters
Consulting, Cincinnati, Ohio.
www.lemastersconsulting.com
➤He is an attorney and funeral director,
graduated from the Cincinnati College of
Mortuary Science in 1996 and from Northern Kentucky University, Chase College of
Law, in 2003. He is licensed as a funeral
director and embalmer in Ohio and West
Virginia and admitted to practice law in
Ohio and Kentucky.
ICCFA membership benefit
➤He is the ICCFA’s special crema-
tion legal counsel. ICCFA members in
good standing may call him to discuss
cremation-related legal issues for up to 20
minutes at no charge to the member. The
association pays for this service via an
exclusive retainer.
➤Lemasters also provides, to ICCFA members in good standing, free GPL reviews to
check for Funeral Rule compliance.
➤ Go to www.iccfa.com to the Cremation
Coaching Center, where you can post a
question for Lemasters to answer.
➤Lemasters will be one of the trainers at
the ICCFA’s upcoming Crematory Operator Certification workshops, November 13
in Kirkland, Washington, and November
19 in Columbus, Ohio. More details on
page 103, or go to www.iccfa.com and
click on “Events” to register.
16
ICCFA Magazine
I
t is amazing that after 30 years, the
funeral profession still struggles
with the Funeral Rule. The Funeral
Rule was enacted by the Federal Trade
Commission in 1984 and remains the
federal oversight for any funeral provider
that provides both funeral goods and
services. Yet here we are dealing with
violations of a rule that was written 30
years ago, has been taught for 30 years to
every funeral professional and continues to
be a subject for continuing education.
How do we know that the funeral
profession is still struggling with the Funeral
Rule? Because every year the FTC conducts
undercover inspections of funeral providers
to make sure they are in compliance with the
Funeral Rule. And every year the FTC finds
offenders. (www.ftc.gov/news-events/pressreleases/2015/05/undercover-inspectionsfuneral-homes-six-states-prompt-compliance)
How many offenders? It varies from year
to year, but on average, about 25 percent fail.
For example, the latest report showed that 27
out of 100 funeral providers inspected had
significant violations. (Significant violations
typically means that a provider failed to offer
the General Price List at the required time).
Sadly, from the statistics available, it actually
looks like the situation is getting worse, not
better.
While there are many provisions of the
Funeral Rule, this article focuses on the
provisions that relate to direct cremation.
The rule has several references to cremation.
The following three sections do not represent
every requirement of the Funeral Rule, but
do cover some of the most prevalent and
common cremation violations and issues.
1. Embalming disclosure. This disclosure
states that state law usually does not require
embalming and therefore certain services/
arrangements do not require embalming and
therefore embalming cannot be required. The
exact disclosure is as follows:
Except in certain special cases, embalm
ing is not required by law. Embalming may
be necessary, however, if you select certain
funeral arrangements, such as a funeral
with viewing. If you do not want embalming,
you usually have the right to choose an
arrangement that does not require you to pay
for it, such as direct cremation or immediate
burial.
This disclosure must be placed in imme
diate conjunction (those are the words of the
FTC), which means directly next to the price
for embalming. Also, if your state does have a
law on requiring embalming you can add this
after the FTC statement. As a best practice, it
is important to remember that embalming is
not a required item in most states.
Many cremation providers are struggling
with embalming and cremation when it
comes to identification. Again, there is no law
that requires embalming for identification
of human remains. Therefore, you cannot
require embalming for the identification
process.
However, there are states that now require
identification as part of the cremation process,
and if identification is required (either by state
law or by the crematory), then the provider
can charge for the identification. If you do
charge for the identification, it must be listed
on the GPL.
2. Alternative containers for direct
cremation disclosure. This disclosure
lets consumers know that they may use an
alternative container for cremation and that
a casket is not required. The exact disclosure
states:
If you want to arrange a direct cremation,
you can use an alternative container.
Alternative containers encase the body and
can be made of materials like fiberboard or
composition materials (with or without an
outside covering). The containers we provide
are (specify containers).
➤to page 18
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C REMATION / L EGA L ISSUES
The last item that causes issues is failure to carry pricing forward to the Casket Price List.
Many providers want to have a Casket Price List as well as an Alternative Casket Price List.
The Funeral Rule does not recognize these as separate price lists.
➤from page 16
As far as placement of this disclosure, it
should be in immediate conjunction (again,
the FTC’s words) with the price range for
direct cremation. Make sure that you properly
identify your containers, as well.
Best practice is to clearly identify the type
of containers you provide. Many providers
are fearful/embarrassed to use words like
cardboard, even though that is the type of
container they provide. It is very important
to not overly embellish your container
descriptions. (I am sure there is a joke in
there about men overly embellishing the
description of their containers, but I will leave
it alone).
One reason it is important to identify the
alternative container properly is in the case
of an alleged wrongful cremation. Imagine
that you are accused of cremating the wrong
individual. The first part of the lawsuit will
involve discovery, which will include all
documentation from you and the crematory
about the cremation.
When your Cremation Authorization
Form is reviewed, it identifies the alternative
container as pressed wood or wood-lined
or perhaps by a fancy name like “The
Legacy.” Now we compare this to the
crematory documents—the crematory log,
where the cremation container is described
as a cardboard box. So it appears the box
cremated is not the one provided by the
funeral home.
This type of confusion can be cleared up,
but it takes time, education and, oh yeah,
money. By using the same terminology as the
crematory we avoid these little issues.
3) Direct cremation listing. The Funeral
Rule requires that providers list certain
services, if in fact the provider offers them.
One of those items is “direct cremation.”
If you offer direct cremation (read below
to see if you do) then you must include a
price range (FTC’s wording again!) that
includes a price for the direct cremation if
the consumer provided their own casket or
alternative container and a price for each
direct cremation you offer with an alternative
container.
If you offer several alternative containers,
then you must list a description of each
container and the corresponding price. The
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ICCFA Magazine
following is the suggested listing (FTC.gov,
excerpt from Sample Casket Price List):
Direct Cremation $______ to $______
Our charge for a direct cremation (without
ceremony) includes: basic services of funeral
director and staff; a proportionate share
of overhead costs; removal of remains;
transportation to crematory; necessary
authorizations and cremation.
If you want to arrange a direct cremation,
you can use an alternative container.
Alternative containers encase the body and
can be made of materials like fiberboard or
composition materials (with or without an
outside covering). The containers we provide
are a fiberboard container or an unfinished
wood box.
A. Direct cremation with container
provided by the purchaser
$______
B. Direct cremation with a fiberboard
container$______
C. Direct cremation with an unfinished
wood box
$______
Let me first say that failure to list an
appropriate price range is the most common
violation of the rule that I see when reviewing
GPLs. (If you are an ICCFA member in good
standing, I will review your price lists for
compliance—for free!)
The most common mistake is that
providers simply list one price for direct
cremation. Again, and as stated above, this
is wrong because the provider must provide
a range to show the lowest price (typically
this would be the direct cremation with the
consumer supplying their own cremation
container) and the highest option (which
could simply be the direct cremation
including the alternative container or direct
cremation with the highest-priced casket
available for cremation).
The best practice for listing direct
cremation is to list a full range of the options
available, use proper naming and remember
to carry forward the pricing into your Casket
Price List. The full range of options should
identify all alternative containers you offer.
This may include several options, ranging
from cardboard to hardwood.
In regards to the naming, keep in mind
that the listing is “Direct Cremation.” A
provider must use this exact wording and
cannot change it.
There are two caveats to the naming.
First, if you do not offer direct cremation,
you do not have to list it. That’s the theory.
But if you offer cremation in any form, the
FTC has stated that your offerings must
include direct cremation. The FTC’s logic is
that if you can offer cremation as part of a
package, then you can offer direct cremation
with nothing.
So, the short answer is, if you offer
cremation, you must include a direct
cremation selection.
The second caveat is that you can have
another name for a cremation package as long
as it is different than your direct cremation
offering. For example, you could have
the “100 Percent Cremation Satisfaction”
package that provides cremation with some
memorialization. This package (and its name)
is OK because it is an offering of cremation
(not direct cremation) with other items.
The consumer can still choose direct
cremation and compare direct cremation with
other providers, but you are now adding other
choices, which is allowed. Providers have
tried to remove or rename the choice “Direct
Cremation,” and that is not allowed.
The last item that causes issues is failure to
carry pricing forward to the Casket Price List.
Many providers want to have a Casket Price
List as well as an Alternative Casket Price
List. The Funeral Rule does not recognize
these as separate price lists.
Therefore, your Casket Price List should
include all alternative containers available
to the consumer. This means your range
for casket prices will include alternative
containers as well as caskets.
Overall, the Funeral Rule actually has
few specifics about cremation. In fact,
many people ask why there isn’t a required
Urn Price List. The reason is simple: In
1984, when the Funeral Rule was adopted,
cremation wasn’t anywhere near as prevalent
as it is now.
Today, with cremation poised to
become the preferred method of disposition
nationwide, and consumers and providers
looking for and offering new cremation
options, it is important to know the basics to
avoid violations of the Funeral Rule. It is also
important to make sure that your practices
limit your liability rather than the reverse. r
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interview by ICCFA Magazine
Managing Editor Susan Loving
[email protected]
CREMATION/COMMUNITY OUTREACH
ICCFA Magazine subject spotlight
➤J.P. Di Troia is
president of U.S.
Columbarium Co.
at Fresh Pond
Crematory, Middle
Village, New York.
He started with the
organization in 1967.
With cremation gaining in popularity every year,
being in charge of a crematory should be easy, at least as
far as marketing is concerned, right? Not if you want the crematory
to be part of the community, and the community to understand the
importance of choosing a final resting place.
➤ He is a past board
member of the Metro
politan Cemetery
Association and
chairs the MCA Cremation Committee.
He has served as a committee member
of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors
Association since 1979. He has written
numerous articles about the industry and
is involved in the community via Kiwanis
International.
[email protected]
www.freshpondcrematory.com
Niches in the Gothic section of US Columbarium at Fresh Pond Crematory, one of
the oldest in the country, dating back to the 19th century.
Above, a screen shot
from the YouTube
video in which J.P. Di
Troia talks about cremation and the need
for memorialization.
Right, the QR code
that leads you to the video. Di Troia is
considering the possibilities of using
QR codes on niches to expand the possibilities for memorialization.
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ICCFA Magazine
Cremationist Di Troia works
to inspire memorialization
J
.P. Di Troia doesn’t have to
market cremation services.
The ever-increasing cre
mation rate keeps the four retorts
at Fresh Pond Crematory busy
doing about five cremations a
day. But he does have to talk to
people about remembrance and
memorialization.
Di Troia loves talking about
remembrance and memorialization. He
talks about it every chance he gets, and you
don’t have to meet him to hear him. There’s
a video on YouTube in which he talks
about Fresh Pond Crematory and about the
importance of memorialization.
Fresh Pond Crematory/US Cremation/
US Columbarium has a long history, one
of which Di Troia is proud. He
feels the ambiance offered by
the historic buildings are a big
part of their attraction, but he
is firmly focused on the future,
looking for ways to entice new
generations to embrace cremation
memorialization and consider
spending eternity at US Columbarium.
ICCFA Magazine talked to Di Troia
about his years at the crematory, what has
changed, how he promotes remembrance and
memorialization and how he does community
outreach at the columbarium.
You’ve been at the crematory a long time,
haven’t you?
I started here in 1967, when I was 17 years
Above, Fresh
Pond Crematory. Far left,
a baseballthemed niche,
complete with a
ball signed by
Yogi Berra, that
Di Troia set up
as a display to
inspire sales.
Left, the chapel,
with secular
stained glass,
welcoming to
different faiths.
Above, Di Troia leads a memorial service in the columbarium. His grandson,
13-year-old Christian Di Troia, is performing. Right, the first year that donations were accepted for Toys for Tots, four boxes were filled.
Start every day at the ICCFA Café at www.iccfa.com
October 2015
21
I would recommend working at a cemetery to anyone. You learn about so many things
—contracts, public relations, grief, how to deal with people.
Left top, the crematory, columbarium and chapel in the 19th century. Above, a different view of the buildings. Left bottom, a section of the columbarium in 1950.
old. I worked in the office, before computers,
back when you had to compose letters in your
head and write them on a typewriter.
Working at a crematory doesn’t seem like
the sort of thing a teen-ager would want to
do—not a way to impress girls!
It takes getting used to. When we were
dating, my wife said, “You work where?”
My uncle was in the business, and I used
to come in when I was younger. Some of
the people were really nice. I remember
the president’s brother made me feel like a
million dollars.
So I was familiar with the place, and my
uncle asked me if I’d like to come into the
business. His goal was to eventually have
me replace him. So the management has
been family-related, but the crematory is not
family-owned.
It’s actually a cemetery corporation,
a membership corporation. We have a
board and niche owners, and our fiduciary
obligation is to them. We’re a 501(c)13 notfor-profit organization, which is common in
New York.
What jobs did you do there between working
in the office as a teen-ager and becoming
president?
I went from office work to sales, and then I
was superintendent, vice president and then
president. I’ve also handled cremations.
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ICCFA Magazine
The old buildings pictured above have
not been torn down. They are inside the
walls seen here.
That was a great learning experience for
me. I actually learned how to save fuel by
instituting certain procedures.
You could say I’ve been everywhere in
these buildings, from inside the retorts to on
top of the roof, from the basement to the attic.
I would recommend working at a
cemetery to anyone. You learn about so many
things—contracts, public relations, grief, how
to deal with people.
My brother recently asked me how I
do this job. I told him it’s partly being a
counselor, caring and understanding what
people need. And 95 percent of the time,
people thank us at the end. They thank us
because we made a difficult job easier. They
were dealing with loss and we were caring
and understanding.
What changes have you seen in the industry
during your years here?
You know what’s really interesting? Years
ago, we insisted on the family witnessing the
cremation. Can you believe that? We had a
spot on the form: “Family witnessed.” I don’t
know why.
I guess it was too upsetting for some
people, so they stopped. But we always
had the window for viewing, and now more
people are witnessing. Some of it is coming
from the cultures that require it, such as the
Hindus and the Japanese.
I find it interesting that each culture has
their own way of doing things, but there are
commonalities between some. Muslims, Jews
and Buddhists all wrap the body in a sheet. I
guess you’re supposed to go out of this world
the way you came in.
Why are there three different names
associated with the organization?
Fresh Pond Crematory is our trade name.
US Cremation was the name of our private
company, owned by stockholders. It was a
for-profit company, but then it merged with
Fresh Pond Crematory, which is non-profit.
Now we’re fully not-for-profit.
And our real name is US Columbarium,
doing business as US Cremation, doing
business as Fresh Pond Crematory. When
they did the merger, I asked them not to
get rid of the Fresh Pond Crematory name,
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Above, Di Troia presides at the memorial service, held in the old chapel. The
centerpiece is a 16-foot tree. Below, a
paper dove placed on the tree in honor
of a deceased pet
during the
ceremony.
Di Troia’s
wife inspired
him to create a way for
people who
can’t attend the service to participate by
making a donation in return for placement on the memorial tree of a dove
with a personal message.
Left, The columbarium offers free use
of its original chapel and columbarium
for groups’ fundraisers and educational
seminars. Pictured is an event for Kiwanis Eliminate Project, which works to
prevent thousands of babies around the
world from dying of tetanus.
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ICCFA Magazine
CREMATION/
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
because that’s how everybody knows us.
Now when I do my advertising, I say, “US
Columbarium at Fresh Pond Crematory.”
The organization goes back a very long
time. Our founders started in 1875 with a
cremation society, two years after the Vienna
Exposition where a crematory retort was
displayed. We had a group of businessmen
and doctors and lawyers who wanted to
educate the public about cremation as a
sanitary way to take care of remains.
I believe we were one of the first
cremation societies. We had an office and
worked to promote cremation. Society
members had a card that said something like,
“Don’t bury me; cremate me.”
Then in 1884 they started to build a
crematory. But they didn’t stop there. They
found that families wanted to hold services,
and wanted to memorialize their loved ones
after cremation, so in 1894, they built a
chapel, which included a columbarium.
Really, the idea of taking the remains
home and keeping them there was something
you just didn’t do. You would bury them or
place them in a niche. Memorialization for
cremated remains used to be more common
than it is today. We need to get back to that.
Back then there weren’t a bunch of movies
and TV shows where they show people
scattering “ashes.”
It would be nice if they showed people
putting the remains in a niche, or visiting the
columbarium like they show people visiting
cemeteries.
Anyway, in 1898, we added more
niches, and then in 1904, we built our
second building, which was a stand-alone
columbarium. In 1910, we built a new chapel.
The last major construction was in 1929,
when they enclosed the old chapel.
We have 16,000 niches with 40,000
cremated remains. We have double, triple
niches—even some that hold six cremated
remains. Some of them are very big.
We have about 200 niches available for
sale. And we have room for more niches.
Even though our buildings are on just onethird of an acre of land, we’ve got lots of
space to work with. Our ceilings are very
high. We have an empty attic. It doesn’t take
very much room to handle cremated remains.
We also have community niches where the
remains go into individual containers but are
placed in one huge space. It’s one big space,
but it’s beautiful. There’s a stained glass
window and the name goes on the stained
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Above, the main floor of of the columbarium showing the new section, the Hall of Flowers. “We are always careful to blend in
the new sections with the old, so as to not to take away from the historic value of our beautiful building. The columbarium,
which dates to the 19th century, seems to be divided into time zones,” Di Troia said. For example, there’s the Gothic section,
lined with travertine marble and featuring
Gothic-shaped windows and doorways. Some
of the original niches are huge, with high
ceilings, just as elegant old houses have high
ceilings. And there’s the more modern section,
with bronze, glass-fronted niches from Matthews. The large round-topped niches are from
the 1800s. Right, one of the glass and bronze
niches in the modern section. Far right, an
angel watches over the infant section.
glass. The remains go behind the glass, and
when the lighting is turned on, it’s really nice.
Our mission statement says that no one
should go unmemorialized because of lack
of funds, so we offer a very wide range of
memorialization.
You have two buildings? Are they
connected?
Yes, we have two buildings with a bridge
connecting them. There’s the columbarium,
built in 1904. The other building contains
the old and new chapels, our offices and
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ICCFA Magazine
the crematory and viewing room. Both
buildings have three levels—basement,
main floor and upper floor.
I noticed that one of the first things you said
on your YouTube video is that cremation
is not the end—after cremation comes
memorialization. And you talked about why
it’s not a good idea to keep the remains at
home and then leave disposition basically
for the heirs to somehow figure out.
Right, you need a plan. I always tell my
families, if you want to have the remains at
home, I understand. You want Dad home for
a while. But if you don’t have a plan for what
happens to those remains, you’re going to
leave it for your family to deal with.
I’ve heard stories about a garbage man
finding an urn in the truck. That’s not the way
to treat human cremated remains.
If you want the remains at home with
you, you apparently feel a connection with
them, so you should want them to be taken
care of. You should have a plan for them. Do
you want the remains buried with you, or
placed in a niche? I’ve had families purchase
CREMATION/
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
a niche, take the remains home, and then
return them when they are ready. They have a
plan—that’s the important thing.
People should also consider that other
family members may want to visit the
remains. If you have them at home, maybe
they don’t want to disturb you. Or maybe
they just want to be able to visit privately.
You’re making a statement to the world
when you memorialize someone. Some
people don’t need that, and that’s fine, but I
think most of us do.
One day a woman came in and said to
me, “Thank you very much.” I said, “What
did I do?” “You told me not to scatter the
remains right away, to wait and think about
it. And I did, and I decided to memorialize
him, instead. I’ve brought my grandson here
to see the memorial, and I want to thank
you. He has a place to visit to remember his
grandfather.”
There’s a group called Missing in
America, made up of veterans. If you have
abandoned cremated remains of a veteran,
those remains can be buried free in a veterans
cemetery. This group’s mission is to seek out
those abandoned remains of veterans and see
that they get that burial.
We have more than 1,800 abandoned
cremated remains, stretching back over our
long history. They’re kept together in a room.
The MIA group spent a year researching 500
of the remains and discovered that 43 were of
veterans, including two Civil War veterans.
They had a big ceremony for them. The
urns and a hearse were donated and we
had a police escort all the way out to Long
Island National Cemetery. About 300 people
attended the ceremony; there wasn’t a dry eye
in the place.
Have you noticed a change in the
memorialization rate in the years you’ve
been there?
It’s gone up and down. Remember, there
are cemeteries that traditionally didn’t really
target the cremation market sector. I think
it will go up as more cemeteries embrace
cremation memorialization.
You do some preneed sales?
Sometimes, yes. We’re fortunate people
come in just to see the beautiful building
and the 16,000 niches we have here. We also
advertise.
We don’t go out and solicit, but sometimes
families are here for services and they want
to plan for themselves. I’m a certified senior
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cremations and also maintain the crematory.
a relay button to start it. They were waiting
outside and it was a hot day. Some of the
You have committal services at Fresh Pond?
children asked if they could have water to
Who officiates?
give out and I gave them a couple of gallons.
If the family would like a service before
Those children will remember that they
placing the urn in a niche, we hold a
were part of that service; they gave water
committal service, just as you would for
to Grandma and Grandpa and everyone
a full-body burial. Just because it’s been
else. It’s important to take part, and it’s not
cremated does not mean it’s not a human
encouraged, unfortunately.
body. We don’t want to forget that, ever.
Funeral directors should encourage the
My staff is trained to always treat remains
family to go to the crematorium just as
with the utmost dignity and respect.
they would go to the cemetery. It’s part of
The actual services are handled by clergy:
the journey. But some funeral directors do
Christian priests and ministers, sometimes a
not encourage the family to come to the
rabbi—but rarely, monks for the Buddhists.
crematory. They handle everything at the
Of all the ceremonies, I think the Buddhist
funeral home and then the funeral director
one is the most solemn. They have a “singing
drops the body off here, and that’s it.
bowl,” which they ring. It reminds me of
I think the smart ones encourage the
the tolling of a bell. And they chant. It’s a
family to come—it’s in line with their mission
beautiful ceremony, and very interesting.
Fresh Pond’s World Trade Center Meto provide the best service they can. We have
Both the crematory and funeral homes sell
morial. It includes a replica of the fallen
a beautiful building, so there’s plenty to see.
fireman statue and American flag pins
And I think it helps the grieving process, just urns, right?
representing each American who died.
Yes. But you know what the difference is:
like going to the cemetery does. But people
There are also flag pins representing
When I sell the urn, my first question to the
don’t
know
that—you
have
to
tell
them
that
other countries that lost people that day,
family is, “What do you plan to do with the
it’s better to do these things. Whether you go
as well as pins from the New York City
urn?” I don’t think a lot of funeral directors
police and fire departments, rescue per- to the cemetery or to the columbarium, it’s
the completion of the process. The cremation ask that. Some of them do.
sonnel, the Pentagon and Flight 93, the
plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
Based on whether it’s going to be buried,
is not the completion of the process.
or
placed
in a marble-front niche or a glassHow
large
a
staff
do
you
have?
advisor, and I work with lawyers who handle
front
niche,
or placed inside a casket or
end-of-life matters. I held a seminar here in
We have seven people, a couple of part-timers
sitting
alone
by itself, I can guide them to
the columbarium that was a combination
and some full-timers in the office. We have
appropriate
urns.
There are scattering urns if
of elder law and discussion of cremation
four people doing maintenance—this is a big
they
plan
to
do
that,
but I encourage them to
memorialization. I don’t want people to forget building, and there is a lot of maintenance.
have
a
ceremony,
even
if they scatter, and
that planning for memorialization is part of
We have a couple of people to handle
getting your affairs in order.
We have a chapel where people can hold
a committal service before inurnment, and
people attending those services see niches as
they come in. We have families coming in,
not just funeral directors here to drop off the
deceased for cremation.
About 10 percent of our families come
in to view the cremation. We serve quite a
few groups that culturally or religiously are
supposed to view the cremation.
One time I had a family that wasn’t
under a religious requirement but stayed all
day. They viewed the cremation and waited
for the remains to be delivered to them. I
was curious, so I asked if they’d had a bad
experience with a crematory before, if there
was a trust issue. They said, “No. Mom was
never alone in life, and we did not want her to
be alone in death.”
I thought that was a beautiful sentiment.
I’ll never forget a Hindu family we served. The chapel, which was recently redone, has beautiful coffer ceilings, plaster molding, wreaths and appliqués on the wall. There are secular stained glass windows
They usually view the cremation, and push
and terrazzo flooring.
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ICCFA Magazine
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After the service at US Columbarium,
interment took place at Long Island
National Cemetery.
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ICCFA Magazine
A service was held at US
Columbarium’s chapel
for 43 veterans whose
cremated remains had
been unclaimed. The
Missing in America
group did the research
required to identify the
veterans, including two
from the Civil War. US
Columbarium was proud
to participate in memorializing these individuals witih honor, Di Troia
said. Three hundred
people attended and
there wasn’t a dry eye in
the house.
CREMATION/
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
to consider memorialization. We’ve had
keepsake-sized urns placed in niches.
Some people place things other than the
remains in a niche. Sometimes remains can’t
be found—if people are lost at sea, some of
the people killed on 9/11.
Do you have any rules about what you can
put in the niches?
The old ones came with keys and people
could pretty much put whatever they wanted
to inside. But the newer niches are limited
in size, so we have to approve what goes in.
Remember these are glass-front niches, and
we have to protect the rights of those who
have niches nearby.
But we try to be flexible. The family of
a bus driver wanted to honor that, so we put
a little bronze bus on the urn. People want
pictures on the urns. So we do that. If they
want to put a little crystal stone in the niche,
we’ll do that, because it fits. If you buy a
larger niche, you have more latitude about
putting personal objects in it.
How are niche sales going?
Overall, about 4 percent of the cremations we
handle involve a niche sale, which is pretty
good. I’ve heard of places with 2 or 3 percent
memorialization rates. Some of those niches
are companion niches that hold two sets of
cremated remains.
The highest memorialization rate I’ve heard
of is around 40 percent. Double-digit rates
are not uncommon.
We’re at a disadvantage compared to some
states because we can’t have combination
funeral-cemetery operations in New York.
We’re at a disadvantage because we don’t
sit down with the family to make the
arrangements like the funeral directors do.
All we can do is educate.
One thing we’ve started doing to
encourage memorialization is to hold
memorial services at the columbarium. We
have a memorial tree service and we have
Mothers Day and Fathers Day services.
I’m very involved with Kiwanis
International and we have fundraisers for
them here. I have another group called Senior
Umbrella Network, professionals who work
with seniors. I host an event here for them.
I’ll do anything I can to educate the public
about what’s available.
I thought it was interesting that you
mention on your website that all of you are
experienced at helping people with grief.
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The crematory
has always had
a viewing area.
Doors adjacent
to the chapel
take you into
a room with a
window overlooking the
retorts so the
family can see
the casket being
placed into the
chamber. Some
people want
to participate
further by pushing a relay button to signal to the crematory operator to light up the
casket. It’s important to allow as much participation as families want to have, Di
Troia said, and that varies according to culture.
I’m a certified senior advisor, and I’ve
studied grief counseling. I’ve gone into the
community and worked with groups, done
a meditation for them, especially senior
groups—I love seniors.
This is another way of reaching out to
the public, letting them know who I am and
what I do. We also direct people to various
groups designed to help parents who have
lost children, for example. I’ve done a
bereavement group for parents—my wife and
I lost a child, and we shared our experiences
with the group.
We have other events, some of which we
hold in one of the chapels—the old one or
the new one. I had an energy seminar where
people from ConEd and other groups came
in to talk about how to save energy. Any
opportunity we can create to show off our
32
ICCFA Magazine
beautiful chapel is important. Maybe when
the time comes, they’ll remember our chapel
and our niches.
I learned from that energy seminar, too.
ConEd will pay 75 percent of the cost of
energy-efficient light bulbs. I’ve had them
here three times already. This last time, it cost
us $3,000 for $13,000 worth of LED lighting
that brightened up the building.
Remember, we’re going to be here
forever, so we need to save money however
we can. I’d love to go solar, but it’s too costly
right now, though I know some cemeteries
are doing it.
You said there haven’t been any major
construction projects in 100 years. Have you
been able to make any changes?
I created an infant section. Having had a loss
of my own, this project was close to my heart.
Opening it was a work of love. I put a little
cherub up to look over this section. We’ve
had families who had stillborn babies, or
babies who lived only a short time. It doesn’t
matter.
Sometimes people who are with you for a
very short time teach you the most. You learn
about what kind of person you want to be.
And you want to remember them.
I’ll never forget my mother telling me that
I had a younger brother; she lost the baby
when he was almost full term. In those days,
they would make the baby just “disappear;”
she didn’t know what they did with his
remains. I decided to add his name to the
infant section. When she saw it, she thanked
me.
Do you have any outdoor columbaria?
No, but we’re probably going to start doing
something outdoors. We have a beautiful
courtyard in the front with old paving stones.
I do plan to put niches there, because I think
it’s important. Outdoor memorialization is not
our forte, but I would like for people to see
niches when they pass the building.
Right now, people see a beautiful building
when they pass by, but there’s no reason for
them to come inside and see our niches. If
we have some outdoors, maybe some people
will see them and say, “Oh; I’d like to do
that.” Anything you can do to educate the
public about the ways they can memorialize
cremated remains is good.
How else do you promote memorialization?
We use that YouTube video. We use QR
codes extensively in our advertising, and we
have one (see page 20) that leads you right to
that video.
We advertise in the newspaper. I find the
value of a full-page ad is very important. We
can’t afford to do it every week, but we’ll put
it in every once in a while. We tried radio, but
it cost too much.
Doing community outreach is a big asset,
since it promotes word-of-mouth advertising.
I’ve learned that you have to create
opportunities for people to see your facilities
at events that are really outside your scope.
We’ve hosted fund-raisers for
everything from pediatric Lyme disease to
the Queens Symphony Orchestra. I’m very
involved with Kiwanis, and the very first
fund-raiser we held was a baroque concert,
featuring a harpsichord, a woman playing
a viola de gamba and an opera singer, to
raise money so that babies all over the
CREMATION/
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
world can get tetanus shots.
I like to think of it like the email service
Constant Contact. In this field, we need to
have constant contact with people, especially
if we’re in the business of cremation
memorialization, because people need to be
educated about it. I wish I had a dollar for
everyone who has walked into this building
and said, “I didn’t know that I could do this.”
Producing a monthly newsletter as
lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis of the
Queens West Division has been a great
learning experience for me. Wow—it’s
grueling. Still, I think I should do one for the
columbarium, maybe quarterly rather than
every month. It’s another way to keep in
contact with families.
I have a relationship with a printer
now, and I also can send it out as a PDF
and include an ad that readers can click on
and boom! It takes you right to a video or
wherever else you want people to go. We’re
never going to get rid of printed materials, but
I think PDFs are very useful.
Your newsletter can’t be mundane; it’s
got to be creative, it’s got to pop. I’d like
to do a story about the Missing in America
project. They’re going to research another
500 cremated remains, looking for veterans.
When they’re done, well have another
ceremony.
Who wrote the text on your website?
I did. Is it bad?
Oh, no; I thought it was really good. People
often get canned information from a group
they belong to for FAQs, for example. Your
website has a “voice.”
I just wrote it from my years of experience.
I thought it was interesting that you list
14 reasons people might want to choose
cremation, and you put cost as reason No.
13. So it sounds like you don’t push the
“cremation is cheap” angle.
No, I don’t. And you’ll see that I repeat
myself. The theme, what you’re going to hear
over and over from me is: “Memorialization.
What are you going to do with those
remains?”
I train my staff that when they talk to
people, they should ask questions to get them
to think about memorialization. The first
thing I ask is, “Do you have a niche? Do you
have a plot?” And a lot of time people say,
“I didn’t think about that.” We want them to
r
think about it.
Blackstone AD
2/3 V
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October 2015
33
by Larry Stuart Jr.
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
CRE M AT IO N
Larryjr@crematory
manufacturing.com
Simply adding “& Cremation” to your funeral home’s name
is not enough to give cremation families confidence in you and
your firm. Families have questions, and you need to be able to
answer them without calling your crematory operator for help.
➤Stuart is president
of Crematory Manufacturing & Service
Inc. A graduate of
Kent State University,
he is a cremation
coach for the ICCFA.
➤He is an instructor
in cremation operator and arranger training
programs for the ICCFA, the Cremation
Association of North America and the Canadian College of Funeral Service. He has
spoken at numerous industry events and
written for several industry publications.
www.crematorymanufacturing.com
➤Crematory Manufacturing & Service
Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a family-owned
company founded in 1995. CMS specializes in the manufacture, maintainance and
repair of cremation equipment.
➤Stuart will be one of the trainers at the
ICCFA’s upcoming Crematory Operator
Certification workshops, November 13 in
Kirkland, Washington, and November 19
in Columbus, Ohio. More details on page
103, or go to www.iccfa.com and click on
“Events” to register.
34
ICCFA Magazine
What every funeral director
should know about cremation
K
nowing what actually goes on in
the crematory and exactly how
the process works—even if you
never operate the machine yourself—
is part of being able to provide good
customer service. Families pose questions
about cremation to funeral and cemetery
professionals all the time. Knowing the
correct answers is important.
The opportunities and options for
cremation education are expanding all
the time, but typically only crematory
operators attend these sessions. That’s a
shame, because the information provided
at these seminars and workshops can
further the positive public perception of
cremation, increase client satisfaction and
improve profit margins.
Consumers want information before
they purchase anything, even funeral
services. It should be routine that they get
their information regarding cremation from
their funeral director.
With the ubiquity of the Internet and
the sensational way death care is depicted
in the media, it has become even more
crucial that the public is able to get correct
information from people who know what
they’re talking about.
Most people don’t know anything about
the cremation process beyond what they
see on TV or in the movies. Depictions of
fire and smoke or of the scattering of ashes
look good on screen but do nothing to
improve the public’s appreciation for and
understanding of modern cremation.
Simply knowing that modern crema
tions are performed in a fully contained,
safe, modulated and multi-chambered
machine can be comforting to someone
who has a negative perception or hazy
understanding of cremation but whose
parent preplanned a cremation that
involves them in at-need arrangements, if
only identification and authorization.
In this article, I address frequent
questions about cremation that every
funeral professional should know how to
correctly and confidently answer.
How hot does it get?
In modern units, the temperatures inside
can reach as high as 2,000 degrees
Fahrenheit. Most units operate normally
between 1,400 to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit
in the main chamber and 1,600 to 1,800
degrees Fahrenheit in the secondary
chamber.
These two chambers have different
functions. The main or primary chamber
is where the body and container are placed
and the main combustion takes place.
Think of an open pyre—combustion is
nothing more than a fire burning.
The products of this combustion
(smoke, flames, fumes, etc.) travel
to a second chamber, where they are
combusted again with the intent to destroy
the pollution before it exits into the
atmosphere.
The operating temperature in the
secondary chamber is actually a little
hotter than in the main chamber because
of the need to combust mostly gasses,
with no help from the body and container.
The burner in this chamber is much more
powerful, as it needs to maintain this
higher temperature all on its own.
How long does it take?
Most modern units are designed to cremate
a body and casket/container in two hours
or less. Because heat will be retained in the
unit after a cremation, the time required for
the first case of the day, done in a “cold”
unit, is always the longest. As the day
progresses, cremations can be performed
Forethought AD
FULL PAGE
page 35
4-COLOR
CREMATION
Although you can test anything for a DNA signature, you will not find one in cremated remains.
The intense heat of cremation destroys DNA, separating carbon, nitrogen and oxygen
from the collagen proteins in the body. This is why it is vital to have an ironclad ID system in place
to ensure the wrong person doesn’t get cremated, and that remains are not mislabeled.
in as little as one hour for subsequent
cases.
Will cremation cause pollution?
This is a hard question to answer correctly,
especially if you or the person asking
has driven by a crematory and seen black
smoke and flames billowing out of the
stack. A properly operated and maintained
modern cremator will not cause hazardous
pollution under normal circumstances.
But bodies come in all shapes and
sizes, and cremation equipment can be
challenged by materials that have a higher
rate of combustion than normal muscle
and organ tissue. In other words, different
materials burn faster than others.
Body fat is the most common culprit. It
burns up to 17 times hotter and faster than
muscle and organ tissue, so a body with
a higher percentage of fat could easily be
allowed to burn too fast for the secondary
chamber to keep up.
This is where the modulation comes in.
The system will modulate (think modify,
regulate or adjust) the gas and air (oxygen)
settings depending on what is going on
in the chambers. Sometimes the system
cannot keep up, and the operator has to
step in and manually control it (one reason
your operators need to be well trained).
If all human bodies were the same,
manufacturers could build a unit
specifically designed to cremate a body of
that size and composition, which would
make things much easier. But they’re not,
and the increase in the number of obese
cases means that crematory operators need
to carefully monitor what is happening.
How do I know I will get back the
remains of my loved one—and only my
loved one?
Simply knowing your firm’s (or your
cremation provider’s) policy and procedure
with regard to identification and tracking
of remains throughout the process, and
being able to explain that policy and those
procedures will alleviate most people’s
doubts.
If you do not have a written
identification and tracking procedure
36
ICCFA Magazine
that is rigorously followed, you need to
implement one as soon as possible. If
your third-party cremation provider does
not have one, you should look for a new
provider unless they are willing to adopt
something that meets your standards.
There is no way to prove one way or the
other whose cremated remains are in an
urn by examining the remains themselves.
Having a strong ID and tracking procedure
can be a great help if you are ever sued.
Can family and friends witness the
process?
Absolutely—in fact, some religions require
it as part of their ritual. Always make
sure that, if you cannot have a dedicated
viewing room separate from the crematory
itself, you ensure the safety of visitors.
Witnesses must understand that this can
be an emotional experience as well as a
privilege. Visitors must assume the risks
involved and indemnify the crematory of
all liability with respect to the process.
Language to that effect must be in your
standard agreement documents. It won’t
guarantee you’ll never be sued, but it will
help if you are.
Can you test cremated remains for DNA
to prove whose remains they are?
Although you can test anything for a
DNA signature, you will not find one
in cremated remains. The intense heat
of cremation destroys DNA, separating
carbon, nitrogen and oxygen from the
collagen proteins in the body.
This is why it is vital to have an
ironclad ID system in place to ensure the
wrong person doesn’t get cremated, and
that remains are not mislabeled.
Does it smell like burned flesh during a
cremation?
Because modern cremators are selfcontained and multi-chambered, odors
are destroyed, along with all of the other
products of cremation, when they are
combusted in the secondary chamber.
However, it’s worth noting that nothing
is foolproof. If you open the door before
the cremation has completed and the
blower providing air is not on, there may
be an odor from the still combusting
body and container. This is because the
process was interrupted and the flow of the
products of combustion was disrupted.
The blower not only provides the
necessary air (oxygen) for the system,
it also creates the draft or flow of the
products of combustion through the
system. This is why opening the door
with the blower still operating doesn’t
cause anything to come out of the door.
Air actually is sucked in when the door is
opened during the cremation.
It is always wise to complete the
cremation completely before you open
the door. If you do need to peek for some
reason, never open the door during the
most volatile period of the cremation
(usually the first hour), and open the door
just enough to see in so you do not trip the
safety features that will shut the unit down.
Is it true that after a cremation, all that
remains are bones and they have to be
ground up into ashes?
Cremated remains may resemble bones
before they are processed in a mechanical
machine designed to pulverize them into
a sand-like consistency, but they are not
bones.
During the cremation process, the
organic materials in bone that are not
vaporized are completely transformed
by combustion, and all that remains are
calcium, phosphates and other materials
found naturally in our bodies.
When you explain this scientifically,
people won’t have morbid thoughts
about human skeletons going through a
pulverizer.
Cremated remains are 47.5 percent
phosphates (an ion consisting of one atom
of phosphorus and 4 oxygen atoms) and
25.3 percent calcium.
The remaining ingredients include
sulfates, potassium, sodium, chloride,
silica, aluminum oxide, magnesium, iron
oxide, zinc, titanium, barium, antimony,
chromium, copper, manganese, lead, tin,
vanadium, beryllium and, at less than
0.00001 percent, mercury.
Although most of the elements in the
➤to page 37
CREMATION
be removed prior to the cremation and
returned to the family with the cremated
remains. This best practice will eliminate
the accusations that seem to occur more
and more often in our litigious society.
If your disclosure paperwork notes that
Can family members place personal items all jewelry and other non-combustible
of significance in the casket or container
items will be removed from the casket or
to be cremated with a loved one for a
container and returned to the family before
more personal experience?
the cremation takes place, no one can accuse
you of stealing it when that jewelry is not
Yes and no. Items may be placed in the
casket/container, but they must be removed found in the urn with the cremated remains.
Rest assured—families look in that urn.
prior to the actual cremation, so you must
Consider this scenario: A body is
make that clear to families.
cremated with a ring on by request of
Modern cremation equipment is
the family. After the cremation, the ring
designed to combust only deceased
does not get removed with the cremated
humans and pets and properly designed
remains, having gotten lodged in a corner
containers. Items such as stuffed animals,
of the retort, where it went unnoticed.
picture frames with glass, soda cans and
Four cremations later, that ring becomes
bullets (yes, bullets have been found in
dislodged and is swept out with someone
caskets prior to cremation) not only could
else’s remains. This person’s loved ones
damage the unit but also could cause
search through the cremated remains and
noxious gasses to be emitted into the
notice the ring. Knowing the deceased
atmosphere, and also could jeopardize the
did not have on jewelry, this family now
safety of the operator.
“knows” you must have returned the
Jewelry left on a person should always
➤from page 36
cremated remains are from the deceased’s
bones, a few come from the casket or
container, and even from the refractory
lining of the main chamber.
wrong cremated remains to them. You
know what comes next: a lawsuit.
There is no way to prove who that
person is (see above: cremated remains
don’t allow for successful DNA testing),
so such cases are always settled in favor of
the family.
I am a funeral director, not a crematory
operator. Why do I need to know anything
about the cremation process?
Our families are our customers, and as
consumers they purchase products and
services from experts. The more we know
about the things our clients want the more
relevant we become.
In a world ,where cremation is the
new normal, we all need to be experts
on everything cremation, including the
process.
We want families to take it for granted
that there is no other person to turn to but a
funeral director, either at-need or preneed,
because funeral directors are the end-oflife experts, regardless of the method of
disposition.
r
Crystal Remembrance AD
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October 2015
37
by Glenda Stansbury, CC, CFSP
glenda@
insightbooks.com
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
➤Stansbury is vice
president of marketing for
In-Sight Books, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma.
www.insightbooks.com
➤She is a licensed funeral director and em-
balmer and trains funeral directors, cemeterians and others as Certified Celebrants who
meet with families to talk about their loved
ones and plan personalized funeral services.
➤She is adjunct faculty with the funeral
service department at the University of
Central Oklahoma, where she teaches
courses in funeral service communication
and the psychology of grief and oversees
practicum students.
➤She and her father, Doug Manning, a
former Baptist minister who became a noted
author of books about grief, developed
the Certified Celebrant program and have
recently added a new component, to train
celebrant trainers.
How to become a celebrant
• Attend ICCFA University’s College of 21st Century Services, led by Dean Glenda Stansbury.
ICCFAU 2016 will be held July 22-27 at the University of Memphis Fogelman Executive Center,
Memphis, Tennessee. www.iccfa.com
• Contact Stansbury ([email protected])
or go to www.insightbooks.com, the In-Sight
Books website, for information about celebrant
training sessions scheduled around the country.
NEW
How to become a celebrant trainer
for information on the new training program for
Certified Celebrants who would like to learn how
to train new celebrants.
Editor’s note
The ICCFA believes in celebrant training for
funeral directors and cemeterians who wish
to better help families and to be successful in
the 21st century. In addition to articles by Stansbury, ICCFA Magazine runs stories by celebrants
about specific services they put together for families. Contact ICCFA Magazine Managing Editor Susan Loving, [email protected] if you
are a celebrant with a story about a service
that the family involved is willing to let you share
in order to inspire others or if you have any
tips for conducting good celebrant services.
38
ICCFA Magazine
CE L E BR A N T S / C RE M AT IO N
Your target audience right now is baby boomers, right?
Partly. But what about their children, the millennials,
who will be in charge of making or carrying out their parents’
arrangements? Do you offer what they are willing to pay for?
Send in the ‘nones’
Is your funeral home ready for them?
T
hose of us who grew up in the ’70s
remember the song “Send in the
Clowns.” It was written by Stephen
Sondheim for the Broadway musical “A
Little Night Music,” and Judy Collins made
it widely popular. If you are like me, you
never really understood the meaning behind
it. It just sounded kinda melancholy, but
who, exactly, were these clowns?
I finally saw the musical last year and
was able to put the song into context.
It is a ballad from Act II in which the
character Desirée reflects on the ironies
and disappointments of her life.
Among other things, she looks back
on an affair years earlier with the lawyer
Fredrik. Seeing him again after so long,
she finds that he is now in an unhappy
marriage with a much younger woman.
Desirée proposes marriage to rescue him
from this situation, but he declines, citing
his dedication to his bride.
Reacting to his rejection, Desirée sings
this song, bemoaning the fact that they
always seem to be at different places in
life. Don’t you feel more cultured just
knowing that?
The point of this little lyric lesson is
that it could also be applied to the funeral
profession. During the past 20 years, we
always seem to be at different places than
our families.
While we were busy building new
casket display rooms, they began choosing
cremation.
While we were redecorating chapels,
they were asking for areas for receptions
or requesting expertise in designing
destination services.
While we were offering ministers to
every family, they were asking for a more
personalized, non-religous story of their
loved one.
And we are left bemoaning the fact
that what we offer, no one seems to be
interested in. We are here on the ground;
families are in mid-air.
The ‘nones’ are coming
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan
fact tank that informs the public about the
issues, attitudes and trends shaping America
and the world. It conducts public opinion
polling, demographic research, media
content analysis and other empirical social
science research.
The center made a huge splash in 2007
when it came out with a landmark study
on religious views and affiliations in the
U.S. It was from this study that the term
“nones” was first coined to describe those
people who identify with no religious
denomination or affiliation.
In 2007, the “nones” were identified
as being 16 percent of the population,
making that demographic group the third
largest, behind the Catholic Church and the
Baptists.
This, of course, caught the attention
of the public. There was a great deal of
discussion and debate as to the cause of
this decline, what it meant for mainline
religions and the ripple effects on society
and politics.
It also caught the attention of those of
us in the celebrant world. In 2007, we had
been training for seven years, had been
trying to convince the funeral profession
that families were changing and that the
demand for less religious funerals was on
the rise.
When the Pew Research Report hit, we
had documented proof that those who were
not interested in religion were the fastest
growing population in our country. We
clearly said: “The ‘nones’ are coming—
C elebrants / C R E M A T I O N
And 36 percent of millennials—the ones who will be making funeral choices
when their baby boomer parents finally die—are unaffiliated, uninterested and unimpressed
with religious affiliations, trappings or traditions. These are your next customers.
what are you doing to meet their needs?”
For some firms, the answer was clear:
“We are going to have celebrants available
to serve those families who do not have
a church or a pastor, or for those who do
not wish to have a predominantly religious
service. We recognize that the ‘nones’ are
going to have a major impact upon our ability
to offer services and stay in business, and we
must position ourselves to be able to offer the
right officiant for every family.”
On the other hand, for some firms, the
answer was: “We have a rent-a-minister who
will do just fine, thank you. Yes, he does the
same service every time. Yes, he might offer
an altar call. Yes, he might get the names of
the family wrong. Yes, we have families who
are leaving angry and vowing never to come
back. But we are more comfortable with a
minister and we don’t want to make him mad,
so why should we do anything different?”
Undaunted, we continued to train, to
write, to speak about the growing need for
celebrants. We consistently said, “The ‘nones’
are coming and they will have an effect on
your business.”
In May, the second Pew report on this
topic was published, and the conclusions are,
once again, stunning:
The major new survey of more than
35,000 Americans by the Pew Research
Center finds that the percentage of adults
(ages 18 and older) who describe themselves
as Christians has dropped by nearly eight
percentage points in just seven years,
from 78.4 percent in an equally massive
Pew Research survey in 2007 to 70.6
percent in 2014. Over the same period, the
percentage of Americans who are religiously
unaffiliated—describing themselves as
atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”—
has jumped more than six points, from 16.1
percent to 22.8 percent.
Nearly one-in-five American adults
(18 percent) were raised in a religion and
are now unaffiliated, compared with just
4 percent who have moved in the other
direction. In other words, for every person
who has left the unaffiliated and now
identifies with a religious group, more than
four people have joined the ranks of the
religious “nones.”
One of the most important factors in
the declining share of Christians and the
growth of the “nones” is generational
replacement. As the millennial generation
enters adulthood, its members display much
lower levels of religious affiliation, including
less connection with Christian churches, than
older generations. Fully 36 percent of young
millennials (those between the ages of 18
and 24) are religiously unaffiliated, as are 34
percent of older millennials (ages 25-33).
—Pewforum.org U.S. Religious Landscape
Survey, May 12, 2015
Did you get that? Up to 23 percent
HOLLAND AD
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October 2015
39
of the entire population is religiously
unaffiliated. And 36 percent of millen
nials—the ones who will be making
funeral choices when their baby boomer
parents finally die—are unaffiliated,
uninterested and unimpressed with reli
gious affiliations, trappings or traditions.
These are your next customers.
This is the Google generation who
knows that options and choices are a finger
swipe away. They are not going to take
the standard offerings or the impersonal
packages. If you offer them a rent-aminister or a cookie cutter experience,
they’ll most likely walk out and find
someplace that will listen to them. Or go
do it on their own.
Of course there was another flurry
of articles when the report came out—
commentary, observations, predictions
and explanations from political, religious
and societal observers as to what this
continuing and increasing decline in
church affiliation might mean.
In any case, the bottom line for funeral
service is, as we continue to say, “The
‘nones’ are coming, and they are going to
have an effect on your business.”
The unaffiliated* by state
* percentage of adults in each state who are unaffiliated (religious “nones”)
From the 2015 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, courtesy of PEW Research Center
2014 cremation rate by state
The ‘nones’ and cremation
Again, we have said for years that immediate
disposition and cremation choices were
directly tied to religious affiliation. We
sounded really wise saying that, and we
thought we had some statistics to back it up.
But then some people who are way smarter
than we are came up with a way that people
can see it for themselves.
The chart (top right) from the Pew
Research Report shows the states with the
highest ‘none’ populations. This should not
be too shocking, as the East and West coast
show the most disaffiliation and the Bible
Belt states hang in there, for the present.
The chart below it is from the CANA
2014 statistics, showing the cremation rates
by state. I’ll give you a minute to compare the
two. Seeing anything interesting?
Now, why might that be? There are
a myriad of reasons that families choose
cremation, and increasingly so—to the
point where it is estimated that by 2019, the
cremation rate for the U.S. as a whole will be
more than 50 percent.
We have long asserted that one of the
deciding factors in families choosing
cremation is that many are uncomfortable,
dissatisfied or even angry about funeral
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ICCFA Magazine
From the 2014 Annual CANA Cremation Statistics Report © 2015 (Courtesy of CANA)
service experiences they have had in the past
when a loved one’s death was ignored or
minimalized or used as a cautionary tale in a
sermon.
Cremation gives these families the choice
to do something else, to use a funeral home
only as a body disposer and then plan a
celebration, a tribute, a funeral that fits them.
They do not trust the funeral profession.
That’s harsh—I’m a funeral director, too—
but it’s reality.
If you do not believe that cookie-cutter or
preach ’em into heaven funerals are affecting
your business, ask a family who says, “just
cremate, no service,” about their choice and
listen to the answer. They may say that it is
price, but what they really mean is that it is
value. Why should I pay for something that
has no meaning to me or actually leaves me
feeling worse?
The impersonal mega-church effect
Another segment of the population that
sometimes behaves like the ‘nones’ has
FSI AD
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He had finally found his “words” for articulating what a celebrant does. He said, “I tell them that they
can have a religious service that may have elements of their loved one’s life, or they can have a service
that is completely built on their loved one’s life where they can choose to include religious elements.”
been created by the proliferation of megachurches. You have the baseball stadium,
10,000-people-in-the-audience version, or
the satellite model, where people gather at
various sites around the country and watch a
senior minister preach on the big screen, or
both.
Most of these ministries have an emphasis
on small groups and finding interpersonal
relationships in those settings. However, for
many people who show up on Sundays and
sit among 2,500+ others, there is a disconnect
about to whom to turn when there is a death
in the family.
So while these people would certainly not
identify themselves as “nones,” they actually
are just as unaffiliated as “nones” when it
comes to having an officiant for life events.
I was recently called to serve as a
celebrant for a 48-year-old man who died of
suicide. He had battled depression for five
years and finally made the choice that made
sense to him on that particular day.
Unfortunately, his 17-year-old son was
the one who found him. His wife, son, two
siblings and mother were all devastated and
immobilized by his death.
As they were making arrangements, it was
clear to the funeral director that they needed
a celebrant. This funeral director is one of our
favorites in that he really seeks to meet the
needs of every family and frequently refers
families to celebrants.
He told me recently that he had finally
found his “words” for articulating what a
celebrant does. He said, “I tell them that they
can have a religious service that may have
elements of their loved one’s life, or they can
have a service that is completely built on their
loved one’s life where they can choose to
include religious elements.” Brilliant!
As I was meeting with this sweet, broken
family, hearing stories about a marathon
runner, wonderful father, husband and brother
and successful businessman and how the
puzzle of his depression had overwhelmed
him, his widow told me that she and her
husband had been attending one of the large
mega-churches in our area with a “.tv” in its
name for the past six months.
She said they were really enjoying their
time there and felt her husband had gotten
a lot out of the sermons. She wanted me to
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ICCFA Magazine
mention in the service that they had been
attending that church.
I’m sitting there, listening to her and
thinking, “Well, if you have been attending a
church, then why am I here?”
The answer was two-fold. One, many
families of those who die from suicide
are very leery when it comes to how the
church—any church—will handle the subject
of suicide and they do not want their loved
one’s life and death to be an object lesson or a
point of condemnation.
Two, in those massive auditoriums, where
you are surrounded by thousands of people,
watching a minister from two states away on
the wide screen, how can you feel that you
have a relationship with a spiritual leader,
someone you could call on to officiate at a
funeral? You can’t, and you don’t.
We had a wonderful funeral service for
this man, who was so loved by so many, with
200 people in attendance. We played several
of the songs from his running playlist as part
of the service, and the theme of the service
was “The Playlist of Life.” Toward the end of
the eulogy, I said:
When someone dies of suicide, the
questions are enormous. What could I have
done? Why couldn’t we help? Why did he
see no other choice? But no one knows
the fires that burn within. No one can
understand the depths of loss when feelings
abandon a soul and leave a void that can’t
be filled.
For the past four and a half years, the
abyss of depression created an obstacle that
he couldn’t run around. A mind that just
cannot stop spinning, a body that yearns for
sleep, a soul that agonizes over what was, a
spirit that cannot see beyond the dark.
R and S tackled this overwhelming
problem together, seeking help, trying
medications and therapy, finding a place of
peace and solace at Life Church—whatever
it would take to allow R to focus on what
was in front of him, finding the joy in life
and promises of the future rather than the
regrets and worries of the past.
There were times of despair and times
of hope. A roller coaster ride of finding
the balance that would help him map his
course …
All we can know is that the stars aligned
in such a powerful way on Monday that he
took the only action that made sense at the
time, the only path he could find to ease his
pain. He was running on empty and could
see no way to fill his soul again. And so, the
music stopped.
A life is not to be judged by the final
page in the story. Instead we must look at
the entirety of a life lived to the max, a life
of intentionality and purpose and love, a
heart that burned so bright it just couldn’t
be sustained and know that even though
the time was not near long enough, the
memories will last the rest of your lives.
You can only know that R, your husband,
your father, your brother, your son, your
friend is at peace and out of the darkness
now. He is running free and cheering for
you as he watches over those that he loved.
His music will now have to play in your
hearts.
After the service, so many people came
up and hugged me and thanked me for telling
his story—all of his story—in such a way
that they could begin to heal. The wife and
his brother and sister said it was “perfect.” It
probably wasn’t perfect, but it at least gave
voice to their sorrow and invited everyone
in attendance to be part of their grief journey
without guilt or having to dance around the
elephant in the room.
Every celebrant service is very important
to me. But when we are asked to serve those
families who truly need us the most, that’s
when I know that what we are doing is
right—desperately, perfectly right.
So, exactly what are you doing to meet
the needs of the families in your area—every
family? Are you making a maximum effort
to match them with the person who will meet
their needs, whether that be a minister or a
celebrant, or are you just trotting out the same
ole Rent-a-Rev?
Is the increasing cremation rate going to
hurt your bottom line, or are you going to
increase your revenue stream by offering
services that people want to pay for?
Are you, yet again, going to be in a
different place in your business than many
families, offering services they don’t want or
need?
Send in the “nones.” Don’t bother—
r
they’re here.
Wilbert AD
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by ICCFA Magazine
Managing Editor Susan Loving
[email protected]
C E L E BR A N T S
ICCFA Magazine subject spotlight
➤Betty Frey is an In-
Sight Institute Certified
Celebrant available
to assist families at all
locations of Heffner
Funeral Chapel &
Crematory, based in
York, Pennsylvania.
The service started with the sound of a motorcycle revving up
and racing off into the distance. It told the story of a woman who
died too soon but packed a lot of life and love into 55 short years.
➤She joined Heffner
in 1991 to provide advance planning information to consumers and has conducted
hundreds of advance planning seminars
and thousands of private consultations.
[email protected]
➤Matt Morris, a
1996 graduate of
Northampton Community College’s
mortuary science
program,
has been a licensed
funeral director with
Heffner Funeral
Chapels & Crematory
since May 1998. He
serves families from
Heffner locations in Red Lion, York and
Lewisberry, Pennsylvania.
In a photo provided by her family, Sharon “Weezie” McKinsey is shown doing one
of the things she loved best, enjoying a motorcycle ride.
[email protected]
Coordinating a service for a woman
who raced through life with a smile
➤He is also an In-Sight Institute Certified
Celebrant and holds certifications as a
crematory operator, crematory administrator and cremation counselor.
www.bestlifetributes.com
How to become a celebrant
• Attend ICCFA University’s College of 21st Century Services, led by Dean Glenda Stansbury.
ICCFAU 2016 will be held July 22-27 at the University of Memphis Fogelman Executive Center,
Memphis, Tennessee. www.iccfa.com
or go to www.insightbooks.com, the In-Sight
Books website, for information about celebrant
training sessions scheduled around the country.
Editor’s note
The ICCFA believes in celebrant training for
funeral directors and cemeterians who wish to
better help families and to be successful in the
21st century. In addition to articles by Stansbury,
ICCFA Magazine runs stories by celebrants about
specific services they put together for families.
Contact ICCFA Magazine Managing Editor
Susan Loving, [email protected] if you are a
celebrant with a story about a service that the
family involved is willing to let you share.
44
ICCFA Magazine
Sometimes when one person is missing,
the whole world seems depopulated. I
know that is how this family feels today
and will feel for quite some time. You don’t
get over a death; you learn to live with it.
There will be for this family and friends a
new normal.—from Betty Frey’s service
for Sharon “Weezie” McKinsey
S
haron “Weezie” McKinsey was only
55, and her family was devastated.
When funeral director Matt Morris
made the initial contact with the family, he
asked if “Weezie” had been a member of a
church—a routine question.
The answer was “no,” so Morris
explained the celebrant concept, telling the
family that a Heffner staff celebrant could
put together a meaningful and personalized
service for them and their loved one.
No immediate decision was necessary,
but he wanted the family to know this was
an option. He knew they might want to
discuss among themselves what kind of
service they wanted even before arriving at
the funeral home to make arrangements.
When the family came in to meet with
Morris, they decided they did want to use
a celebrant. Morris put in a call to Betty
Frey, one of the Heffner staff members
who specializes in celebrant services, and
coordinated a time the following day when
she could meet with the family.
The family meeting is a time for those
closest to the deceased to share their grief
and their memories. Frey met with Weezie’s
husband Rick, sister Tina, stepdaughter
Angie and her two granddaughters.
At the family meeting, the celebrant asks
questions, listens and learns. On that day,
Frey learned about a woman who had loved
life and lived it to the fullest.
Rick recalled asking Weezie’s father—
whom he had not met until that moment—
for her hand in marriage.
➤to page 46
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CELEBRANTS
Photo by Paul Kuehnel, courtesy of York Daily record
Glen Becker, a brother-in-law of Sharon “Weezie” McKinsey, places a rose on the
gas tank of McKinsey’s 1972 Harley-Davidson.
Photo by Paul Kuehnel, courtesy of York Daily record
The casket is carried out of the funeral home for the drive to the cemetery.
46
ICCFA Magazine
➤from page 44
Rick shook hands with her dad—and you
know how parents can and do size you up.
He asked Rick, “Do you really want to do
this?” and Rick said he did. Her father said,
“I hope you know what you are in for.”
Weezie loved her family and friends. She
loved animals and had once worked for two
veterinarians. She was a good saleswoman,
selling Mary Kay products. She loved to
write.
She was known for going to auctions and
bidding on unusual items—things no one
else would think of buying—and she almost
always found a use for them. She loved the
outdoors, and she loved to fish. A fishing
pole was placed by the side of the casket.
At her house there was a big hill and at
the bottom there was a pond or stream, an
area of water that contained fish and they
were her fish. She would go there and walk
in and feed them from her hand and they
would come to her, and only her.
Frey learned that Weezie and her
husband Rick owned a motorcycle shop in
Red Lion, Puss Face Customs, where they
both worked.
She could and did work in the bike shop
with the best of any man and she did a great
job. Award-winning, in fact. … Rick said
she collected bikes like some women collect
Tupperware.
The day of the service, Morris was
busy handling all of the details a funeral
director usually takes care of, making sure
everything was running smoothly, that
Weezie’s motorcycle was safely parked
outside the funeral home. Meanwhile, Frey
was with the family.
Morris started the service, serving
as master of ceremonies. He began by
introducing himself and then listing a
number of events that occurred the year that
Weezie was born:
John F. Kennedy won the presidential
election; Cassius Clay (who later took
the name Muhammad Ali) won his first
professional fight after winning the Gold
Medal in Rome in the Olympic games; the
United States launched the world’s first
nuclear powered Aircraft Carrier, the USS
Enterprise; aluminum cans were used
for the first time; Xerox introduced the
first commercial document reproduction
machine. This was also the year the laser,
heart pacemaker and weather satellite were
invented. The average cost of new house
was $12,700 and the cost of a gallon of gas
➤to page 48
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47
CELEBRANTS
Photo by
Paul Kuehnel,
courtesy of
York Daily
record
The funeral
cortege
for Sharon
“Weezie”
McKinsey
in Red Lion,
Pennsylvania.
➤from page 46
was 25 cents.
Morris then said Sharon “Weezie”
McKinsey’s full name and birth date,
noting that she had profoundly touched the
lives of everyone gathered. He named the
members of her family and then concluded
by introducing Frey.
Frey began by playing the sound of a
motorcycle revving up, speeding up and
fading away. She told those gathered to
celebrate Weezie’s life that it was the sound
of her riding off into the sunset.
Weezie’s mother had died a couple of
years earlier. The family had a pillar candle
in a glass with a photo of her mother on it,
and wanted to light it during the service.
Weezie’s sister and two other family
members came forward to do the honors.
Frey explained why people like to light
a candle in memory of a person who has
died. She said Weezie was now joining her
mother, and the candle would be burning
for both of them.
The lighting of a candle is to remind us
of those that have passed and for Weezie’s
passing. We will have it burning through the
service today.
At the end of the service, family
members again came forward and extin
guished the flame.
One of Weezie’s granddaughters sang
“Amazing Grace.” Her daughter and other
family members shared memories of
Weezie during the service.
Frey’s “takeaway” for this service,
a small item celebrants select to give
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ICCFA Magazine
attendees as a token remembrance of the
deceased, was seashells.
She loved the beach. She didn’t get there
much, but she loved it. … Please collect a
seashell as you leave today as just another
way to remember Weezie.
As people walked out, the sound of a
motorcycle revving up and taking off again
filled the room.
At the graveside service, “You Are My
Sunshine” was sung in remembrance of
Weezie, a woman who was always smiling.
Frey talked about the pain of loss, and
how tears speak of grief and love. She
talked about the need for mourners to lean
on each other for comfort and support and
their responsibility to tell future family
members about Weezie.
Even though her death has meant a
physical break in the links of the chain that
binds you to each other, the influence and
effect of Weezie’s life is still evident now as
we speak her name.
And so we say that we are glad Weezie
lived; we are glad we had time with her. We
are glad we felt her touch and heard her
laughter.
When making arrangements, a family
member had asked Morris if they could all
sign a can of Coors Lite and place it in the
casket. Morris assured them this would be
fine, and told Frey about it, suggesting that
she talk to the family about also signing
the casket, at the cemetery. She did and
the family agreed this was something they
wanted to do.
We are at this time going to have
everyone who would like to sign the casket
come forward to do that and send a final
message with Weezie.
As people came forward to write their
final messages to the woman to whom
they were saying goodbye, they were
accompanied by the song “Living on a
Prayer.”
Making celebrant services work
She spent about 12 hours on McKinsey’s
service, Frey said, including meeting
with the family, writing the service and
conducting it. “If you’re going to do it right,
you need to put the time in.”
In addition to painting a verbal picture
of the deceased through anecdotes and
memories shared by the family, the
celebrant has to find the right mix of
readings, poems, music and even sound
effects, as well as that appropriate final
take-away, to make the service fit the person
and serve the family’s needs.
She found the motorcycle recording
online, where she finds many sounds,
Frey said. “I’ve used a train whistle, the
beginning of a Kentucky Derby race. You
can find almost anything you want on the
Internet.”
The fact that the service for McKinsey
included a religious standard—“Amazing
Grace”—is not an anomaly, Frey said. She
has done about 165 celebrant services since
2009, and estimated only three of them had
no religious element at all.
“Everybody else wanted something—a
prayer, a scripture reading—something.”
➤to page 49
CELEBRANTS
➤from page 48
She always asks families, “How spiritual
do you want this to be?” If they want some
scripture read, she’ll ask if the deceased
had a favorite passage or if they would like
her to choose something. She might add
something in addition to what the family
has chosen.
The celebrant and funeral director must
work closely together. “I give the funeral
director a list of the songs I’ve chosen, and
an outline of what I’m doing, so that the
music gets played at the right time during
the service,” Frey said. “The guys and
gals here are so good about coordinating
everything and working together as a team.”
Morris said that before the service, when
the celebrant is socializing with the family
while he is attending to details, “I find that
sometimes family members will give the
celebrant last-minute instructions” which
she then passes on to him.
“It’s nice to see that families feel
comfortable enough to ask the funeral home’s
celebrant service-related questions, which I
have not seen them do of an outside pastor.
I think it shows the strength of the bond that
forms between the celebrant and the family.”
Heffner’s received a number of
compliments from family members about
the conduct and uniqueness of McKinsey’s
service, Morris said. “Our general
feedback with a celebrant service is very
complimentary. I notice that we generally
get more feedback on a celebrant service
than a non-celebrant service.”
Since he’s started offering families
the services of a celebrant, he’s met with
a number of families who would have
selected direct cremation but instead
decided on a fully staffed memorial/
celebrant service at the funeral home,
Morris said.
There also have been a number of
arrangements where the family had
planned to bypass clergy and put together a
service themselves before being told about
celebrant services, he said.
And he has heard people attending a
celebrant service make the comment that
they want their own service at Heffner’s so
they can have a service like the one they
just attended.
That happened to her after McKinsey’s
service, Frey said. “I was standing out by
the fireplace, waiting until the casket was
brought out, and a man asked me for a card.
“We have cards people can write a
special message on for the family that we
leave in a basket by the guest register. I
walked over and got him a card, and he
said, ‘Oh, no; I don’t want that card. I want
your card—that was an awesome service.’”
Morris said he does not bring up
celebrant services if the deceased is a
church member unless there has been some
sort of falling out with the church or the
membership is simply a paper one with no
real ties to the church community.
He does offer the services of a celebrant
if a family member says something such
as, “I spoke with my aunt, and her pastor is
willing to do the service.”
“I am careful to explain that it is nice
of her pastor to offer, but they may want to
consider a celebrant service option,” Morris
said. “I explain to the family that when a
pastor doesn’t know the deceased or much
of their family, that is often when you will
see a very generic ‘cookie cutter’ service. I
am careful to explain that some pastors are
skilled at doing these types of services but a
lot are not.”
He does not push families into a choice;
he simply provides information, Morris
said. “I think one of the keys is to offer the
celebrant service on the initial call with the
family.” That gives them the chance to think
about it and ask questions before deciding
what to do.
Publicity
The service for Sharon “Weezie” McKinsey
was the subject of a long, front-page story
in the York Daily Record, “Weezie’s Last
Ride: Sharon McKinsey, owner of Puss
Face Customs, is remembered by biker
family,” by Mike Argento, with photos
by Paul Kuehnel. Additional photos were
posted with the story online.
Frey said Heffner’s has served the
reporter’s family in the past, so he is
familiar with what they do. Sometimes, if
the deceased is a younger person or there
are other unusual circumstances, Argento
will ask if the family will grant permission
for the service to be covered.
“The story was really accurate; he did
a great job. And his photographer took
awesome photos,” Frey said.
A 2013 service at Heffner’s which
included a stop by the cortege at Burger
King for a final sandwich also received
extensive media coverage. (See “A
Whopper (Jr.) of a life tribute becomes an
Internet sensation,” in the March-April
2013 issue of ICCFA Magazine.)
r
Omneo AD
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October 2015
49
by Glenn H. Gould
ggould@
mkjmarketing.com
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
➤Gould is CEO
of MKJ Marketing,
Largo, Florida, which
helps funeral homes
and industry vendors
establish marketing and
advertising plans and
conduct market research.
www.mkjmarketing.com
M A N A GE M E N T
What does your funeral home have in common
with McDonald’s? More than you might think.
Funeral service is facing some of the same challenges
as the burger chain, and there are no easy answers.
Hamburgers & funeral service:
Both facing new competitors
that could eat their lunch
“M
cDonald’s in the U.S. faces
both disaffection from some
traditional patrons, who
are unhappy with problems like slower
service, and disinterest from some younger
consumers, who see it as unhealthy—and
unhip. Revenue last year fell 2.4 percent
to $27.44 billion as net income declined
15 percent to $4.76 billion. It was the first
time both measures have declined in the
same year since at least 1981, according to
FactSet.
“Customers, analysts and industry
insiders offer conflicting advice, broadly
falling into two camps. Some say Mr.
Easterbrook needs to focus on the basics—
making better burgers more efficiently.
Others argue McDonald’s needs a fuller
face-lift, shifting its menu and marketing
to emulate smaller-but-fast-growing rivals
like Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. that tout
fresh ingredients and premium, customized
food.”—Annie Gasparro at
[email protected]
The quote above was taken from a
business report regarding the challenges
addressing the new CEO of McDonalds.
With slight wording changes, the analysis
could apply directly to the challenge many
funeral businesses are facing, particularly
this section:
“Disaffection from some traditional
patrons, and disinterest from some younger
consumers, who see it as unhip.”
As with any business leader, the new
McDonald’s CEO receives advice from
many corners: The conservatives challenge
him to create better burgers faster, and the
liberals argue for a healthier menu.
Over the long history of McDonald’s,
both strategies have been executed during
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ICCFA Magazine
previous business downturns. The betterburger-faster strategy basically goes
unnoticed as consumers expect a fast, good
quality burger. That’s why people go to
McDonald’s.
The healthier-menu strategy resulted in
a bloated, unwieldy menu that challenged
operators to deliver a good quality product
consistently. In fact, the last big menu
change was to eliminate many of the
healthy items that were seldom ordered, as
that increased operating costs because food
spoilage meant higher food costs.
So what will Mr. Easterbrook do? And
who really cares other than McDonald’s
stockholders and franchise operators?
After all, people aren’t going to stop eating
hamburgers, are they? Funny, people say
the same thing about dying.
The future of funerals
What is funeral service, which faces some
of the same challenge as McDonald’s,
going to do? Market research studies
indicate more consumers than ever before
are without a preferred funeral home,
which means our traditional patrons
are now looking around at alternatives,
considering the offerings from the myriad
of death-care choices that have evolved
over the past 25 years.
Younger seniors (a bit older than the
hamburger-eating crowd pursued by the
fast-food giants) consider traditional
funerals, followed by ground burial, as
out-of-step with contemporary lifestyles.
Just like Mr. Easterbrook, funeral home
owners get lots of advice:
“Funerals should be like a party.”
“Put me in a plastic bag and throw me
in the river.”
“Scatter me on the 18th green at my
MANAGEMENT
But the greatest challenge for all of us in the death-care industry is that
we are so heavily invested in the present business model that
a radical re-make of the business from within is nearly impossible.
country club.”
Unfortunately, most if not all of these
suggestions violate the state laws and rules
that govern funeral homes. Unfortunately,
they don’t violate the laws that govern
hotels, restaurants, banquet halls and
country clubs (except for the plastic bag
concept).
What if American’s love affair with
fast food hamburgers is entering a period
of decline? It could happen. After all, the
current generation of people in their 20s
and early 30s are better educated than any
previous generation, and thus more health
conscious.
Millennials consider a coffee at
Starbucks cool. In fact, many of them—
even college graduates—seek employment
at Starbucks but would never consider
working at a fast food hamburger franchise.
That same college graduate is more
likely to become a barista than a funeral
director. After all, telling stories about
Starbucks’customers at parties is a lot
cooler than talking about funeral directing.
It will be interesting to watch
Easterbrook’s efforts over the next five
years as he wrestles with challenges not
unlike our own. What could happen, as it
has in funeral service, is a continuous round
of acquisitions as the fast food businesses
consolidate.
Look for Chick-fil-a to grow quickly by
acquiring a hamburger chain, or perhaps
a red meat company will look for a way
to specialize in healthy seafood just as
Chick-fil-a specializes in chicken. After all,
McDonalds already owns and operates the
Boston Market chain.
At the end of the day, no matter what
Easterbrook does, McDonald’s will be
selling hamburgers with their delicious
fries. They have way too much invested in
their core business to venture too far astray.
Funeral business owners have been
exploring opportunities in acquisition,
minimum cremation businesses, importing
caskets, on-line arrangements and discount
funeral businesses. They have created
market niches by offering celebrants,
green services, reception rooms and event
facilities.
But the greatest challenge for all of us
in the death-care industry is that we are so
heavily invested in the present business
model that a radical re-make of the business
from within is nearly impossible.
As far as funeral businesses might
stray from the traditional Christian funeral
via celebrants and abbreviated services,
profitability always comes back to caskets,
vaults, visitations and funerals.
Conclusion
By definition, funeral service is a declining
industry. But there are many declining
industries, and lot of people make a lot of
money in industries in decline, primarily
because they have fewer competitors
compared to the boom years.
As with McDonald’s, no one believes
the solution to these management
challenges is to continue what we’ve been
doing in the past.
If Easterbrook can’t make some
constructive changes he’ll be out of the
job even faster than his predecessor.
Independent funeral home owners are
not often dislodged from their positions.
Instead, their businesses and relevance in
the community simply disappear. Maybe
they should start considering some of the
suggestions they receive from the public.
Step one is changing the licensing laws
and rules that restrict funeral homes from
competing. The licensing laws governing
funeral homes were created to control the
competition between funeral homes.
But the challenge today isn’t coming
from other funeral homes, it’s coming
from restaurants, hotels and country clubs,
and the licensing laws don’t restrict them.
Just as Chipotle is siphoning off
customers from fast food businesses,
restaurants, hotels and country clubs are
going to create the new memorial services
that will siphon off clients from funeral
homes.
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AFCTS AD
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October 2015
51
by Linda Darby-Dowers
[email protected]
CE M E T E RIE S / CO M M UN IT Y O UT RE A CH
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
➤Linda DarbyDowers is CEO
of Trigard, Trigard
Memorials, a
memorial park and
seven funeral homes
in Illinois, Indiana
and Arizona. Her family has been in the
funeral industry for four generations,
helping families remember, celebrate and
heal.
www.trigard.com
Enjoying Sunset Memorial Park, Danville, Illinois, owned by the Darby family.
5 reasons to visit a cemetery
T
here has been a long-standing
assumption among many people
that cemeteries are creepy, dark and
depressing, and that anyone who enjoys
visiting them is morbid. But I’m thankful
to say that this attitude is changing.
Cemeteries should being seen as a
place to celebrate life. These days, they are
welcoming more and more visitors, and not
only people who want to visit the graves
of lost loved ones. They are becoming
destinations for photographers, walkers and
runners, genealogists and historians.
With television and movies often
portraying cemeteries as scary or creepy
places, it’s no wonder that reputation
has been difficult to shake. In order to
continue the shift in this long-standing
attitude toward cemeteries, we have to
continuously educate the families we serve
on why it is important to visit cemeteries.
I’ve listed five reasons why people
should visit cemeteries; perhaps you can
add others.
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ICCFA Magazine
This memorial in
Key West, Florida, says Thomas
Romer was born
in Nassau in 1783
and died in Key
West in 1891, and
was a privateer
during the War of
1812 and a good
citizen for 85
years. Cemeteries can provide a
history lesson.
To learn about local history
Many people are unaware of the real value
a cemetery holds. When talking with a
family about the importance of a cemetery,
they might wonder what to expect and
what to look for when they visit. The short
answer to that is “history.”
A cemetery provides a snapshot of its
community’s history, serving as a proud
and permanent museum for those who
came before us. Cemeteries are fascinating
Passages AD
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CEMETERIES/COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Above left, beautiful grounds and sculpture at Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. Many cemeteries are outdoor museums as well as parks. Above right, a veterans memorial at Sunset Memorial Park, Danville, Illinois, owned by the Darby family.
places, full of history as well as art (they are
truly outdoor museums).
Visitors can learn so much local history
by taking a walk through their cemeteries,
including immigration patterns and the names
of people who made notable contributions to
their communities.
To create new memories
Many cemeteries take pride in maintaining
their grounds for visitors to enjoy. They
keep the grass mowed and flowers watered
to make the grounds welcoming so that we
can enjoy them and create new memories
with our families.
People don’t have to have a loved one’s
grave to visit in order to take pleasure in
visiting a cemetery. A beautiful cemetery
can be a place for people to walk their
dogs or simply to enjoy the changing of
the seasons, a place to make their own.
For example, local high school students
often visit our cemetery, Sunset Memorial
Park, during homecoming to take pictures
around Swan Pond. Families use our
beautiful landscape as the perfect setting
for family portraits. Even musicians and
actors come to our memorial park to have
head shots or images for their CD covers
taken.
To share memories
It’s been said that we all have two basic
desires: to remember and to be remem
bered. Much like a book, a memorial in a
cemetery can tell the story of someone’s
life.
We all want our story to live on, and we
want to make sure the stories of our loved
ones live on as well. That is why creating
a permanent place of memorialization in a
cemetery is so important.
A memorial creates a place where family
and friends can reflect on the past and
share the memories of their loved ones.
The cemetery is a great place to go and
reminisce with family to keep a lost loved
one’s memory alive.
To salute our veterans
Participants in a running-walking event
at Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery, New
Orleans, Louisiana.
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ICCFA Magazine
If community members are asking you
how they can recognize local veterans who
have lost their lives, tell them to visit a
cemetery in their area.
They can place a flag on a memorial,
participate in holiday observances or
simply go to the veterans memorial many
cemeteries have and reflect on the sacrifice
made by those who are memorialized
there.
The cemetery is a great place to
acknowledge the men and women who
have fought for our freedom.
To exercise and stay healthy
Many cemeteries contain paved roadways
with little traffic (and very slow-moving
traffic, at that), which make them great
places for walking, jogging or cycling. If
your community is short on safe places
for residents to get exercise, change your
rules if necessary to allow and encourage
walkers, joggers and cyclists to use your
grounds.
Providing a beautiful place for exercise
is a great way to help people stay healthy,
to show people the options your cemetery
offers and to build up ties with people
before an at-need situation arises. Some
cemeteries take this a step further, setting
up walking clubs, sponsoring races and-or
giving prizes for the most miles walked in a
year. (Notify your local media if you do!)
Help change our society’s perception
of cemeteries and bring families onto your
grounds to explore everything you have
to offer. It is our job to be a resource for
families, to educate them on the benefits
of visiting cemeteries and to encourage
them to see the value in visiting cemeteries
and eventually being laid to rest and
memorialized in one.
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Live Oak Bank AD
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by Donald Samick
lambstudios
@optonline.net
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
➤Samick is owner
and president of
J&R Lamb Studios,
Midland Park, New
Jersey. He has
designed the interiors
of churches and synagogues for 51 years.
C E M E T E RY DE S IGN & A RC H IT E CT URE
How do you capture the reverent feeling evoked
by a walk through nature when you move gravesites indoors?
It can be done, but it must be planned for.
www.lambstudios.com
➤J&R Lamb Studios is the oldest
ecclesiastical design firm in the United
States, established in 1857. The studio’s
work can be found in notable cemeteries
such as Mount Auburn, Cambridge,
Massachusetts; The Green-Wood
Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York; Woodlawn
Cemetery, the Bronx, New York; and
Lakewood Cemetery, Syracuse, New
York. The studio works in stained glass,
wood, hand-formed bronze and marble
in order to develop art and personal
memorials for cemeteries. It also designs
interiors of mausoleums, private rooms
and chapels.
A columbarium wall at St. James Church, Long Beach, New York, surrounds
nature. Steps through the 35-foot diameter wall allow visitors to enjoy the plants
inside. Design by J&R Lamb Studios.
Creating indoor spaces that
evoke a sense of reverence
W
hat do a church, synagogue,
cemetery, family mausoleum and
community mausoleum all have
in common? They evoke reverence, a deep
respect for a place.
Reverence provides inspiration,
permanence, security and welcoming
comfort, among other things.
Reverence is produced through art
(sculpture, statuary, paintings, stained glass
windows, tombstones); color (marble, wood,
paint, lighting, carpet, plants and glass);
form (interior and exterior architecture,
walls, floors, ceilings, facades); and layout
(accessibility—entrances and exits, furniture
layout and cemetery planning and landscape
design).
Nature provides all of these things, so a
cemetery that is properly laid out will already
have these basic elements built in.
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ICCFA Magazine
Cemeteries have long offered visitors
the experience of being in the outdoors. But
many now offer an indoor experience as
well, in the form of community mausoleums.
Structures placed into well-established parklike settings offer a gravesite that is different
from one in the earth.
How does one bring nature, in all its glory
and reverence, to that indoor expeience? How
does an interior space create an environment
in which to pay honor and respect to the
deceased?
I pose these questions so you will think
about what reverence means and reflect on
another question: “What do visitors to your
cemetery need to experience?” Then ask
yourself whether your cemetery inspires
reverence—at the main entrance, throughout
the grounds and in community mausoleums.
Let us closely examine a building.
➤to page 60
Merendino AD
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Funeral Date Manager AD
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Funeral Date Manager AD
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CEMETERY DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE
The walk through the graveyard is a preparation, a transition time
from the busy world from which we come into the world of the deceased.
preparation, a transition time
➤from page 56
from the busy world from
There are two parts to
which we come into the world
every building: the interior
of the deceased.
and the exterior. The two
Churches have a physical
usually relate to each other.
space called the narthex or a
When you walk up to a
vestibule, an outer chamber
Gothic cathedral, you can
you pass through before
be sure when you enter that
entering the holy space where
building that the interior will
worship takes place. Could
have a relationship to the
a community mausoleum
exterior. When you enter a
incorporate a similar type of
modern building such as the
space?
Guggenheim Museum, you
This could be designed
can be sure that the interior
into new mausoleums as a
speaks well of the exterior.
separate entrance area or, in
But how does the exterior
the case of existing buildings,
of a building relate to the
an outdoor garden entrance
nature around it? And how
could be added. In either
does the interior relate to the
case, you would be providing
function of the building?
a space where visitors can
There is a relationship
meander and make the
between the setting (nature)
transition before coming to
in which the building stands
the gravesite.
and the building itself. There
Such a transition space
is also a relationship between
also serves a function as
the interior, which creates
people leave the mausoleum,
the environment within the
providing a place where they
building, and the function of
can meditate, rest and prepare
the building. Finally, there is a
for that walk back to the
relationship between all four
world of the living.
elements: setting, building,
In summary, the four
interior and function.
elements that create reverence
To use the premise that
The Rev. Dr. James Brooks-McDonald looks at the chapel columbarare art, color, form and layout.
form follows function, then
ium and stained glass at St. Stephen’s Church, Schenectady, New
And if form follows function,
the function equals a resting
York. Design by J&R Lamb Studios.
then the four elements of a
place for the deceased,
entering a graveyard searching for the
building that must work in
which influences the interior design, which
memorial identifying the grave of a lost
harmony are:
influences the building design, which then
loved one. Making that long journey past the
• Function of the building
needs to relate to the setting or nature in
gravesites of many. Walking on the grass,
• Interior design
which the building stands.
past the trees, smelling the flowers and
• Building design
If these four elements are considered
hearing the birds. One can get lost in thought
• Setting in nature
at the onset of building planning, then all
meandering through a cemetery.
What image captures reverence for
should work in harmony to create an interior
Now, think about the experience of
you? A bird soaring in the sky? A tree? A
and exterior environment that is in a proper
getting out of your car and approaching
beautiful, inspiring sunset? A body of water?
relationship to nature and the building’s
a community mausoleum. Do you walk
A clear, star-filled, night sky? A rainbow? A
purpose.
through the glass doors and find yourself
quiet room?
To specifically relate this to cemeteries,
abruptly at the gravesite?
We all experience reverence in our
do community mausoleums relate to the
You might consider the mausoleum as
own inner being. Creating reverent spaces
setting in which they are placed? Does the
a type of cemetery, a place people walk
involves, first of all, an understanding of what
interior environment create an atmosphere
through, looking for their loved one. It is not a reverent space looks and feels like. In order
that speaks to its purpose and nature? Are
the same without nature indoors; there is a
to experience that, you simply have to step
not mausoleums simply gravesites brought
missing element.
into the beautifully designed cemeteries left
indoors?
The walk through the graveyard is a
r
in your care by your predecessors.
Think for a moment how it feels upon
60
ICCFA Magazine
Trigard AD
FULL PAGE
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by Meg L. Winslow and
Melissa Banta
ICCFA Magazine author spotlight
➤Winslow is curator
of historical collections
at Mount Auburn
Cemetery, Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
overseeing the cemetery’s
permanent collections,
including the archives,
library, photographs, fine
and decorative arts, stained glass and the
significant monument collection. Prior to
joining the Mount Auburn staff in 1995, she
was an art gallery director in New York.
C E M E T E RY P RE S E RVAT IO N
The elements can be hard on monuments, especially historic
marble ones. Mount Auburn Cemetery shows how a monument
can be conserved to reveal its original beauty, step by step.
[email protected]
➤Banta is consulting
curator in the historical
collections department
at Mount Auburn
Cemetery. Her writings,
including publications on
Mount Auburn’s AfricanAmerican heritage trail
and significant monument
collection, explore the history of the
cemetery through the historical collection’s
holdings of correspondence, institutional
records, photographs, prints, maps and fine
art. She also holds a curatorial position at
Harvard University.
www.mountauburn.org
Reimagining the
cemetery as museum
Lessons from IMLS collections
stewardship grants
Join us at Mount Auburn Cemetery
in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
on Thursday, November 12,
for a one-day program on new
strategies for managing and
interpreting outdoor collections in
cemeteries and historic landscapes.
Sessions include planning, prioritizing,
fundraising and connecting with the
public. The program will also include a
conservation case study and a walking
tour of Mount Auburn’s significant
monuments in the landscape.
Register at www.mountauburn.org
Free admission; space is limited
This project is
made possible by
a grant from the
U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services
Grant number: MA-30-13-0533-13
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ICCFA Magazine
The Binney monument at Mount Auburn, before and after conservation.
Mount Auburn’s efforts
restore treasured memorial
M
ount Auburn
Cemetery has
completed the
conservation of the Binney
monument, a 19th-century
marble memorial carved by
Thomas Crawford in 1847.
It is the only monument at
Mount Auburn that has been
designated an “American
Treasure” by the National
Trust for Historic Preservation
and the White House
Millennium Committee.
“It is without question, one
of the finest and most important
funerary monuments in the
United States,” said Lauretta
Dimmick, former assistant
curator of American decorative
arts and sculpture at the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts.
“Because it is Crawford’s
only realized funerary
monument, and because none
of the other first-generation
American sculptors even
attempted such commissions,
this sculpture is of extraordinary
value historically.”
The need for conservation
Before this conservation project,
lichen, moss, organic growth
and soil accretions covered the
The Binney monusurface of the stone, and severe
ment at Mount
Auburn, before and weathering had eroded the
after conservation. monument over time, creating a
fragile, “sugary” surface.
Comparisons made with
historic photographs show that
damage had accelerated at an
alarming rate in the last decades.
Curators of American sculpture
from around the country
supported Mount Auburn’s
efforts to save the neoclassical
sculpture before the artistic
Funeral Home Gifts AD
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CEMETERY PRESERVATION
integrity of the nationally significant work
of funerary art was lost.
Repairing and stabilizing
the foundation
The monument’s stone foundation,
which had to be repaired and stabilized.
Flowable grout is poured into open
joints to replace mortar that had washed
out of the foundation.
Beginning in June 2014, Mount Auburn’s
Chief of Conservation David Gallagher
and his preservation team began work on
the project. The first step required repair
and stabilization of the stone foundation
underneath the monument.
Located just below the marble base
of the sculpture, the granite apron stones
on each side of the monument not only
contribute to the overall design, but also
serve to channel water away from the
foundation, provide a buffer between the
marble monument and the damp earth and
conceal the foundation.
Mount Auburn’s preservation team
removed the apron stones on the monu
ment’s south and west sides. The stone on
the west side had broken into two pieces
and was repaired with stainless steel rods
set in epoxy.
The team carefully maneuvered the two
apron stones back into place and secured
them to prevent further movement.
“This is a major repair and it’s barely
visible,” said Gallagher. “Our team did an
outstanding job.” A flowable grout was
poured into open joints on all four sides to
replace mortar that had washed out of the
foundation, and thus stabilize the stones
and minimize water penetration.
Resetting the lot curbing
Above, lifting and resetting the curbing.
Below, filling the joints between curbing
stones with lead.
The next step involved resetting the granite
curbing surrounding the lot. The granite
stones had settled, and dirt and grass had
completely covered a length of the curbing
along the west side of the lot. Roots from
a large tree had also pushed several of the
curbing stones out of place.
The preservation team carefully lifted
a long, heavy section of the curbing out of
the ground, realigned it and reset it above
grade. The joints between the curbing
stones were then filled in with lead.
Pointing and consolidating
the monument
With the cleaning completed, the
monument was restored to the creamy
white color of the Italian Carrara marble.
A thrilling moment came when the
conservators and Mount Auburn staff were
able to locate the sculptor’s signature,
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ICCFA Magazine
Above, washing the monument.
Below, laser cleaning the monument.
Above and left,
pointing work on
the open joints
and cracks in the
marble.
which had been
previously
concealed by
biological growth
and dirt.
After cleaning,
the conservators
applied a chemical consolidant to the
entire sculpture in order to strengthen the
sugaring surface of the stone and reduce
further damage from acid rain and snow.
The cleaning process also revealed
further networks of fine cracks and
imperfections in the stone not previously
visible. Using soft lime mortar, the
conservators patiently filled in these
numerous cracks and pointed the open
joints between the marble stones.
Finer cracks were injected with a
reversible acrylic resin, tinted to match the
color of the stone.
➤to page 65
➤from page 64
Landscaping
The final step involved landscaping. Mount
Auburn’s horticultural staff planted the lot
surrounding the Binney monument with a
low groundcover in order to further protect
the monument and enhance the beauty of
the lot. Two dogwood trees now frame the
boundaries of the site.
Conservation of the Binney monument is
part of a larger project supported by a grant
from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (MA-30-13-0533-13) focused on
the cemetery’s most significant monuments
deemed critical to the long-term stewardship
of Mount Auburn’s cultural landscape.
For many years, it had been a dream
to conserve this beautiful work of art, and
the cemetery administration is immensely
grateful for a generous contribution that made
this landmark preservation project possible
This critical conservation work, so
urgently needed, has preserved and stabilized
a national treasure, whose narrative, meaning
and symbolism future generations will
The conserved Binney monument in its newly landscaped lot, surrounded by a low
continue to appreciate.
r groundcover.
Funeral Call AD
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Holy Land Stone AD
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October 2015
65
by ICCFA Executive Director
Robert M. Fells, Esq.
[email protected]
C E M E T E RY P RE S E RVAT IO N
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
1.800.645.7700, ext. 1212
direct line: 703.391.8401
➤Robert M. Fells is
ICCFA executive director and general counsel,
responsible for maintaining and improving relationships with
federal and state government agencies,
the news media, consumer organizations
and related trade associations.
➤ Fells is regarded as the official
biographer of actor/director George Arliss,
having published four volumes on the subject (available at amazon.com), and has
published more than a dozen books, both
fiction and non-fiction. He is a silent film
collector, pianist and a collector of historical radio broadcasts from the 1930s.
George Arliss was a multitalented,
Academy Award-winning actor who left a legacy
documented by biographer Bob Fells. Now Fells
is working to restore Arliss’ gravesite. It took years
to get permission; now all he needs is the funding.
In 1932,
at the
height of
the Great
Depression,
crowds
line up
to see
George
Arliss
in “The
Man Who
Played
God.”
Biographer seeks funds to restore
grave of the man who played God
I
n what may be a perfect blend of a
personal avocation with business, an
ICCFA staffer is spearheading a project
to restore the gravesite of a noted actor,
author, playwright and filmmaker. ICCFA
Executive Director and General Counsel
Bob Fells has published four volumes of
history and dramatic criticism of George
Arliss (1868-1946) and is regarded as his
official biographer. Arliss is buried in a
churchyard burial ground in Middlesex,
outside of London, England, known as
Harrow Weald Cemetery.
The modest gravesite is marked by an
upright granite headstone that lists only one
accomplishment, evidently the one of which
Arliss was most proud: an honorary master’s
degree he received from Columbia University
in 1919.
Reading that modest inscription, visitors
would never guess this is the same George
Arliss who was the first British actor to win
an Academy Award and who, after 50 years
as a theater legend, became an international
movie star at the age of 61.
His 18 sound films, made between 1929
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ICCFA Magazine
George Arliss’ memorial does not mention his Academy Award or other details
of his movie career.
and 1937, were popular successes as well
as critically acclaimed. Even the queen of
England attended the premieres of Arliss’
films in London. Several of the Arliss films
SRS AD
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Regardless of one’s accomplishments, earthly fame is fleeting,
and today the simple Arliss grave at Harrow Weald Cemetery is mournfully neglected.
Florence and George Arliss in the Technicolor finale of “The House of Rothschild” (1934), one of the few films ever
made dealing with antisemitism.
The gravesite of George Arliss and his wife. Funds are needed to restore it.
are today available on DVD, with more
titles to follow.
For many years, Arliss headed the
National Anti-Vivisection League, and the
Episcopal Actors Guild of America. He
was a vegetarian and famously observed,
“I eat nothing I can pat.” To avoid crowds
at train stations he would check himself in
as “baggage” and wait for the train in the
baggage room. An early advocate of aerobics,
he regularly walked several miles each day to
stay healthy.
His wife, Florence Arliss, was also
an actor and appeared in several of her
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ICCFA Magazine
husband’s films where, predictably, she
played the role of his wife. They are interred
together.
Regardless of one’s accomplishments,
earthly fame is fleeting, and today the simple
Arliss grave at Harrow Weald Cemetery is
mournfully neglected. For many years, Fells
has wanted to start a restoration project, but
given the distances involved and the lack of
a next-of-kin to give permission, the project
seemed hopelessly stalled.
Then a great-grandnephew (the nearest
living Arliss relative) contacted Fells and a
trans-Atlantic friendship developed. Recently,
a lady based in London whom Fells met on
social media took an interest in the project
and offered to be his “eyes and ears” in
Britain. A three-way communication between
her, Fells and the great-grandnephew was
established.
Permission for the restoration was granted
by the cemetery authority and estimates
have been received by the stonemasons (as
monument builders are called in the UK).
The cemetery has also offered to conduct a
rededication service upon completion of the
work.
“At this point,” Fells says, “we are
moving into the next phase of the project, and
that’s fundraising. According to the written
estimates we have received, $6,000 (in US
currency) is needed for the restoration. All
contributions and disbursements will be
handled through the ICCFA, and should there
be any excess funds, these will be placed into
a long-term maintenance account.”
Fells plans to contact member companies
of the ICCFA in the hopes that they will be
willing to contribute to this project.
“This can be viewed as a sort of cause
célébre for all of us to support the mainte
nance needs of all cemeteries wherever they
are located. Ben Franklin said that he could
always tell the character of a town by the
way its citizens maintain their cemeteries. I
think Ben would find this project to be a good
example. The point to remember, as Franklin
observed, is that cemetery maintenance
is everyone’s responsibility, not just the
cemetery’s or the government’s.”
For more information or to donate,
contact Bob Fells at [email protected] or at
1.800.645.7700.
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US Metalcraft AD
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by ICCFA Magazine columnist
Todd Van Beck, CFuE
[email protected]
ICCFA Magazine
author spotlight
➤Van Beck is one of the
most sought-after speakers
and educators in funeral
service.
www.toddvanbeck.com
➤He is the director of continuing education for John A. Gupton College, Nashville,
Tennessee.
www.guptoncollege.edu
➤He is dean of ICCFA University’s
College of Funeral Home Management.
➤Van Beck received the ICCFA
Educational Foundation’s first ever
Lasting Impact Award in 2014.
f
70
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ICCFA Magazine
P RO FE S S IO N A L DE V E L O P M E N T
Winning an argument is a good way to lose friends, respect
and business. If you want to generate goodwill and be successful,
learn to listen more and argue less. In fact, don’t argue at all.
If you want to do well in
life and work, don’t argue
M
any years ago, I loved to argue
politics and religion with people.
Many years ago, I didn’t have
many close friends.
Part of balanced mental health is being
liked. In fact, some impressive thinkers
actually claim that being liked is a basic
primal human need. Sure, there are those
odd and strange souls out in the world who
claim that they don’t care if people like
them, but I have never actually thought
those people were being truthful or serious.
This might be overstated, but I have
concluded in my years of teaching and
travel that almost everyone wants to be
liked. Certainly almost everyone I have
encountered in our beloved funeralcemetery profession wants to be liked.
Just think of how dysfunctional it would
be for a funeral profession or cemeterian
to take the approach to life that being liked
by others is not important. That approach
would be disastrous.
In this profession, given the negative
media treatment that we have to endure,
it is essential to be well thought of by as
many people as possible. This goal is in no
way an easy one to accomplish, but there
are some tactics that can make friendshipmaking a bit easier.
To win a friend, you wouldn’t say,
“Your opinion doesn’t count with me!
Let me tell you just how wrong you are,
and how smart I am. Don’t talk—I’m not
interested in what you have to say. Just be
quiet and listen to me!” This would be the
correct approach to gain an enemy, but to
win a friend?
Let’s go back to what I said at the
beginning of this article: Many years
ago, I loved to argue, and people who are
addicted to arguing are basically telling
everyone else, “Your opinion doesn’t count
with me!”
I was just like that until a veteran
funeral professional pulled me aside and
told me straight out that my comments to
other people always had, in his words “a
slap in them”—it was as if I were slapping
people across their face when I started
arguing. I remember being stunned when
he told me, but looking back, that was one
of the best pieces of advice I have ever
received.
Can you imagine anyone being attracted
by that kind of attitude? In effect, this
is often just what we are saying when
we argue, no matter what words we use.
In spite of all the evidence that arguing
results only in harm, many of us permit
ourselves to be drawn into its deadly trap.
Here is another thought. People who think
they’ve “won” usually are just fooling
themselves.
I remember a co-worker I spent 10
years of my career with who loved to
argue. In fact, she would actually pick
arguments. She would taunt, she would
challenge and sometimes, she would just
agitate and provoke another staff member
just to see their reactions, and then she
would sit back and laugh.
She was a great embalmer, which was
probably the only reason she kept her job,
and to be sure that’s a great asset, but there
was a price to pay as the months and years
went by, and—your guessed it—one day
she picked an argument with the wrong
person. As unbelievable as this will strike
most readers, this lady embalmer picked
an argument with the local parish priest.
We were swamped with funerals,
and we needed this woman to drive our
lead car, in which the priest and the altar
boys would ride from the church to the
cemetery. This was a routine duty and
shouldn’t have resulted in any problems at
all, but we’re talking about the argumentloving embalmer here.
I remember she was unusually quiet
The Foresight AD
FULL PAGE
page 71
4-COLOR
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
As a professional, you may not think of yourself as a salesperson
in the usual sense, but in reality we all must sell ourselves
and our goodwill to others in order to keep things moving smoothly.
when she returned to the funeral home, and
our boss asked her if everything had gone
well out at the cemetery. She shrugged
her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.”
I remember the look on our employer’s
face. He was about to say something to her
when the phone rang. The boss answered
it, and what happened next was not good.
I watched the color drain from our boss’
face. He kept saying, “I understand,” “I’m
so sorry” and “I will talk to her.” I also
remember very well feeling a warm glow
as I thought, “Thank god it was not me!”
Our ace lady embalmer had decided to
debate the parish priest concerning some
of the doctrines and teaching of the church
she disagreed with. The parish priest did
not appreciate being argued with nonstop
by an uneducated would-be theologian
during the trip to the cemetery.
After the boss got off the telephone, our
lady embalmer probably was praying for a
new position to come along quickly, as our
boss dismissed her on the spot.
No matter what your role in the funeral
home or cemetery, your success depends
on your ability to get along with basically
everyone, and that, my friends, is a mighty
tall order. As a professional, you may not
think of yourself as a salesperson in the
usual sense, but in reality we all must sell
ourselves and our goodwill to others in
order to keep things moving smoothly.
As the debacle of the argumentative
embalmer shows, not getting along with
people does not make for a smooth life.
You might silence your fellow workers
by arguing, but you probably will not
change anyone’s mind, except in that some
people will increasingly resent you. People
who argue from a position of superiority
usually are very mean and cruel in their
tactics. Such people will even ridicule the
other person’s lack of knowledge, causing
embarrassment and resentment.
This applies to everyone from the
manager of the funeral home to the
embalmer, to the gravedigger and the
apprentice.
A young funeral director was having a
mental meltdown—a hissy fit, as we say in
Iowa—over the condition of the deceased.
In his “expert” opinion, the hand had not
72
ICCFA Magazine
received sufficient preservative chemical,
and he was probably right. However, his
approach to this situation was to stand
around and argue about it. He ranted and
raved, tossed his arms around like he was
conducting a symphony orchestra, and
started berating the chief embalmer, who
had actually injected the decedent.
Finally, one funeral director asked his
irate young college a simple question:
“What would you have done?” Without
giving this important question one
moment’s thought, the young person
blurted out, “Well, I would have raised the
radial, and injected the hand.”
The veteran funeral director then
asked a second question: “Young man, do
you know how to raise a radial artery?”
The young director turned red with
embarrassment, and finally had to admit
that he had never raised a radial artery in
his life, and didn’t know how to do it.
This account reminds me of Arturo
Toscanini’s famous quote concerning
the people who make their living writing
criticisms of musical performances. The
famous maestro said of music critics,
“They are the ones who write about music,
but can’t play a note.” What is the other
old saying, “People who live in glass
houses …”?
You cannot argue anyone
into goodwill
People are attracted to you because you
compliment them are courteous and
respectful and you go out of your way, if
necessary, to please them. When you argue
with people, you simply advertise to the
other person that you value yourself more
highly than you do anyone else—a selfish
and boorish way to journey through life,
and an attitude guaranteed to lead to the loss
of confidence, cooperation and goodwill.
When someone you’re dealing with
wants to argue, just remember that you
want that person’s goodwill. Why does
he or she want to argue? Maybe they are
in a difficult mood—possibly because of
a death. Maybe they want to impress you
with their knowledge, or maybe they are of
the opinion that they must always be right.
Whatever the reason, swallow your ire
and let them have their way. This isn’t fatal;
it doesn’t hurt to remain quiet and listen. We
learn by listening.
Some people want to impress. Let them
impress you. It usually pleases people in
a big way to think that others value their
ideas, so do it. They’ll like you for it, and
that is the goal. You want people to like
you, right?
You might not truly agree with what the
other person is saying, but you can still be a
sympathetic and attentive listener. President
Coolidge had a wonderful line which I have
used a thousand times. The famously quiet
president said, “You will never be asked
to repeat something you haven’t said.” In
other words, if you don’t argue, no one can
argue with you.
Don’t worry or be frustrated or think that
by not speaking you are losing. You will
find an opportunity to state some facts of
your own, calmly and pleasantly, and if you
can’t speak your piece, Western civilization
probably will not collapse. Remember,
when you refuse to argue, you most always
gain respect.
We unconsciously take the attitude we
display in our cemeteries and funeral homes
and toward our friends with us everywhere.
If we avoid arguing with members of our
staff, family and friends, we are certain to
be tactful and pleasing in our professional
contacts.
In my career, I have, unfortunately,
witnessed conflict, acrimony and dislike
every now and then between family
service counselors and funeral directors.
Arguing, pouting and hurt feelings seem
commonplace.
In truth, arguing in a funeral home or
cemetery usually always creates confusion,
which can result in serious mistakes
and severe disadvantage to the firm and
particularly to client families. Arguing stirs
ill will, and ill will breeds carelessness,
indifference and costly mistakes. Some
operations encounter this type of strife so
regularly that the negative environment
becomes the daily norm.
Businesses of all kinds lose heavily
when employees whose work brings them
into contact with the public are so tarnished
by the “daily norm” of acrimony, dislike
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
and arguing that they end up antagonizing
client families or potential clients, the
people who make their paychecks possible.
No matter what your role in the funeral
home or cemetery may be, listen attentively
and strive to distance yourself from
negativity and arguing. Show consideration
for the other person’s point of view. Show
that you are open-minded, willing to learn
and interested in listening. It is a winning
way.
Say things in a way that does not
suggest you are forcing your point of view
on your listener, simply offering thoughts
for consideration. In the end no one—
absolutely no one—gets his or her way all
the time and in everything.
When you have finished talking, let it
be with an air of pleasant finality. Calmly
present your facts, then let the other person
act accordingly. If he or she still persists in
wanting to argue, say nothing. You cannot
argue with silence, and no one ever got into
trouble by keeping still.
I had a great-uncle, Henry A. Van Beck,
who refused to argue and really did win the
goodwill of many customers who wanted
to argue. My uncle operated an implement
company in Southwestern Iowa and sold
iron stoves to distributors.
One time, a dealer, Mr. Adams, ordered
an iron cooking stove. Upon its arrival, Mr.
Adams wrote a burning letter of complaint
to my uncle’s company. “There were no
legs for this stove,” the letter stated.
My uncle made a thorough check of the
original order, and there was proof positive
that the stove in question had been shipped
complete with legs. However, my uncle as
usual wanted to avoid an argument, so he
went ahead and shipped an additional set of
legs with the following letter:
Dear Mr. Adams:
We regret our recent incomplete
shipment to you. We value your business
very much, and value our friendship even
more. Permit me to send you another set of
stove legs.
Then my uncle added this postscript:
Have you looked inside the stove?
The new set of legs and this letter arrived
simultaneously. Mr. Adams looked in the
stove, and sure enough, there were the
“lost” legs.
I have done things like this myself, and
I am sure Mr. Adams’ face was just as red
as mine has been at times over these many
years. Mr. Adams sent back the extra set of
legs without comment. Within a few weeks
the Van Beck & Everhart Implement Co.
of Hancock, Iowa, received orders for four
more stoves from good old Mr. Adams, a
good buddy.
I wish my readers could have known
Uncle Henry. He was a wise man, and
had his ego well under control. Knowing
the customer would argue heatedly for his
“rights,” whether right or wrong, he didn’t
propose to create ill will for his firm or
for himself. He refused to argue, and his
generous assumption that the customer was
right (plus the gentle way he chose to bring
out the facts) saved Mr. Adams his dignity
and won his active goodwill.
We can exercise the same good sense in
our contacts with everyone in the funeral
home and cemetery, with our family and
with just about everyone else.
You cannot win by arguing, so why
argue?
r
Triple H AD
1/2 H
4-COLOR
October 2015
73
Supply Line
Above and below, caskets from
Clear View Casket’s collection of clear
rental and burial caskets.
READERS: To find the products and services you need online, go to www.iccfa.com
and select “directory” to find:
Supply Link Search
Engine, the fastest way
to find the products and
services you need at your
funeral home, cemetery or
crematory.
SUPPLIERS: Send your press releases
about your new products and services,
and about awards, personnel changes and
other news to [email protected]
for inclusion in Supply Line. Large files that
will not go through the ICCFA server can be
sent to [email protected].
New England Cremation’s new
oversized tray shown with a regular
economy tray stacked on top.
74
ICCFA Magazine
n Clear view caskets, Doral, Florida, has introduced clear rental caskets. The
caskets are designed and manufactured individually by hand in
Miami, Florida,
using transparent
Lucite sheets in
the main body.
The base is made
of marine-grade,
high-density polyethylene material, which is elegant and lightweight.
Caskets are embellished with various types
of bronze, metal or plastic hardware pieces,
as customers request. Caskets are available
in adult, oversized and youth/child sizes.
Options include a variety of interior colors
and the choice of any hardware shown on
the company’s website. All adult caskets can
handle up to 270 pounds, with the exception
of the oversized caskets, designed by special
order.
Four collections are available, including
the Farewell collection, the only burial casket.
Its interior dimensions are 24 by 79 by 15
inches; exterior dimensions are 28 by 83 by
23 inches. The Heavenly, Celebration of Life
and Angels collections are all rental caskets.
All adult rental caskets come with a foot-end
drop-down to facilitate removal of the body
for cremation. The Heavenly Collection
includes four inserts and a choice of hardware
and interior colors.
The top-of-the-line Celebration of Life
casket includes LED lights installed within
the base structure. The lights, which navigate
through 10 different colors, can be set to run
automatically or be remote controlled. For an
additional fee, LED lights can be installed in
caskets from the other collections.
The Angels Collection, for children and
young adults, is available in various sizes,
between 2-and-a-half feet to 5-and-a-half feet
long, with a choice of hardware and interior.
305.699.7410; www.clearviewcaskets.com
n new england Cremation supply, Rochester, New Hampshire, has introduced a new economy oversized cremation
tray. The Economy Oversize 2 Pack is lighter,
produces less ash, is more economical and
saves space in comparison with wood-bottom
oversized trays.
1.800.664.8365; www.necremation.com
n LIVE OAK BANK, Wilmington, North
Carolina, has added a new division, Live
Oak Trust, to offer funeral and cemetery
trust services. With a focus on funeral and
cemetery clients, Live Oak Trust is committed to the administration of preneed funeral,
cemetery merchandise and services and
perpetual care cemetery trust funds. Live
Oak Trust is comprised of a team of professionals with over 200 years combined trust
experience who understand the funeral and
cemetery industry. Live Oak provides trust
services in 18 states.
1.877.890.5867; www.liveoakbank.com
n THe Foresight companies,
Phoenix, Arizona, has hired Christopher L.
Farmer as a financial and business conultant. At the same time as Farmer is starting
to work with Foresight, he is also starting
his own law firm, The Farmer Firm, and is
focused on serving the legal needs of small
and mid-sized businesses in the funeral
service industry.
After graduating from the University of
Houston law school, Farmer had private
practice for several years, and then worked
for Service Corporation International,
Houston, Texas, handing its litigation. After
leaving SCI to return to private practice, he
served as general counsel for the Cremation
Association of North America and the Texas
Funeral Directors Association. He then
worked briefly for Carriage Services. He can
be reached for financial and business management consulting via his Foresight office at
602.274.6464.
1.800.426.0165; [email protected];
www.f4sight.com
713.367.1013; www.thefarmerfirm.com
n The board of directors of
Bass-Mollett publishers, Greenville, Illinois,
has named Daniel J. Sheehan
as company president. John
C. Flowers, who had been
serving as both president
and CEO, will continue to
serve as CEO. Sheehan has
Sheehan
management experience with
Whirlpool Corp., Lane Furniture and SVP
Worldwide, and has a background in sales,
marketing and merchandising.
www.bass-mollett.com
n Funeral Directors Life INsurance Co., Abilene, Texas, was recently
recognized by Great Place to Work and
Fortune Magazine as one of the 10 Best
Workplaces in Insurance. This ranking
comes from an anonymous survey of more
than 86,000 employees in the insurance
industry administered by the workplace culture experts at Great Place to Work. FDLIC
was ranked as the No. 2 best workplace in
insurance for 2015. This honor is in addition to being recognized earlier this year in
a national list of the top 75 best places to
work for millennials, and as the No. 2 best
company to work for in Texas for 2015 in the
medium-sized employer category.
www.funeraldirectorslife.com
Great Western AD
FULL PAGE
page 75
4-COLOR
S U P P LY L I N E
Passages’
new
cornstarch
urns,
which
can
be engraved.
It’s All in The Box provides a memorial
kit for families to use.
Answering Service for Directors
employee Diego Meneses conducts a
group training class.
Mortuary Lift’s new website features
video on the homepage.
76
ICCFA Magazine
n It’s all in the box, Highlands
Ranch, Colorado, offers a memorial service “kit” consisting of a beautiful wood
box with photo frame, archival quality
stationery, candle and organza pouches.
It can be used to leave items with a loved
one in a final resting place and bring
jewelry and other mementos home when
services are complete. The company offers
funeral directors scripts, training and program support materials for this memorial
gift and service tool.
303.250.0926;
[email protected];
www.itsallinthebox.com
n ASD, Media, Pennsylvania, has added a
state-of-the-art group training center for
new employees to its training facilities.
With synced computers and a large projection screen, ASD’s group training center
provides trainees with an in-depth look at
the company’s sophisticated computer systems. Question and answer sessions ensure
new hires advance through the training
program at the same level.
The classes are being taught by experienced employee Diego Meneses, who has
been with the ASD team since 2006. Before
being promoted to supervisor in 2014, he
worked as a training specialist teaching
new hires how to handle calls professionally and compassionately.
www.myasd.com
n mortuary lift co., Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, has launched a new website. Offering a more helpful and informative user
experience, the redesigned site includes
video, online instructions, a gallery of
installations and an online store. The
homepage features videos showing the
company’s products in action.
Other practical elements on the website
include detailed information about the
ADA 50 percent tax credit, instructions for
installing and operating equipment from
Mortuary Lift and answers to frequently
asked questions.
1.800.628.8809; www.mortuarylift.com
n passages international, Albuquerque, New Mexico, has added a white
and brought back the floral green and
red rose cornstarch urns. The company’s
cornstarch urns are made from durable and
environmentally-friendly cornstarch. They
feature a secure “snap lock” closing mechanism that permanently closes the urn. The
urns can be kept at home, or placed in a
cemetery niche or columbarium, since they
will not biodegrade or deteriorate unless
buried. When buried, the urns will biodegrade completely over time.
Each urn is hand-painted and includes a
biodegradable bag for the cremated remains
to be placed in prior to closing. Each urn
comes in a convenient carry box that can be
used for discreet and convenient transportation. Personalized engraving is available.
1.888.480.6400;
sales@passagesinternationalcom;
www.PassagesInternational.com
n Alan Creedy and Bill McQueen of Succession Planning Associates,
Raleigh, North Carolina, have both earned
the Business Enterprise Insitute Certified Exit Planner designation. The CExP
requires more than 100 hours of live and
online initial training and 30 hours of realworld casework creating exit plans.
[email protected]; [email protected];
www.successionpa.com
n passare, San Francisco, California,
has promoted Jay Thomas to vice president
and CEO. He joined the company in March
2014 as vice president of operations and has
more than 20 years of experience leading
teams in the global technology market. Before joining Passare, he established his own
consulting business to help start-ups focus
on connecting their technology to business needs and opportunity. He received his
MSEE degree from Santa Clara University in
Silicon Valley.
925.968.9495; www.passare.com
n Richards and West, East Rochester, New York, is merging with Imprint
On My Heart and Memory in My Heart,
Carmel, California, to expand its keepsake
and memorial jewelry product line. The
company’s keepsake and fine jewelry collection is called Precious Vessel.
585.461.3022; www.RichardsAndWest.com
n CG Labs, Thunder Bay, Ontario, has
appointed Simon Rothwell of Warwick,
England, to its board of directors and as
vice president of CG Labs, Europe. Rothwell’s company, Flexmort, is the exclusive
distributor of the CG Labs Inc. brands
throughout Europe.
www.cglabscorp.com;
www.dnamemorialuk.com
Paradise Pics AD
FULL PAGE
page 77
4-COLOR
S U P P LY L I N E
FrontRunner’s new
technology
center,
where
workshops
are now
being held.
n FRONTRUNNER PROFESSIONAL,
Kingston, Ontario, has concluded an exclusive partnership with UK-based Heart in
Diamond. Heart in Diamond manufactures
diamonds, available in a variety of colors and
cuts, from the carbon in cremated remains.
Also, the company has launched its hardbound Book of Memories memorial book,
which takes the guestbook signing, shared
memories, condolences, photos and other
online tributes in the online Book of Memories memorial and collects them in a printed
book. The books have a patented slip-spine
book to allow the family to add or replace
pages while maintaining the look of a professional bound table-top book.
Also, FrontRunner has announced the
workshop schedule for its brand new technology center. Regularly scheduled sessions
will be held twice per month for FrontRunner
clients, and those interested in learning more
about FrontRunner technology. The schedule
of events is available on the firm’s website.
1.866.748.3625; www.FrontRunner360.com
n Astral INDUSTRIES, Lynn, Indiana,
recently welcomed the 2015 summer class
and staff from the Cincinnati College of
Mortuary Science. The students were taken
on a detailed tour of Astral’s manufacturing
facility and also participated in an educational
seminar at the corporate office.
www.astralindustries.com
n mkj marketing, Largo, Florida, now
offers brand equity and opportunity market
research. A funeral business’s greatest asset
or liability is its brand. It either increases the
financial value of the business through higher
sales or it forces it to charge less than the firms
with greater brand value. The research is especially useful to a company that is the market
leader, has a cremation rate lower or greater
than that of competitors, is losing volume,
has a lower average sale than competitors, is
considering acquiring an existing firm or is
considering building a new facility.
1.888.655.1566; www.mkjmarketing.com
n Physicians mutual, Omaha,
Nebraska, has introduced Cornerstone
Index Advantage, a new preneed product
designed to protect against low interest
rates. It allows funeral homes to earn equity
index-driven growth rates instead of a fixed
rate set at the discretion of the carrier. It features a fixed growth rate, starting on day one,
for the first policy year; equity index-driven
growth rate after the first year; and growth
compounded and credited daily.
www.PhysiciansMutual.com
n Funeral Services Inc., Tallahassee,
Florida, has teamed up with CemSites,
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, to provide a digital platform that offers one-stop shopping
for perpetual care trust and cemetery management. CemSites is a cemetery manage-
ment technology company. FSI trust systems
will automatically sync with CemSite’s AR
Finance Module, part of the company’s secure
cemetery customer relationship management
software. The program will now streamline
both the trust and receivables processes. The
module will also feature contract automation,
advanced customizable reporting, and dispute
management. 850.425.1340;
www.fsipreneed.com; cemsites.com
n A member of the board for Homesteaders, Des Moines, Iowa, Katie Roth,
has been selected as the Des Moines Business Record’s 2015 CAPTRUST Woman
Business Owner of the Year. The annual
award is given to a business owner who has
an exemplary personal and professional
reputation, a history of mentoring other businesswomen, strong connections to the Des
Moines business community and significant
professional achievement and success.
Also, the 2015 edition of The Funeral
Director’s Guide to Statistics, sponsored
by the company, is now available through
Kates-Boylston Publications. In addition to
their sponsorship, Homesteaders has provided exclusive articles from director-marketing
information Pam Kleese and digital marketing specialist Alyssa McNab focused on using
data to direct funeral home operations and
planning.
1.800.477.3633; www.homesteaderslife.com
Cincinnati
College of
Mortuary
Science
students
with Astral
employees
during a
visit to Astral’s
manufacturing
facility.
78
ICCFA Magazine
MKJ AD
FULL PAGE
page 79
4-COLOR
S U P P LY L I N E
Perfect Memorials’ new biodegradable
Grecian-style urns.
n Perfect Memorials, Eden Prairie,
Minnesota, has added biodegradable
Grecian-style urns to its product line. The
urns are suitable for ground burial, scattering
or display in the home. They are created one
at a time by artisans using handmade paper
and real leaves. The mulberry paper used in
making the biodegradable urn is dried in the
sun. It is durable and will not begin to biodegrade until it comes in contact with water
or is buried in the ground. The urns are
available in a variety of colors and pattern
options, and come in 140- and 260-cubic
inch sizes. The come with a pendant that can
be displayed or buried with the urn or serve
as a keepsake. Pictures and words provided
by the customer are permanently engraved
on the pendant in a script or block font.
www.perfectmemorials.com
n Matthews international,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has hired Daniel
Wolfslayer as director of customer solutions. Wolfslayer has extensive customer
service experience including 25 years leading
diverse customer service, data entry and call
center teams with a heavy emphasis on realizing operational efficiencies and improving
the overall customer experience.
Also, the Federal Trade Commission
has approved the sale of/merger with Matthews of Aurora Casket, Aurora, Indiana.
Aurora is expected to be integrated into
Matthews Memorialization Group. The
combined funeral home operations will be
branded Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions, bringing together the best products,
marketing programs, and services from both
companies. 1.800.223.4964; www.matw.co
Above left, James Jefferson, Southside Grave and Vault, this year’s recipient of the
Trigard Large Business Division Highest Growth Percentage Award. Above right,
Ethan Darby, Trigard’s director of business development; Lillie Bates-Toler, Lakenia
Bates-Downs, Oliver Bates and Lisa Bates, Bates Vault and Services, recipients of
the Trigard Small Business Division Outstanding Growth Percentage Award; and
Lindsey Murphy, Sunset Funeral Home’s director of marketing.
Above left, Cailey Watts, Julie
Watts, Cutler Watts, Scott Watts,
Watts Vault and Monument, this
year’s recipients of the Trigard Highest Overall Sales Volume Award. Above right,
Howard Crevia, David Crevia and John Hutchinson, Superior Vault Co., this year’s
recipients of the Trigard “You Get It” Award.
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ICCFA Magazine
n Disrupt media, Zanesville, Ohio,
and WEigel Strategic Marketing, Indianapolis, Indiana, have established a strategic relationship. “DISRUPT
Media continues to thrive at the intersection
of media and technology, while Weigel Strategic Marketing offers an expertise in print
media, branding and communications,” said
Ryan Thogmartin, president and CEO of
DISRUPT Media.
740.617.0599; www.FUNERALSocial.com;
317.608.8914;
[email protected]
n Noble Metal Solutions, Indianapolis, Indiana, offers a patent-pending
process that finds 100 percent of all metals
prior to processing of cremated remains.
This saves wear and tear on the processor
while increasing the metals harvested, since
even the tiniest dental alloys are identified.
The process is provided to all customers
who sign up with the company to handle the
recycling of post-cremation metals.
317.813.9341 [email protected]
www.noblemetalsolutions.com
n Trigard, Danville, Illinois, honored
a number of dealers with sales awards at
its annual convention. Watts Vault and
Monument, Des Moines, Iowa, was recognized for highest overall
sales volume. In the large
business division, awards
went to Southside Grave
and Vault Inc., Skipwith,
Virginia, for the highest growth percentage;
Rocky Hill Vault Inc.,
Cromwell, Conneticut,
for the second highest;
and Mark H. Bott Co.,
Ogden, Utah, for the
third highest. Oxford
Grave and Vault, Oxford,
Alabama, was recognized Beth Mutch,
for outstanding growth Rocky Hill Vault
for the midsize division. Co., with her
In the small business
award.
division, Bates Vault and
Services of Tylertown,
Mississipi, was recognized for outstanding
growth. 1.800.637.1992; www.trigard.com
n national mortuary shipping,
Cleveland, Ohio, recently sponsored an
event for Puerto Rican funeral directors,
held in Isla Verde.
www.natlmortuaryshipping.com
n oxcart products, Wichita,
Kansas, offers dump carts designed to hold,
move, lift and dump heavy loads. They
have been dynamically load tested up to
1,100 pounds and have a tub capacity of 12
cubic feet. The exclusive hydraulic-assisted
S U P P LY L I N E
Oxcart’s utility cart for heavy loads.
tub life on the carts is designed to help make
loads feel up to 90 percent lighter. They also
feature a rear offset dump pivot design, giving the operator more control when directing where to unload material.
316.650.2796; www.oxcart.com
n Stone orchard software,
Newmarket, Ontario, has partnered with
Cemetery360, Sacramento, California,
in order to offer cemetery clients enhancements to its current mapping options.
Cemetery 360 services paired with Stone
Orchard’s maps will provide new sales and
marekting features. The technology allows
users to enter a ground-level 360 view of a
cemetery located anywhere, explore existing
and available interment sites and connect
with cemeteries through a life-like 360-degree immersive experience. Cemetery360
offers a cemetery listing service to showcase
available plots. CemLS links a global identification number to specific plot listings and is
fully integrated with cemetery360.com and
Stone Orchard Software. 1.800.932.3388;
[email protected];
www.stoneorchardsoftware.com;
530.518.6185; www.cemetery360.com
n Forethought life insurance
co., Indianapolis, Indiana, has again
earned a spot on Ward’s 50 list of the top
life and health insurance companies. This is
the sixth consecutive year that Forethought
has been included on this list. Ward’s 50 is
published annually by Ward Group, an Aon
Hewitt company and the leading provider of
benchmarking and best practice services for
insurance companies. www.forethought.com
n Jay Hardy, president and COO of
Unity FInancial Life Insurance
Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, has been named a
finalist for the 2015 Cincinnati Business
Courier Inaugural C-Suite Awards. The
Courier honors top executives in greater
Cincinnati whose skills and leadership have
helped shape success for their companies. A
total of 37 finalists were named in five categories, which include chief executive officer,
chief financial officer, chief operating officer,
chief marketing officer and chief legal officer.
r
1.877.523.3231; www.uflife.com
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Update
Send in news about your cemetery, funeral home, crematory or association to [email protected]. If you publish a newsletter,
please email a copy to [email protected] or mail to: Susan Loving, ICCFA, 107 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100, Sterling, VA 20164.
n This year, eight students became the
first class of bachelor’s degree recipients
to receive celebrant training at Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, Cincinnati, Ohio. They are the first
Insight Institute celebrants to have trainers
other than Doug Manning and Glenda Stansbury. Kathy Burns, the Insight Institute’s mortuary college celebrant program coordinator,
was there for the final day when students
presented the celebrant services they had created. “It was exciting to launch our mortuary
college celebrant training program and I was
impressed with the caliber of writing among
the students,” she said. Burns, along with
CCMS faculty Wanda Lee and Teresa Dutko,
awarded each graduate a certificate and pin.
After training 2,400 celebrants since
1999, Manning and Stansbury decided to
train others to provide the program they offer. A logical place to begin was to develop
a training and franchise license that can be
incorporated into mortuary programs as part
of the curriculum and they invited schools to
participate who already had faculty who had
received celebrant training.
Lee and Dutko trained as celebrants in
2005 and 2006, respectively. They attended
the first “training of trainers” in August 2014
and CCMS subsequently purchased the
franchise license allowing them to incorporate celebrant training into the bachelor of
mortuary science curriculum. The CCMStrained celebrants are Jennifer Allen, Kelsey
Katsanis, Cristy Long, Ranee Martin, Bailey
McGill, Aaricka Overstreet, Allison Slipsky
and Shirley Wagner.
n NorthStar Memorial Group,
Houston, Texas, ranked No. 19 on the 2015
The first students to receive Insight Institute celebrant designations via training by the
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science with their teachers and Kathy Burns, the Insight
Institute’s mortuary college celebrant program coordinator.
Selling Power 50 Best Companies to Sell
For list. Each year, the corporate research
team at Selling Power magazine assembles
and publishes its list of the 50 Best Companies to Sell For. 2015 marks the 15th
consecutisve year the list has appeared in the
magazine. NorthStar Memorial Group has
earned a total of 17 Top Workplace awards
since its founding in 2004. To be considered
for Selling Power’s list, companies are evaluated in such areas as customer growth and
retention; hiring, compensation, sales training
and enablement; and company recognition
and reputation.
n The Signature Group, Houston,
Texas, has named Michael J. Watkins,
CFSP, COO, as vice president of operations and compliance. He has been involved
in various capacities in both public and
private funeral and cemetery organizations
during his over 32 years in the industry. Prior
to joining The Signature Group, he served
as the senior vice president of operations
for the National Funeral Directors Association. Prior to joining the NFDA, he was an
executive vice president for Palm Mortuary,
Las Vegas, Nevada, which at the time was the
largest privately-owned funeral and cemetery
operation in North America. He oversaw
all matters related to the development and
management of Palm’s 265 employees, safety
compliance and human resources. Earlier in
his career, he worked as a funeral director and
manager in several funeral homes in Texas
and Georgia.
Signature operates 15 funeral homes and
➤to page 84
Woodlawn Cemetery will be classroom for stone masonry students
n The World Monuments Fund and
Woodlawn Conservancy Inc.,
New York, New York, in collaboration
with the International Masonry Institute,
have partnered to create The Woodlawn
Cemetery Preservation Training Program,
a two-year pilot program offering job training
opportunities in stone masonry and stone conservation methodology for 12 student interns
recruited from area schools that focus on the
preservation trades.
The students will work on select monuments at The Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Bronx, receiving hands-on technical training
needed to succeed in the conservation field.
Woodlawn Conservancy and IMI will seek
job placements for all interns who successfully complete the program. Woodlawn
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ICCFA Magazine
Conservancy and WMF hope that this pilot
program will serve as a national model for
other historic cemeteries in the United States
that often struggle to find the resources and
help to conserve and preserve their monuments and mausoleums.
“With over 1,300 mausoleums and monuments in our care, we are thrilled to have The
Woodlawn Cemetery serve as a unique laboratory for aspiring preservationists to receive
hands-on training in stonework restoration,”
said The Woodlawn Cemetery & Conservancy President Mitch Rose. “We envision a
role for historic cemeteries across the country
to play in workforce development of this kind
that will also benefit their preservation needs,
and are proud that Woodlawn Conservancy
can be a pioneer in these synergistic efforts.”
The interns will be taught by Robert Cappiello, resident craftsman at The Woodlawn
Cemetery, a position specifically created
for this program with the help of IMI. All
participants will learn about the different
stones used in the cemetery, from granites
and limestone to all the different types of
marble, and how to analyze each stone and
the best methods of cleaning and repairing
them. In addition, they will attend classes
about historic preservation, as well as safety
procedures, conducted by IMI.
All participants who successfully complete the program will receive a certificate
from IMI and WMF.
The program is supported with funds from
World Monuments Fund and the Heckscher
Foundation for Children.
r
UPDATE
In memoriam
Gordon R. Ewig, CCE
Gordon R. Ewig, CCE, a past president of
the ICCFA, died in Palm Desert, California,
on August 11 at the age of 92. He served as
association president in 1983-84.
He graduated from Stanford University
and received his MBA from Stanford Business School in 1948. He served as a Naval
officer in World War II. During the 1970s, he
was appointed to the California Board of Accountancy, and also served on the Interment
Association of California Board of Directors.
In 1960, he joined Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks, Glendale, California, serving as
vice president of operations. In 1968, he
became vice president administraton for
Pierce National Life Insurance and then
was general manager of Inglewood Park
Cemetery, Inglewood, California, from
1969 to 1971. He was president of Skylawn
Properties from 1971 to 1973, then worked
for Service Corporation International,
Houston, Texas, where he was responsible
for all cemetery operations, for three years.
From 1977 to 1982, he was executive vice
president for Forest Park in Houston and
then worked at Centurion National Group,
Houston, as vice president of cemetery
acquisitions, until 1985, when he returned
to Inglewood as president.
In addition to serving as ICCFA president
(when it was the American Cemetery Association), he also served as treasurer for three
years and on the board of directors. He was
on the committee that worked out the merger
between the American Cemetery Association
and the National Association of Cemeteries.
Ewig was a consultant for the board of
directors of Cypress Lawn, Colma, California. “He recruited me for the position
at Cypress Lawn, plus gathered necessary
At a meeting of the Toppers, a group of sales high achievers, seated from left, Gordon
Ewig, CCE; Herschel and Ruth Auerbach; David Brownworth; and Hugh Keatley. Standing from left, Robert Nuckolls, CCE; Dan Reed, CCE; Fred Newman, CCE; Mike Shipley,
CCE; Bob Neel, CCFE; Jim March Sr.; and Hap Bledsoe, CCE.
legal documents from Crown Hill in Indianapolis for me to use as a template to set
up our funeral company and corporation,”
recalled Cypress Lawn President and CEO
Ken Varner, CCFE, also a former ICCFA
president. “When I set that up I asked him
to be on the Cypress Funeral Services Inc.
board. He served from 1997 to 2013.”
Survivors include his wife, Virginia, a
son and daughter, four grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren. Arrangements
were handled by Cabot & Sons, Pasadena,
California.
Allison Arol ‘Al’ Starkey Jr.
Allison Arol “Al” Starkey Jr. of Bridgeport,
West Virginia, died August 21, 2015, at the
age of 60.
A 1976 graduate of West Virginia
University, he served as vice president in
sales with Ingram Construction, Madison,
Mississippi, for 25 years, and was a sales
consultant for Kryprotek, Bridgeport. He
also had served as executive director of the
Harrison County Senior Citizens Center.
Survivors include his parents, Allison
Arol Sr. and Joretta Patterson Starkey; a brother and
sister; his wife, Judith L.
Fairless Starkey, a son and
two daughters; and seven
grandchildren.
Arrangements were
handled by Amos Carvelli
Funeral Home, Nutter Fort,
West Virginia, where the
visitation was held. The service was held at
Simpson Creek Baptist Church in Bridgeport. Following services, he was cremated.
Memorial contributions can be made to the
American Heart Association, 162 Court St.,
Charleston, WV 25301.
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83
Columbarium extends life of historic Catholic cemetery
L
ocated in the Woodside Area of Queens,
Calvary Cemetery was the first major
cemetery to be established beyond the island
of Manhattan by the trustees of St. Patrick’s
Cathedral. Since its historic beginning in
1848, the Catholic cemetery has seen nearly
2 million burials. Over the years, the land has
been completely developed.
“We are currently involved in a space
recovery project,” said Louis Bertuzzi,
director of financial operations for The
Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which
owns the cemetery along with three others in
the region. “At Calvary we have 365 acres,
and it’s been considered full for a long time,”
he said.
Looking for new ways to offer memorial
space for its Catholic community —and
recognizing the growing number of those
who choose cremation—Bertuzzi, along with
George Borrero, managing director; Andrew
Nagle, associate managing director; and
Joseph Giulietti, superintendent at Calvary,
began the process of developing plans for the
cemetery’s first columbarium.
“We’re involved in a strategic planning
process for our four cemeteries, and we see
that approximately 15 percent of our sales are
cremation, either in ground or above ground,”
Bertuzzi said. “That’s less than the national
figure, but we see that this is an option that
the Catholic faithful choose and want, and
we’re prepared to offer these different types
of options to our community.”
Coming up with the space for a
columbarium at Calvary was the first hurdle.
They identified an area where there was an
old field workers’ building that wasn’t being
used anymore. “We demolished it, cleared the
area and did some site work in order to locate
the columbarium there,” Bertuzzi said.
The team worked with Grever and Ward
Landscaping Architects, Orchard Park, New
York, to design the columbarium site. “They
recommended Eickhof Columbaria,” Bertuzzi
The Calvary Cemetery Columbarium in Queens, New York, features 1,488 total companion niches. The columbarium provides new memorial space in a 167-year-old cemetery.
said. “We did our due diligence and retained
Woodard and Curran, a leading engineering,
science and operations company, to review
the plans and specifications to make sure
these structures would stand the test of time.
They confirmed it was a very good quality,
well-built structure.”
The project provides 1,488 total
companion niches, including 1,392 wall
niches and a pre-assembled Ely columbarium
with 96 niches, finished in Mountain Pink
granite. The team worked with SiteWorks
Contracting Corp. to install the foundations
and perform related sitework. A Holy
Family kosmolux statue was purchased
from Biondan, Toronto, Ontario, and set by
Westchester Memorials atop the Ely unit. The
project was completed in December 2014.
Eickhof helped them design a marketing
system, so each niche has its own identifica
tion number engraved on the cover, Bertuzzi
said. This is the first time that any of the
archdiocese’s four historic cemeteries has
had such a system in place for identifying,
locating and mapping memorial sites.
The response from the Catholic commu
nity to the columbarium has been positive,
and the niches are beginning to be sold.
Bertuzzi said the church continues to educate
and discuss the idea of cremation and
inurnment as options for its parishioners.
“It’s about educating the Catholic faithful
in understanding the teachings of our faith,
which includes the reverential treatment of
remains, including cremation.” r
UPDATE
➤from page 82
10 cemeteries in four states.
n Pierce Mortuary Colleges has hired Antonio
C. Wallace as president of
Gupton-Jones College of Funeral
Service, Decatur, Georgia.
Wallace has more than 20
years of experience in higher
Wallace
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ICCFA Magazine
education administration in both the academic
and operations areas. Wallace has served as
a college professor for healthcare, education
consultant/auditor, director of education,
dean of academic affairs, regional director of
education and vice president of operations.
He has experience with both regionally and
nationally accredited schools and colleges.
His prior experience was in healthcare.
He earned his masters of education degree
with a concentration in educational organi-
zational leadership from American Intercontinental University. He also received a
bachelor’s degree in healthcare management
and an associate’s degree in medical assisting,
both from Anthem College.
n Stonemor partners LP, Levittown, Pennsylvania, has recently acquired
five properties. The company acquired an
Illinois-based cemetery and three funeral
homes, as well as one Florida-based funeral
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85
Above, Acting Campbell River
Mayor, Ron Kerr, right, and
Kent Roduck cut the ribbon
at the opening ceremonies of
Island Funeral Services’ Tranquility Garden Columbarium
at Elk Falls Crematorium.
Right, a view of the garden
showing the first niche wall.
Island Funeral Services dedicates new columbarium
n Island Funeral Services
Ltd. recently dedicated its new Tranquility Garden, a 400-niche wall columbarium at Elk Falls Cemetery, Campbell
River, British Columbia. “We’re very
pleased with the quality of the project and
environmental consistency we were able
to achieve,” said Kent Roduck, owner of
Island Funeral Services.
“The design blends perfectly with the
natural beauty of the cemetery that surrounds our crematorium complex, particularity with the addition of our free flowing
water feature, constructed from rocks and
pieces of driftwood collected locally.”
Island Funeral Services, owners of
Comox Valley Funeral Home, Cremation
and Reception Centre, Courtenay, British Columbia, which was built from the
ground up in 1993, expanded to establish
an arrangement, pre-arrangement office at
the Georgie Quay marina site in downtown
Campbell River in 2000.
Three years later, Island Funeral
Services were approached by the city of
Campbell River to consider construction of niche walls at Elk Falls Municipal
Cemetery. Roduck and his wife Rosemarie responded by creating an even more
ambitious project of a 2,500-square-foot
building to include a crematorium with a
gathering and committal area, as well as
the Serenity Walkway scattering garden.
The original Garden of Remembrance
niche wall complex was established on the
north side of the building and became full
in 2014.
Roduck thanked Carrier Mausoleums
Construction Inc., Montreal, Quebec;
North Island Custom Curbs, Courtenay,
British Columbia; A. Nijhuis Landscapers,
Campbell River, British Columbia; and
the staff of the city’s Department of Parks,
Recreation and Culture for making the
project a success.
r
UPDATE
home. The funeral homes combined
recipient to sit for the NBE with
perform approximately 545 funeral
the $500 examination fee waived.
services per year and the cemetery
The 2015 recipients are: Chevarres
performs approximately 400 interBrown, Mississippi Gulf Coast
ments per year. The aggregate purchase
Community College; Anne Christ,
price for the combined properties was
University of Minnesota: Daniel
$6.6 million.
Hensley, Community College of
Baltimore County; Garrett D. Holn The International Conland, Fayetteville Technical Comference of Funeral Sermunity College; Tricia Lawrence, St.
vice Examining Boards, FayPetersburg College; Robert S. Lewis,
The Conference Executive Committee, from left, Past
etteville, Arkansas, recently elected
Lake
Washington Technical College;
President
Bart
Burton;
Vice
President
A.R.
“Sandy”
Mathe following officers for 2015-2016:
Kendra
Oliver, University of Arkanhon;
President
Dr.
Hari
P.
Close
II,
CFSP;
and
SecretaryPresident Dr. Hari P. Close II, CFSP;
sas Community College at Hope;
Vice President A.R. “Sandy” Mahon; Treasurer Edward Muhleisen.
Erwin H. Shea III, John A. Gupton
and Secretary-Treasurer Edward
Examination Scholarship. Each ABFSE- College; Shantasky Washington, San AntoMuhleisen.
accredited program was invited to submit
nio College; and Carrie Yarbrough, Dallas
The Conference board also selected
one candidate; winners were selected
Institute of Funeral Service.
10 recipients of the National Board
at random. The scholarship allows each
➤to page 88
86
ICCFA Magazine
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87
Above, the two geothermal-solar columbaria at York Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario. Below, the interior of the new columbarium.
Energy-efficent columbaria use solar, geothermal energy
n York Cemetery and Visitation Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, has
added a second phase to its solar-geothermal columbarium. The energy-efficient
columbaria, which include inside and outside
niches, run “off the grid.” They include
climatecontrolled
interior
spaces with
heating and
cooling provided by a
geothermal
system that
is solarpowered
and selfsustaining.
A solar
system
charges batteries which feed the lighting and geothermal
heating and cooling system. A 250-foot
vertical loop serves a 1.5-ton highly efficient
heat pump.
In addition to the active
sustainable technologies
used in the lighting and
HVAC systems, the insulated concrete and block
structure is designed using
the principles of passive
solar design to leverage
the thermal mass of the
building. In order to reduce
energy consumption, all
lighting is LED, which also
provides for low maintenance costs.
The new building is 710
square feet, plus overhangs.
It includes 231 interior glassfront niches of various sizes
and 210 granite niches, some with companion
fronts. The inventory is designed to offer a
broad range of options. Materials used were
Dark Bronze Aluminum with some White
Carrara niche interiors in curved niches and
Impala Black for exterior niche fronts. The
second columbarium was added four years
after the first one, built as a prototype for
future structures, was opened and proved to
be a success.
York is part of the Mount Pleasant Group
of Cemeteries. Initial design concepts were
created by the Mount Pleasant Group and
the detailed design was then developed in
cooperation and partnership with the design
team from Carrier Mausoleums Construction
Inc., Québec. r
UPDATE
➤from page 86
n Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care
Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has begun
offering monument design services. With
this newest offering, Sagel Bloomfield
becomes the first funeral home in the area
to offer such services for any and all area
cemeteries. Their services cover design of
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ICCFA Magazine
bronze and granite markers; production
and installation of monument inscriptions
and various unveiling customs to suit
specific individual and family needs, styles
and beliefs; and private family mausoleums.
n Genevieve Keeney, president and
COO of the National Museum of
Funeral History, Houston, Texas,
recently received a master’s degree in
nonprofit and association management
from the University of Maryland. She also
has an associate’s degree in applied science and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Keeney has been with the musuem
since 2007, first serving as director and
then becoming president and COO in
2010.
➤to page 90
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89
Michigan Memorial makes creative use of niches
yer. “I’ve never seen anything like it.
It’s such a nice addition to our park.”
Coldspring
Another beautiful niche feature at
ocated in Flat Rock, Michigan,
Michigan Memorial Park is the bronze
the family-owned Michigan
angel niche wall on the exterior of the
Memorial Park has served southGarden of Angels Mausoleum.
eastern Michigan since 1926. This
Unique and eye-catching, the
290-acre memorial cemetery on the
photo-realistic angel is the first thing
banks of the Huron River offers a
visitors notice when approaching the
wide variety of options, from tramausoleum. The angel is constructed
ditional burial to mausoleum units
of individual bronze pieces secured to
and cremation niches. Recently,
the two-story niche wall.The park has
Michigan Memorial Park added a
individually priced each niche space,
unique granite water feature that
and premium locations such as the
brings added value to the park.
angel’s face have a higher price than
“It came to me last year that a
other locations such as the sky.
water feature would be a perfect
According to Dwyer, the anaddition near our existing lighthouse Michigan Memorial Park’s water feature with an urn-shaped
gel niche wall has been very well
columbarium,” said Michigan Me- fountain surrounded by niches.
received and, like the water feature
morial Park President Kelly Dwyer.
niche, helps set the park apart from
“After consulting with Coldspring
tall and more than 16 feet wide. Completed
others in the area.
about our idea, we decided that an urn-shaped in the fall of 2014, the water feature columMichigan Memorial Park is currently addfountain surrounded by niches would be
barium includes 132 niches. The result is a
ing
four private mausoleum units to the area
perfect.”
unique columbarium that adds sound and
surrounding the water feature as well as many
Many cemeteries are looking for creative
movement to the park.
r
private family mausoleums.
ways to add niche space to their properties.
“It’s so massive and beautiful,” said DwAs cremation rates continue to rise, this trend
will continue as cemeteries seek to maximize
their existing land space.
“Due to the rising cremation rate, niche
spaces are now at a premium,” said Greg
Terhaar, director of sales, Coldspring. “A few
years ago, a particular memorial park might
construct a mausoleum/columbaria complex
with 300 crypts and 50 niches; today those
numbers are reversed.”
In addition to facing a rising demand for
niche space, memorial parks are increasingly
focused on their landscaping and efforts
toward beautifying their columbaria and mausoleum spaces.
“Today’s cemeterians are looking for ways
to increase the aesthetic appeal of their columbaria,” explained Terhaar. “By beautifying their property, cemeterians can differentiate themselves from their competitors.”
Michigan Memorial Park’s water feature
was formed from Carnelian and Rockville
Beige granite to match the park’s existing
lighthouse columbarium.
The water feature stands at 6 feet, 6 inches Michigan Memorial Park’s bronze angel niche wall on its Garden of Angels Mausoleum.
by Johnny Phillips
L
UPDATE
➤from page 88
n The LOusiana Funeral Directors Association recently installed
its 2015-2016 officers and directors: President William Wimberly, Ardoin’s Funeral
Home, Eunice; Vice-President Kyle Deichmann, New Orleans Care and Cremation
Center, New Orleans; Treasurer Timothy
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ICCFA Magazine
I. Dulany, Osborn Funeral Home, Shreveport; Secretary Isabel Espinosa, Ourso
Funeral Home, Donaldsonville, White
Castle and Pierre Part; and Sergeant-atArms Jimmy Bordelon, Martin & Castille
Funeral Home, Lafayette.
Also, Immediate Past President Joel L.
Swisher, Hixson Brothers Funeral Home,
Alexandria; Southwest District Governor
Pat Menard, Pellerin Funeral Home, New
Iberia; Southeast District Governor Chad
Saia, Brandon G. Thompson Funeral
Home, Hammond; North District Governor Brad Austin, Hixson Brothers Funeral
Home, Alexandria; and South District
Governor Boyd Mothe Jr., Mothe Funeral
Homes, New Orleans.
➤to page 92
ASD AD
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easier way
there’s an
Powered by Multiview, ICCFA
Supply Link is a superior tool for
our unique community that
streamlines your efforts to find
products and services.
Start your search at
www.iccfasupplylink.com
October 2015
91
One of the photographs by Lori
Waselchuk in the
“Grace Before
Dying” exhibit,
titled “Lloyd
Bone Drives the
Funeral Hearse.”
Carmon
Community
Funeral Homes
is co-sponsoring
the traveling
exhibit’s display
in Hartford,
Connecticut.
n Carmon Community Funeral
HOmes, Windsor, Connecticut, is co-sponsoring a quilts and photography exhibition, “Grace Before Dying.” The traveling
display features photographs by award-winning visual documentarian Lori Waselchuk
and hospice quilts crafted by prison hospice
volunteers. The in-house hospice program
helped transform one of the most dangerous maximum security prisons in the United
States into one of the least violent.
The exhibit premiered September 9 and
continues through November 1 in Hartford at
Clare Gallery, Franciscan Center for Urban
Ministry, the co-sponsor. It features a series
of Waselchuk’s dramatic black & white
images of elderly or terminally ill inmates at
the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola,
photographed with their fellow inmates, who
volunteer as their caregivers. Poignant quotes
from the incarcerated hospice volunteers and
patients accompany the searing photographs
that chart the development of the program.
“When we learned about Lori Wasel-
➤from page 90
chuk’s poignant project, we were determined
to bring it here to Connecticut and share
it with state residents and with our clergy,
hospice, and corrections communities,” said
Frank W. Carmon IV, CFSP, of Carmon
Community Funeral Homes. “We all can
learn a great deal about humanity from this
exhibition. It dramatically reminds us that
every single life—no matter who it is—is
special and meaningful.” Carmon is a thirdgeneration funeral director whose grandfather
founded the firm in 1946.
r
UPDATE
Work by artists featured at Centennial
Park: From left, “My Brother’s Rug,”
Megan Roodenryhs; “Argonauts,” Ruth
Gregor; and “Reflections,” Sheree Wright.
n Centennial Park,
Adelaide, South Australia, hosted
a resident artist as part of the
2015 South Australian Living
Artists (SALA) Festival. Ruth
Gregor, a talented sculptor from
Venus Bay in the Eyre Peninsula
was in residence at the cemetery for several
weeks.
Gregor conducted an interactive sculpture exhibition, where members of the public had the opportunity to see her, over the
course of several weeks, create a life-sized
sculptural piece onsite at the cemetery.
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ICCFA Magazine
The stone sculpture, titled “Cycle of Life,”
was crafted in the park’s Weeping Rose
Memorial Garden. Weighing over five tons
and standing at approximately 1.8 metres
high, the sculpture symbolised the cycle of
life through a series of carvings depicting
natural elements such as eucalyptus leaves,
flowers, empty gumnuts and a single
flame. Each represented themes of life,
including the stages and continuity of life,
celebration and joy of life and memory and
remembrance of life.
Centennial Park also hosted an indoor ceramics, photography and works-on-paper exhibition, “Moments,” held in the cemetery’s
Jubilee Complex. It featured a range of visual
artists, including Peter Johnson, Judy Morris,
Megan Roodenryhs, Deborah Sleeman and
Sheree White. Curated by Carollyn Kavanagh, “Moments” honored living in the now,
a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts,
feelings, surroundings and instances. A series
of artist talks with all the artists was also held.
Centennial Park CEO Bryan Elliott said
Centennial Park was the first cemetery to host
an artist in residence in South Australia.
➤to page 93
UPDATE
➤from page 92
n Calvary Cemetery, Fond du Lac,
Wisconsin, has added five additional glassfront niche units to its Chapel of the Risen
Christ Mausoleum. The first phases of the
project involved inserting glass-fronted niche
inlays within the chapel walls. To reinforce
the theme of sacred space, the niche fronts
were designed in a cross motif combining
clear and opaque colored glass. “We liked
the cross design so much that we decided to
continue using it as we began adding new
glass-fronted niche units for the mausoleum
expansion,” said Calvary Cemetery & Mausoleum General Manager Judine Lange. Five
new units 8 feet high, totalling 200 single- or
double-sized niches, were installed. Each
niche unit matches the cross motif design of
the original sets installed in the chapel. The
niches were designed and installed by LP
Bronze International, Toronto, Ontario.
n The International Order of
the GOlden Rule, Austin, Texas, recently installed its 2015-2016 board: President William Brock Jr., Vanderplaat Funeral
Home, Wyckoff, New Jersey; President-Elect
Peter “Skip” Urban, Anton B. Urban Funeral
Home, Ambler, Pennsylvania; and Secretary-
Withum AD
1/4 V
The glassfronted niches
installed
at Calvary
Cemetery’s
Chapel of the
Risen Christ
Mausoleum in
the shape of a
cross reflect
the stained
glass.
Treasurer Charles A. Castiglia, Lakeside
Memorial Funeral Home, Hamburg, New
York. Returning to the board for an additional
two-year term was Adam Miles Martin,
Miles T. Martin Funeral Home, Mt. Morris,
Michigan. Richard O’Hara, McAvoy O’Hara
Co.-Evergreen Mortuary, San Francisco,
California, was sworn in as a first-time board
member to a two-year term.
OGR also presented the annual Awards
of Excellence Scholarships to students about
to graduate and enter the funeral profession.
Christine Sweeney, Southern Illinois University, received a $3,500 scholarship. Michelle
Morrow, Carl Sandburg College, Illinois,
received a $2,000 scholarship.
r
Baines AD
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4-COLOR
October 2015
93
f
Find more photos
on Facebook!
“Like” us and
friend “ICCFA Staff.”
Check out the networking, learning &
fun, and tag yourself!
IC CFA N E W S : IC CFA UN IV E RS IT Y
➤This year’s ICCFA University included students and teachers from at least 32 states; four
Canadian provinces; and Brazil, Columbia, Curaçao and Guatemala.
➤Many organizations provide scholarships to ICCFA University, including the ICCFA Educational Foundation and many state associations. (See this year’s scholarship winners on page
98.) Start your research now and apply for a scholarship to help you take advantage of the
best educational experience in the funeral, cemetery and cremation business, ICCFAU 2016,
July 22-27, at the University of Memphis Fogelman Executive Center, Memphis, Tennessee.
ICCFAU 2015 graduates with Chancellor Jeff Kidwiler, CCE, CSE, and ICCFA President Darin Drabing. Front row, from left,
Daniel Diver, Woodside Cemetery & Arboretum, Middletown, Ohio; David Kelley, Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum, Cincinnati, Ohio; Brent Dotson, Dotson Funeral Home, Maryville, Tennessee; Brent Barnes, Greenlawn Funeral Home, Springfield,
Missouri; Bruce Hultquist, Redemptorist Cemeteries, Dundalk, Maryland; Daniel Thomas, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale,
California; Jason Diemer, Greenlawn Funeral Home, Springfield, Missouri; (back row, from left) Kidwiler; Stan Engh, Memorial Estates, Sandy, Utah; Hilda Carabes, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale, California; Clay Adams, Greenlawn Funeral Home,
Springfield, Missouri; Linda Cotten, Greenleaf Memorial Park, New Bern, North Carolina; Heather Barney, Memorial Estates,
Sandy, Utah; Nathan Romangnola, White Haven Memorial Parks, Pittsford, New York; Maria Estes, Rest Haven Funeral Home,
Rockwall, Texas; Cory Burke, Greenlawn Funeral Home, Springfield, Missouri; Karen Webb, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale,
California; Phil Alderks, Lake Forest Cemetery, Lake Forest, Illinois; and Drabing.
Valedictory speech
Bring humility and a drive to improve to ICCFAU
by Daniel Thomas
advance planning manager, Forest Lawn
Memorial-Parks Association, Glendale, California,
[email protected]
ood afternoon; it is my privilege to be the
2015 ICCFA University valedictorian. As
valedictorian, I am charged to convey a message
from our diverse class. We represent people from
California to New York, from those serving multilocation combos to those working for small family
funeral homes. I have spoken with many of my
classmates and there were several challenges we
G
94
ICCFA Magazine
would like to share with you.
First, we challenge you to learn. I came to
Memphis with the assumption that since I have
many years of experience and I am from a
storied franchise, that while I was going to learn
something, I might be ahead of the curve.
I quickly realized that this attitude was wrong.
I humbly learned there was so much I did not know.
I learned there were so many other great cemeteries
and mortuaries, and many people were light years
ahead of me in terms of knowledge. Once I realized
this, my education really started. So, we challenge
➤to page 102
Daniel Thomas, chosen by classmates as
valedictorian, gives his
speech.
Kryprotek AD
1/2 H
Wuxi AD
1/2 H
4-COLOR
October 2015
95
ICCFA NE W S : ICCFA UN IV E RS IT Y
Right, the J. Asher
Neel College of
Sales & Marketing. Dean Gary
O’Sullivan, CCFE,
is sitting in front.
Below, the College of Cremation
Services. Dean Jim
Starks, CFuE, CCrE,
is in the second
row, far right.
Above left, doing some networking are (from left) Jessica Summers, Kent Forest Lawn Funeral Home, Panama City, Florida;
Julie Keller, French-Sunset Memorial Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Deann Felix-Mountain and Dagny Fitpatrick, both of
Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Above right, the International Studies classroom.
96
ICCFA Magazine
ICCFA NE W S : IC CFA UN IV E RS IT Y
Above, students listen
to a cremation speaker.
Right, applause for the
graduates.
The first College of International Studies. Dean Jim Hammond is on the front row, far right, holding the sign.
The College of Funeral Home Management. Dean Todd W. Van Beck, CFuE, is in the back row, far left.
October 2015
97
The College of
21st Century
Services, with
Dean Glenda
Stansbury, CC,
CFSP, in the
front row, far
left, and her cocelebrant trainer
Doug Manning
in the back row,
far left People
who complete
this college
earn celebrant
certification
during the training.
The College of Land Management & Grounds Operation. Dean Gino Merendino is in the front row, far left.
The sharing and learning continue during
meals. Above, Cremation College Dean Jim
Starks, CFuE, CCrE, center, eats with students.
98
ICCFA Magazine
Worsham AD
FULL PAGE
page 99
4-COLOR
International attendees
included (front row, from
left) Marie-Anne Michaud,
Eric Laberge and Tomasz
Hlywa, Yves Légaré Funeral Home, Laval, Quebec; IanMerritt, Riverside
Cemetery & Crematorium, Lindsay, Ontario;
Cameron Webber, City
of Whitehorse, Yukon;
Gisela Dardengo Adissi,
SINCEP, São Paulo, Brazil;
Juan Tavera, Funeraria La
Espeanza S.A., Medillin,
Colombia; (back row, from
left) ICCFA President Darin
Drabing; Lorraine Piller,
Town of Olds, Alberta;
Sylvia Wilson-Clarke,
El Tibuto, Curaçao, Netherland Antilles; David
Coronado, Los Parques,
Guatemala City, Guatemala; Mirnamila Bakuis, El Tibuto, Curaçao, Netherland Antilles; Patricia Aguilar, Los Parques, Guatemala City, Guatemala;
ICCFAU Chancellor Jeff Kidwiler, CSE, CCE.
The College of Administration and Management. Dean Gary Freytag, CCFE, is sitting in front.
100
ICCFA Magazine
Regions AD
FULL PAGE
page 101
4-COLOR
ICCFA N E W S : ICCFA UN IV E RS IT Y
Many
students
receive
scholarships to
attend
ICCFAU,
either
through
the ICCFA
Educational
Foundation
or a state
or regional
association. Check
in 2016 for
scholarship
applications
for next year’s ICCFAU. Front row, from left, Cameron Webber, City of Whitehorse, Yukon (Funeral Service Association of British
Columbia scholarship); Mike Franko, Green Hills Mortuary, Rancho Palos Verde, California (Education Foundation scholarship made
possible by National Guardian Life Insurance Co.); Randy Wegner, City of Brighton, Colorado (Colorado Association of Cemeteries scholarship); Brent Dotson, Dotson Funeral Home, Maryville, Tennessee (Education Foundation scholarship made possible
by Eagles Wings Air); Jason Keblish, Granite City Steel, Royston, Georgia (Next Generation Armed Forces Veteran scholarship,
made possible by Merendino Cemetery Care); Craig Stires, Daayne Spence Funeral Home, Canal Winchester, Ohio (Education Foundation scholarship made possible by National Guardian Life Insurance Co.); and Heather Leigh, Greenhaven Memorial Gardens,
Elgin, South Carolina (Education Foundation scholarship made possible by Live Oak Bank). Back row, from left: ICCFA President
Darin Drabing; Jacquelyn Poirier, Forest Hill Cemetery, Fitchburg, Massachusetts (Education Foundation scholarship made possible by Matthews International); Lorraine Piller, Town of Olds, Alberta, Canada (Education Foundation scholarship made possible
by Regions Bank); Mike Sanchez, Green Hills Mortuary, Rancho Palos Verde, California (Education Foundation scholarship);
Cynthia Hulsey, Bulloch Memorial Gardens, Statesboro, Georgia (Southern Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association scholarship); Becky Zoch, City of Evansville Cemeteries, Evansville, Indiana (Next Generation Committee scholarship); Tamala Randolph,
StoneMor Partners, a scholarship recipient last year; and ICCFAU Chancellor Jeff Kidwiler, CCE, CSE. Not pictured: Kerry Boshers, Williams Funeral Home & Crematory, Columbia, Tennessee (Education Foundation scholarship made possible by Batesville);
Audrey Hoffman, Columbia Wilbert Vault, Caycee, South Carolina (Education Foundation scholarship made possible by the Memorial
Classic Golf Tournament); Delana Pratt, Forethought Life Insurance Co., Batesville, Indiana (Next Generation Committee scholarship);
Christopher Stanley, Ponders Funeral Home, Dalton, Georgia (Education Foundation scholarship); Jessica Summers, Kent Forest
Lawn Funeral Home, Panama City, Florida (Florida Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association); Lisa Vaeth, Association of Jewish
Cemeteries, West Hartford, Connecticut (Next Generation Committee scholarship made possible by Regions Bank).
➤from page 94
you to come and learn.
Second, we challenge you not be be
content. Our class is filled with people
who started in entry-level positions then
blossomed to become managers, general
managers, vice presidents and presidents.
Knowledge, hard work and dedication will
move many of you into great positions in our
industry.
This challenge to improve is not just
for you, but for those you work with. Your
knowledge needs to be shared with others;
your knowledge needs to go back home.
Share your ideas and make changes. Changes
don’t have to be large—even small changes
improve an organization. Many of you are
leaders at your places of employment, and
we challenge you to encourage your fellow
employees to attend ICCFA University.
I commend Green Lawn Funeral Home
in Springfield, Missouri, for having four
102
ICCFA Magazine
members of its staff graduating today. We
encourage you to have your companies send
more people to ICCFA University.
Scholarships are available for those
whose employers who cannot afford it.
There are 14 people attending this year
on scholarships. Several members of our
graduating class started here on scholarships
or received a scholarship at some point in
their studies.
A third challenge we give you is to spend
time with the people here. Classmates, deans,
speakers—there is so much knowledge in
this room, all available simply by starting
a conversation. Stay connected! I have met
many wonderful people and have had great
conversations that have helped me become a
better manager.
Our final challenge is to keep the course.
If you are a freshman, we encourage you to
make it your goal to graduate. Sophomores,
you are half-way done. Juniors, next year
will be your last chance to visit Beale
Street—unless you return for a fifth college
or the master’s program.
There is one member of our class who
took 10 year to complete four colleges and
become a graduate—not quite as long as it
took me to get my bachelor’s degree. But
however long it takes you, keep at it and
become an ICCFA University graduate. r
Mark your calendar now: ICCFAU 2016
will be July 22-27.
I C C FA N E W S
KIP
Best in Personalization
2015 KIP
applications
available;
Award submission
ears deadline
y
5
1
g
n
ti
Celebra
November 30
The ICCFA’s Keeping It Personal contest recognizes
personalization in funeral, cemetery and cremation
products and services. Entries for the 2015 contest will be
due on November 30, 2015. Go to www.iccfa.com/kip for
2015 entry forms. You may also read information about
past winners on the website.
q
ICCFA, associations partner
for cremation programs
T
he ICCFA is offering multiple Cremation Certification
Programs in the month of November. In Washington
state, we are partnering with the Cremation Association
of North America (CANA). The Ohio Funeral Directors
Association (OFDA) is teaming up with us to host the another
program the following week in Ohio.
The ICCFA Crematory Operator Certification will be
presented by ICCFA cremation coaches Poul Lemasters, Esq.
and Larry Stuart Jr., Crematory Manufacturing & Service
Inc., and will include extensive training on the principles of
combustion, cremation and the environment, incinerator criteria
and design, the basics of operating cremation equipment, forms
and record keeping, and handling and exposure control.
Matthews Cremation AD
1/2 V
4-COLOR
The Cremation Arranger Certification includes up-to-date
information vital to succeeding in a high cremation rate market.
You’ll learn how to arrange meaningful tributes, create unique
options for memorialization and communicate all of this to
client families.
November 12-13 in Kirkland, Washington
• Arranger: Thursday, November 12
• CANA Operator: Friday, November 13
November 18-19 in Columbus, Ohio
• Arranger: Wednesday, November 18
• Operator: Thursday, November 19
Visit www.iccfa.com and click on “Events” to register.
You can also receive cremation advice any time, any place by calling
the ICCFA Cremation Resource Hotline at 1.855.388.CRM8.
q
October 2015
103
I C C FA N E W S
Keynote speakers secured for the 2016 ICCFA Annual Convention
M
anagement, leadership, marketing, entrepreneurship,
community engagement and dealing with a new
generation of consumers are just some of the topics
the keynote speakers will address at the 2016 ICCFA Annual
Convention & Exposition, April 13-16, at the Ernest N. Morial
Convention Center and Hilton Riverside Hotel in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
KEN BLANCHARD
The Secret
Co-author, The One Minute Manager and
The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do
The Secret of great leaders is one that might
baffle many. But basically, a great leader
serves his/her followers. Through this
program, you will discover and explore
the five fundamental ways a manager leads
through service: see the future, engage and
develop others, reinvent continuously, value
results and relationships, and embody values. In
understanding these simple principles, you will
benefit yourself, your organization and those who look
to you for guidance.
With a passion to turn every leader into a
servant leader, Blanchard shares his insightful and
powerful message with audiences around the world through
speeches, consulting services and best-selling books. Universally
characterized by his friends, colleagues and clients as one of
the most influential and compassionate leadership experts in the
world, Blanchard is respected for his lifetime of groundbreaking
research and thought leadership. In fact, few people have
influenced the day-to-day management of people and companies
more than Blanchard.
JOHN BESH
The Recipe for Success
Award-winning chef, entrepreneur and
restaurateur
It’s been 10 years since Hurricane Katrina
devastated a 200-square-mile swath of
the gulf coast, including one of America’s
cultural jewel cities, New Orleans. The city
has always been one of the most thrilling culinary epicenters
in America (maybe even the world), but it took that serious
storm to get much of the rest of the country to stop taking it for
granted—thanks in part to tireless rebuilding efforts of a huge
community, not least among them chef John Besh.
Over the last decade, Besh has served as an unofficial
culinary ambassador for the Crescent City, opening a diverse
group of restaurants representing all facets of its gastronomic
identity, publishing cookbooks that double as love letters to
Louisiana, and starting some major charitable endeavors to
preserve and support the foodways of the Louisiana bayou.
Besh grew up in southern Louisiana and has set the
benchmark for fine dining in New Orleans—a town whose
identity is bound to its food.
104
ICCFA Magazine
RYAN ESTIS
The Communication Revolution:
Driving Growth Through Social
Business
Fortune 500 company marketing
communications consultant
The world of work is changing. In this
session, Ryan Estis will explore the ongoing
evolution in how we connect, communicate and collaborate to
accomplish meaningful work. Global, economic, generational
and technological changes have left us with new expectations
about how work should happen. As a result, the traditional
approach to workplace productivity and performance
isn’t working. This keynote presentation examines
how progressive companies are staying ahead of the
competition and responding to these changes
by making their business more social. Estis
prepares participants to leverage the social
revolution and get connected to compete in
the new world of work. Estis, the former chief
strategy officer for McCann Worldgroup advertising
agency NAS, brings a fresh perspective to the
meetings and events circuit. Delivering more than
75 live events annually, Estis has become known for
his innovative ideas on leading change, improving sales
effectiveness and preparing for the future of work.
JEANNINE ENGLISH
Health, Wealth & Self
President, AARP
The AARP declares their three tenets for
growing older with positivity as health, wealth
and self. Most applicable to our profession is
that these concepts can easily empower people
to take control of their end-of-life decisions, too.
For health, they say we need to begin to focus on preventing
disease and improving well-being instead of just treating
ailments. We need to help people feel empowered to become
active partners in their health care instead of being dependent
patients.
Wealth means having financial resilience and demonstrating
that an active, engaged, employed older population has the
potential to be more of an economic boom than a social
challenge—that the growing number of older people is not a drain
on society, but a key driver of economic growth, innovation and
new value creation.
For self, we must change the conversation from aging as
decline to aging as continuous growth. We must help people
go from feeling useless to having a deep sense of purpose and
positive self-image. This also includes pre-planning their final
arrangements.
Jeannine English will discuss these ideas and tie them in
with how they apply—and what AARP advocates—in regards to
preneed planning, hospice, funeral services and final disposition.
Keep up to date on everything to do with the 2016 ICCFA
Annual Convention. Visit www.iccfaconvention.com.
q
I C C FA N E W S
2015 ICCFA Member Satisfaction Survey: Tell Us What You Think
Please return to ICCFA by e-mail ([email protected]),
by fax (703.391.8416) or by mail
(107 Carpenter Dr., Suite 100, Sterling, VA 20164)
Thank you!
Please check all categories that most apply to your company
o Corporate
o Independent
o Pet loss services
o Funeral home
o Cemetery
o Crematory
o Combo
o 13-20
o 21-30
o 31+
o 101-150
o 151-200
o 201+
Number of locations your company operates
o 1
o 2
o 3-5
o 6-8
o 9-12
Total number of employees
o 0-5
o 5-10
o 11-20
o 21-30
o 31-50
o 51-100
Total number of families served per year by your company
o < 50
o 50-100 o 101-150
o 151-200
o 201-300
What benefits are you seeking from your trade association?
What are the top three (3) issues facing your business today?
1.
2.
3.
How effective is ICCFA at performing each of the following?
(Rate with 0 being not at all effective and 10 being extremely
effective)
Maintaining and promoting ethics and standards:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing guidelines that support quality operations:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Influencing federal legislation/regulations:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Promoting positive public awareness of the profession:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Representing the profession within the media:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Conducting research on significant issues affecting the
profession:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Gathering, analyzing and publishing data on trends relating to
the profession:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
o 301-400 o 401-500
o 501-600
o 601-700
o 700+
Promoting entry into the profession as a potential career:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing recognition and awards for excellence within the
profession:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing member contact information to the public (e.g., via
web consumer directory):
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing members with opportunities for certification:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing education and training opportunities for members:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing timely news and information to members:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing information on best practices within the profession:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Helping members make connections and network:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Offering members an opportunity to participate and “give
back” to their profession:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Providing members with access to legal/business expertise
(e.g., HR and tax attorney retainer programs):
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Diversifying membership options to include growth markets
(e.g., PLPA, JFDA):
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Responding to national events and news stories:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
October 2015
105
I C C FA N E W S
Please rank the following ICCFA services.
(Rate with 0 being the worst in the industry and 10 being the best)
ICCFA University
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Value of membership
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fall Management Conference
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ICCFA Magazine
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Wide World of Sales
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Biweekly Wireless e-newsletter
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Annual Convention & Expo
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Website
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Music license program
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
What are some topics that you would like to learn more about at future educational events?
Cremation
Aftercare
Research
Business management New products
Best Practices
Preneed sales
Pet loss services
Green burial services Succession planning
Marketing
Embalming
Managing trusts
Legal issue
Stress management
Other:
Have you ever served on the board or a committee?
Yes
No
No, but I’d like to in the future
Do you attend association events?
o Yes
o No
If yes, which ones?
Annual Conference & Expo
Fall Management Conference
Wide World of Sales
PLPA College
ICCFA University
Cremation Certification
Member Webinars
Celebrant Training
What member benefits have you used from the list below?
Music Licensing
Funeral Service Credit Union
Freight Savings Plan
Payment Acceptance Program
ICCFA Magazine
ICCFA Wireless e-newsletter
CCFA Website Materials
Buyer’s Guide & Membership Directory
Discounts on goods & services from other ICCFA members
Certification Programs (i.e., CCE, CCrE, CSE.,etc.)
Prepaid Telephone Consultations
(tax attorney; labor law attorney; cremation counsel;
forensic accountant and investigator)
Complimentary Funeral Rule Compliance Review
Model Contracts and Forms
Legal and Management Strategies
Cremation Training
Cremation Hotline
Forums on the ICCFA website
Obtaining info from ICCFA Facebook or Twitter accounts
Are there any benefits you would like to see added that ICCFA is not already providing? Please list them below:
How do you like to be communicated with?
o Via Social Media
o Text
o Email
o Regular mail
o Phone
o Fax
Overall, how satisfied are you with your membership?
o Very satisfied
o Somewhat satisfied
o Neutral
o Somewhat dissatisfied
o Very dissatisfied
for completing this invaluable member survey. To be entered to win a
gift card, please provide us with your contact information.
Name:
106
ICCFA Magazine
Company:
Email:
2016 WIDE WORLD OF SALES CONFERENCE
FASTER • HIGHER • STRONGER. Join the movement to increase sales by attending
ONE PROFESSION
U N I T E D BY S A L E S
2016 SALES
OLYMPICS
•••
••
LAS VEGAS
Take a look at the program highlights below.
Find complete program and registration details
at www.wideworldofsales.com.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13
4 to 5:30 p.m.
Fireside Chat with
Gary O’Sullivan &
David Wharmby
Gary O’Sullivan, CCFE,
returns to hold another of his
famous fireside chats, only
this year, he is joined by
cemetery sales legend David
Wharmby, CCE. O’Sullivan
brings his mix of humor and
straight talk, while Wharmby
will draw upon his 40+ years of personal
experience and use more of a storytelling
method to give his advice to nearly any
question you may have. Together, they are
ready to mentor, encourage and motivate
salespeople not only to be the best in our
profession, but to achieve all we can as
individuals.
5:30 to 7 p.m.: Welcome Reception
Meet sales colleagues from around
the world while enjoying heavy hors
d’oeuvres and beverages.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14
8 to 8:30 a.m.
Opening Ceremonies
Nicki Wiedeman, CSE, Brad Palmer and
Nick Timpe
ICCFA’s
WIDE WORLD OF
SALES CONFERENCE
The world’s largest sales & marketing
conference for end-of-life professionals
January 13-15, 2016
MONTE CARLO HOTEL & CASINO
Las Vegas, NEVADA
Hotel room rate: just $64/night
EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: DECEMBER 7
8:30 to 10 a.m.
KEYNOTE: Selling at
90° Below Zero
“Antarctic Mike” Pierce
Antarctic Mike has a
20-year track record
of success in sales,
recruitment and business
operations. An expedition to Antarctica
changed his life and his perspective.
He says the experiences of explorers
in Antarctica very much reflect today’s
business climate. He’s learned a lot about
himself and about business from his
adventures.
In this program, specifically about selling
and designed for sales professionals and
those who lead sales teams, you can
expect to learn how to:
• Develop an effective plan of the right
sales activity at the right place
• Increase mental strength and develop
sound habits of discipline
• Differentiate yourself from
competitors and stand out
• Spend more time with customers and
the right prospects
• Sell more effectively and more often
Mike Pierce, better known as Antarctic
Mike, works with organizations that
want to find, engage and keep the bestperforming people. Antarctic Mike
speaks from experience. Pierce’s career
in the recruiting business began in 1997,
working specifically to show managers
and leaders exactly how to identify and
recruit the best people. He now speaks
across the U.S. and Canada to executive
teams, organizations, associations and
sales teams about how to lead people so
they are fully engaged in what they do.
Pierce is a two-time polar marathoner
and holds multiple world records in
several endurance sports.
10 to 10:15 a.m.: Break
10:15 to 10:30 a.m.
Welcome Back, Poul Lemasters
10:30 to 11:15 a.m.
Dealing with the Four
F.E.A.R. Motivations
Dale Amundsen,
Ceremony Masters
You have a maximum of five
minutes for people to make a
decision as to whether they can trust you.
In five minutes, you have the opportunity
to read what is important to them, and
to learn the fears that may keep them
from trusting you. Five minutes can open
their minds, or—no matter how great
your presentation is—close their minds
for good. Learn how to relate to anyone
by identifying their primary F.E.A.R.
motivation, whether they approach the
situation as a Fatalist, Exasperator,
Appraiser or Relater.
Dale Amundsen, owner of Ceremony
Masters, holds two graduate degrees in
ministry, is the past head chaplain for
the King County Sheriff’s Office (Seattle)
October 2015
107
and an officiant, celebrant and emcee.
Former community relations coordinator
for Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home
in Seattle, Amundsen has spoken before
10,000 audiences, including leading 4,600
funerals, memorials and life celebrations.
A member of the National Speakers
Association and the ICCFA, Amundsen
is past chairman (for four years) of the
Greater Bothell Chamber of Commerce,
and a former academy instructor for
the Washington State Criminal Justice
Training Commission.
11:15 p.m. to Noon
“Selling Beyond Your
Comfort Zone” Marketing:
Supporting and Selling to
Different Groups Within
Your Market
Andy Lopez, Service
Corporation International
In his session, Andy Lopez will cover
the basics of networking within the
already-existing complex demographic
groups that are right outside your walls.
He’ll share proven strategies that will
create relationship opportunities within
community organizations and different
demographic groups that live, work and
make up your city or town. He will share
firsthand experience in effectively building
lasting relationships that will increase
your marketshare and allow you to serve
the needs of the community you currently
serve. From the Hispanic to the Asian
community, and from the VFW to your
local church, you can serve them ALL if
you apply these basic principles.
Andy Lopez is the market sales director
for the Bay Area with SCI. He has been
with the company for four years and in the
industry for 12 years.
Noon to 1:30 p.m.: Lunch
Sales Counselor Breakouts
1:30 to 2:15 p.m.
21st Century Selling:
Understanding the Right Sales
Approach for Today’s Buying Behavior
Carew Training; Instructor TBD
Sales professionals and leaders across
every industry are looking for the next
“big thing” in sales. Is there a magic
bullet for greater sales effectiveness?
What specific sales behaviors need to
change to win preferred position with
108
ICCFA Magazine
today’s buyers? Which dynamics of the
sales process are timeless, and which must
change with the times? Come find out in
this session by Carew International Sale
Training & Development. 2:15 to 3 p.m.
Working Leads with
Technology
Mike Regina, Funeral
Decisions
Imagine that a brand-new,
shiny lead was just handed
to you. What are you doing with that
lead? If your answer could be confused
with an answer given in 1992 (or hasn’t
changed since), then you might be in
trouble. Never before in history has the
sales process changed as dramatically
as it has in the past 10 years. Today’s
consumers now have more information
available to them than ever before. To
keep up, high-performance sales teams
are also leveraging technology to gain
deeper insight into each lead they touch
and to help speed up the sales cycle.
From the time you get the lead through
the presentation stage, Regina will cover
some of the most useful software solutions
advanced sales people are utilizing in
the most competitive industries. He’ll
also show how these tools can be applied
to your sales process starting today,
regardless of whether you are tech savvy
or a novice.
Mike Regina’s family has been in the
cemetery business for more than 60
years. He holds a bachelor of science
in information systems and an MBA in
online marketing. He has seven years of
experience in death care lead generation,
email marketing and the sales process.
Funeral Decisions specializes in funeral
home and cemetery sales/marketing
software solutions.
3 to 3:15 p.m.: Break
3:15 to 4 p.m.
Flowchart for
Family Service
Christine Toson Hentges,
CCE, The Tribute Companies
Often family service
counselors focus too much on what’s
immediately in front of them for sales
opportunities and forget to follow the
processes necessary to make family
service the most effective lead source
available.The use of a flow chart depicting
all of the necessary steps to be taken
to ensure that every family receives
every single step consistently, with
professionalism and empathy, is the best
way to make certain that the families you
serve are given exceptional care, while
also guaranteeing that family service
counselors tap into every possible sales
opportunity.
Christine Toson Hentges is president
of The Tribute Companies in Hartland,
Wisconsin. The Tribute Companies owns
and operates four prominent cemeteries
in the state of Wisconsin. In addition to
owning and operating cemeteries, Tribute
operates two precast concrete facilities
which manufacture cemetery-related
products such as vaults, mausoleum crypts
and cremation niches. Furthermore,
Tribute runs an architectural firm which
excels in master planning and design
work for cemeteries, churches and funeral
homes throughout the United States and
other countries.
4 to 4:30 p.m.
Getting That Referral
Linda Jankowski, CCE,
Midwest Memorial Group
The #1 way to gain new sales
is through referrals. So, if
that’s the case, why do you hesitate to ask
for them? Is it fear? Have you never been
shown how? Do you forget to ask? Do you
believe that you haven’t earned the right
to ask? In this session, you will learn the
beliefs, facts and statistics about referrals.
You will go home with three key skills
that you can execute immediately to gain
consistent referrals in your daily business. Linda Jankowski is area sales director
for Midwest Memorial Group. She
is a member of the ICCFA Sales &
Marketing Committee and served as
program co-chair of the Wide World of
Sales Conference in 2010. Previously
she worked with Mount Elliott Cemetery
Association in Detroit, Michigan.
Management Breakouts
1:30 to 2:15 p.m.
Killer Ways to Dominate Social Media
Ryan Thogmartin, DISRUPT Media
Are your customers really using social
media and do they want to talk about
your company? Of course they are,
and Thogmartin is going
to show you why. In this
presentation, he will overload
your mind with powerful
content that is helping funeral
homes across the country
be the “go-to” source for
death conversations, and—get this—
the consumer is the one starting the
conversation. He will tell you who is
engaging funeral homes on Facebook
and what are they talking about. Four key
takeaways from this presentation are:
• The two biggest myths about social
media and funeral service
• Real examples from funeral homes
dominating on social media
• Why strategy is key for success
• Why Facebook ads must be a part of
your social media strategy
Ryan Thogmartin is the founder
and CEO of DISRUPT Media and
ConnectingDirectors.com. DISRUPT
Media is a full-service social media
agency specializing in social media
strategy, content creation, management
and reporting. With a core focus on
the funeral profession, DISRUPT has
created FUNERAL Social, a strategic,
goal-oriented approach to social media.
ConnectingDirectors.com is the leading
online daily publication for funeral
professionals with a reader base of over
35,000 of the most forward-thinking
professionals in the profession.
2:15 to 3 p.m.
Turning Clicks Into
Customers
Eric Spellmann, Spellmann
& Associates
Most funeral homes have
a website created for them
without much thought on how it will
impact their bottom line. However, if
you follow a few key steps, your online
presence can generate qualified leads,
sales and support. Spellmann will give a
critical analysis of live websites during the
presentation, giving participants valuable
insights they can apply immediately. He
will give you the critical tools needed to
plan, prepare and execute a successful
web design project. In addition, he will
help you vet prospective web designers
BEFORE you spend money.
Eric Spellmann is the owner and president
of Spellmann & Associates, the largest
website design and online marketing
firm between Dallas and Denver. With
worldwide clientele and a unique model
for measuring online success, Spellmann
has established his company as a leader in
helping customers meet their online goals.
3 to 3:15 p.m.: Break
3:15 to 4 p.m.
First Who, Then What:
Identifying and Developing
Top Performers
Mel Payne, Carriage Services
In 2006, Mel Payne adopted
Jack Welch’s 4E Leadership
Model as a framework for evaluating and
identifying leaders in the company. Join
Payne as he explains how evaluating your
company with Welch’s 4Es—Energy,
Energize, Edge and Execute—will help
identify individuals with energy, the
ability to inspire others, and the talent to
consistently make the difficult decisions
and meet goals.
Melvin C. Payne co-founded the Houstonbased Carriage Services in 1991, growing
the company to one of the leading
operators and consolidators of funeral
homes and cemeteries in the Unites States.
The company now operates 165 funeral
homes and 32 cemeteries, and employs
1,800 people. Carriage achieved its
sixth consecutive record year of financial
performance in 2014 and serves more than
32,000 families annually.
4 to 4:30 p.m.
Cemetery Sales &
Marketing
Greg Kamp, Holy Sepulchre
Cemetery and Ascension
Garden
This seminar will provide
information regarding the difference
between sales and marketing—which are
commonly confused—and how the two
entities can work together to promote
and sell today’s cemetery via grassroots
community involvement and social media
tactics. Kamp will explain:
• The difference between the sales and
marketing functions
• How the sales and marketing
functions, while different, can work
together to promote the cemetery
• The importance of simple grassroots
tactics that will make a difference
in cemetery growth and keep sales,
marketing and advertising budgets in
check
• How community involvement is a
vital part of cemetery growth and how
simple low-cost events, sponsorships
and participation can have a huge
impact on the bottom line
• Why social media is a must to connect
with targeted audiences and an
important tool in telling the cemetery
story which then helps make the
cemetery sale
• Why cemetery staff are the most
important sales and marketing tools
Greg Kamp has been a marketing
professional for more than 20 years and
has made it his mission to stay on top of
the latest trends in sales and marketing.
He has been working with Holy Sepulchre
Cemetery and Ascension Garden for the
past eight years bringing their marketing
in-house and structuring it from a
grassroots level.
4:30 to 4:45 p.m.: Break
4:45 to 5:30 p.m.
What’s Your Strong Suit?
A Fun Way to Learn
Effective Communication to
Close that Sale!
Chuck Gallagher, American
Funeral Financial
Effective communication applies to all
phases of the sales process, so this session
applies to both cemetery and funeral
sales professionals at the counselor and
manager level.
You may have seen Gallagher on
television, or heard him on CNN, CBS or
NPR radio programs. His business insights
are sought after for his strong position on
sales and sales leadership. His focus is
business, but his passion is empowering
others. His personal experience in building
businesses and sales teams while leading
companies provides a practical and
powerful framework for sales success.
Chuck Gallagher is vice president
of American Funeral Financial and
former senior vice president of sales
and marketing for Stewart Enterprises.
Gallagher may have found his sales niche
early on in life selling potholders door to
door, or convincing folks to fund a record
October 2015
109
album of his musical performance at age
16, but it was the school of hard knocks
that provided a fertile training ground for
his lessons in success.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14
8 to 8:15 a.m.
Kickoff
Nicki Wiedeman, CSE, Brad Palmer and
Nick Timpe
8:15 to 10 a.m.
KEYNOTE: The Power
of Consistency
Weldon Long
Sales professionals
don’t have a knowledge
problem. They have an
implementation problem.
If sales professionals
consistently did the things they know
they should do your sales department and
business would see unprecedented growth
and profitability.
Discover Weldon Long’s “The Power of
Consistency for Sales Excellence” system,
as well as the sales lessons he learned
growing his business from his living
room into a $20 million company and
one of Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing
small companies in America. This
sales system solves the implementation
problem using a comprehensive three-step
process proven to deliver consistent and
exceptional sales results.
The reason many sales training programs
fail to deliver long-term results is because
they offer only a one-part solution to a
three-part problem. To create sustainable
sales results, three critical components
must be addressed. Long will explain a
high-octane three-step process that will
transform sales results. Attendees will
learn all three steps:
• Get the MIND right.
• Get the SALES right.
• Get the IMPLEMENTATION right.
The combination of creating a Personal
Prosperity Plan for each attendee, outlining
a comprehensive easy-to-follow sales
process and teaching sales professionals
how to implement the program on a daily
basis are the keys to improving sales
performance over the long haul.
110
ICCFA Magazine
Weldon Long is a successful entrepreneur,
sales expert and author of The New
York Times bestseller, The Power of
Consistency. In 2003, he walked out of a
homeless shelter and built an Inc. 5,000
company with more than $20 million in
sales in just five years.
Long has successfully used his signature
program, The Power of Consistency,
to help hundreds of companies and
thousands of sales professionals
radically improve their sales results.
He holds a bachelor’s degree and an
MBA in management. He is honored to
have served some of America’s finest
companies, including the Franklin Covey
Organization, Fed Ex, Mitsubishi Electric,
Service Corporation International, Tom
Hopkins International, Dex Media, Wells
Fargo Bank, Pre Paid Legal Services and
the Carrier/Bryant Corp.
10 to 10:15 a.m. Break
10:15 to 11 a.m.
Put Me in Coach!
Jeff Chancellor, CFSP,
HS Eckels & Company
Take a look at your last 25
preneed contracts. How many
are for limited or no service?
Look at your last 25 first calls. How many
are servicing contracts previously sold by
other people? The complexity of selling
funeral and cemetery products, services
and experiences has increased yet the
time to deliver meaningful and effective
sales presentations is decreasing. As the
volume of presold services increases,
the gap grows between sales and service
providers. This creates great opportunity.
Is your team synergizing?
Jeffrey Chancellor, CFSP, is the director
of education, training and research for HS
Eckels & Co. Chancellor began his career
in preneed sales, is a qualified embalmer,
funeral director, crematory operator and
celebrant. He graduated from the Alberta
School of Mortuary Science and his career
experience includes: managing a high
volume mortuary; instructing at Mount
Royal College in Calgary, Canada, and the
Pacific Center in Cebu, Philippines; being
an educator, lecturer and demonstrator;
and serving as an international disaster
response team member and as a consultant
to funeral service businesses on four
continents.
11 to 11:45 a.m.
Climb the Mountain
Andrés Aguilar
Los Parques, Guatemala
City, Guatemala
Olympic athletes train
tirelessly, they have an
undisputed passion for the sport they
practice and they are constantly improving
their technique. But, most importantly,
they possess a winner’s mindset that is
fueled by motivation, practiced within
an engaging and positive environment—
and, above everything else, this is the
difference between winning and losing.
Our work environment is no different.
When our people are engaged, motivated
and have a passion for what they do, they
are empowered with a winning mindset
that unleashes the most amazing victories
from within our company.
In this session, we will compare and
understand how an engaging company
culture will make the critical difference
in your office environment and the results
your team can achieve.
Andrés Aguilar is president of Los
Parques in Guatemala City, a secondgeneration family business that provides
funeral, cemetery and cremation services.
Los Parques conducts more than 1,800
funeral services and 1,000 burials
annually. In his current role, Aguilar leads
a staff of more than 300 sales and family
services people, selling more than 5,000
preneed contracts each year. Aguilar has
been involved in his family business for
more than 10 years gaining experience in
marketing, sales and technology. He holds
a bachelor of science degree in marketing
from Arizona State University and an MBA
from the Thunderbird School of Global
Management.
11:45 a.m. to Noon: Closing Ceremonies
Hotel reservation and online registration is
available at www.wideworldofsales.com.
Remember to register by December 7 to
q
save on registration fees. “Like” the ICCFA on Facebook & friend “ICCFA Staff ”
2016 WIDE WORLD OF SALES CONFERENCE REGISTR ATION FORM
January 13-15, 2016 • Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV • www.wideworldofsales.com
Name _________________________________________________ Nickname (for badge) ___________________
Title ______________________________________________________________________________________
Company __________________________________________________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________________________________________________
City _____________________________________ State/Prov __________ Zip/Postal Code ________________
Phone (
) ____________________________________ Fax (
) _________________________________
E-mail address ______________________________________________________________________________
Web address ________________________________________________________________________________
q If you have a disability that requires special accommodation, please check this box and attach a statement of your needs.
Indicate if you are a:
q CCE q CCrE q CFuE q CCFE q CSE
q CPLP q CFSP q CCCE
Is this your first ICCFA Sales Conference? q Yes q No
Are you a: q Counselor q Manager q Owner q Other _________________________________________________
Are you attending as part of a sales contest, or because you are a “top producer” at your location? q Yes q No
PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY REGISTRATION FORM IN ORDER TO RECEIVE EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
YOUR REGISTRATION FEE INCLUDES: Two days of educational seminars, ICCFA take-home binder filled with handouts and
“how to” instructions, registration directory (to facilitate networking), Wednesday Fireside Chat, Wednesday evening Welcome
Reception, Thursday luncheon, morning breakfasts and coffee breaks.
REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT
By 12/7/15
$_______ ICCFA Member:
$499 $_______ Non-ICCFA Member: $649 Or send multiple staff and save even more!
$______ 2-4 attendees: $475 each
$______ 5-9 attendees: $450 each
$______ 10 or more attendees: $425 each
After 12/7/15
$550
$649
EXTRA RECEPTION TICKETS FOR SPOUSES/GUESTS
The following event is included in your full registration fee.
Extra tickets may be purchased for spouses/guests.
$_______ Wednesday evening Welcome Reception
( _____ tickets @ $40 each)
$_______ TOTAL DUE
Please return this form with payment to:
ICCFA, 107 Carpenter Dr., Ste. 100, Sterling, VA 20164
or fax to 703.391.8416.
q CHECK (Please make payable to ICCFA)
q Discover q Visa q MasterCard q American Express
Name on credit card ________________________________
Credit card # _____________________________________
Exp. Date ________________ Security ID#* ____________
Signature _______________________________________
Card’s Billing Address (required) _______________________
_______________________________________________
*3-digit number on back of card or 4-digit number on front of American Express card
CANCELLATION POLICY: Registrants canceling their registrations by December 7, 2015,
will receive refunds. All cancellations must be in writing and will be subject to a $100
per person processing fee. Registrations canceled after December 7, 2015, will not be
refunded. Ticket refunds will be offered
if cancellation request is received in
ICCFA Use Only
writing by December 7, 2015, less a
Date Rec’d ______________________
$10 processing fee per ticket.
REGISTRATION LIST: Registrations
received by December 7, 2015, will
be included in the Conference PreRegistration List.
Ind ID# _________________________
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October 2015
111
Calendar
➤E-mail calendar listings and additions or
corrections to Association Pipeline to
[email protected].
➤For continually updated meeting listings
and direct links to websites for professional
associations, go to www.iccfa.com; select
Directory, then Industry Association Directory.
October 1: Ohio Cemetery Assn. Fall
Maintenance Sem. South, Ferncliff Cemetery,
Springfield. www.ohiocemeteryassociation.com
October 2-4: Pacific Northwest Monument
Builders Assn. Fall Mtg. & Skills Sem., Whistler,
British Columbia. www.pnmba.org
October 3-6: New York State Assn. of
Cemeteries 37h Annual Fall Conf., The
Sagamore, Bolton Landing. www.nysac.com
October 6: Ohio Cemetery Assn. Fall
Maintenance Sem. North, Catholic Cemeteries
Toledo. www.ohiocemeteryassociation.com
October 6: Illinois Cemetery Funeral Home
Association Golf Outing, Inwood Golf Course.
www.ICFHA.org
October 7-8: Illinois Cemetery Funeral Home
Association 87th Annual Fall Convention,
Harrah’s Joliet Hotel & Casino. www.ICFHA.org
October 7: Indiana Cemetery Assn. Fall Mgmt.
& Grounds Conf., Oaklawn Memorial Gardens,
Indianapolis.
www.indianacemeteryassociation.org
October 7-9: The Foresight Companies
Seminar “Cemetery Impossible,” Scottsdale
Resort & Conf. Center, Arizona. 1.800.426.0165;
www.f4sight.com
October 9-10: California Assn. of Public Ceme
teries Ed. Seminar/Area Mtg., Crowne Plaza
Beach Hotel, Ventura. [email protected]
October 16-17: The International Order of
the Golden Rule Fall Forum Conf., Marriott
Indianapolis Downtown, Indiana. www.ogr.org
October 18-21: Australasian Cemeteries
& Crematoria Assn. Annual Conf., Hobart,
Tasmania. www.accaweb.com.au
October 18-21: National Funeral Directors
Assn. Annual Convention & Expo, Indianapolis,
Indiana. www.nfda.org
November 5-7: Pennsylvania Cemetery
Cremation Funeral Association Fall Conf.,
Pittsburgh, Institute of Mortuary Science.
[email protected]
November 6-8: Cemetery Assn. of Oregon
Annual Convention.
[email protected]
November 9-11: Two Hearts Pet Loss Center’s
Pet Loss & Grief Companioning Certification
Course, Austin, Texas. 317.966.0096
November 11-13: The Foresight Companies
Seminar “Human Resource Complete,”
Scottsdale Resort & Conf. Center, Arizona.
1.800.426.0165; www.f4sight.com
November 12-13: ICCFA & CANA Cremation
Operator & Cremation Arranger Training,
Kirkland, Washington. 1.800.645.7700;
www.iccfa.com
November 18-19: Casket & Funeral Supply
Assn. Fall Conf. & Trade Show, J.W. Marriott
➤To see all industry conventions and meetings for
a particular month, go to www.iccfa.com; select
Find a Member, then Industry Calendar.
Hotel, Indianapolis, Indiana. www.cfsaa.org
November 18-19: ICCFA & Ohio Funeral
Directors Assn. Cremation Operator &
Cremation Arranger Training, Columbus, Ohio.
1.800.645.7700; www.iccfa.com
December 3: Maryland Cemetery, Funeral &
Cremation Assn. 8th Annual Holiday Gathering,
The Rusty Scupper, Baltimore. www.mcfca.us
December 15: Maryland State Funeral Direc
tors Assn. Annual Holiday Mtg. & Party, The
Hotel at Arundel Preserve, Hanover.
www.msfda.net
2016
January 13-15: ICCFA Wide World of Sales
Conf., Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas,
Nevada. www.iccfa.com
r
January 18: New Hampshire Funeral Directors
Assn. Annual Mtg., Church Landing, Inns & Spa
at Mill Falls, Meredith. www.nhfda.org
February 2-4: The Center for Loss & Life
Transition training for funeral directors, “Opening
your community’s eyes to why we need funerals,”
facilitated by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, Scottsdale,
Arizona. www.centerforloss.com
February 12-14: Maryland State Funeral
Directors Assn. Mid-Winter Retreat, Clarion Re
sort & Conf. Center, Ocean City. www.msfda.net
February 13-20: FrontRunner & American
Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service
➤to page 114
New Members
Providing exceptional education,
networking and legislative guidance and
support to progressive cemetery, funeral
and cremation professionals worldwide
For information about the ICCFA and Membership:
• Go to www.iccfa.com/membership to download a benefits
brochure and an application form.
• Call 1.800.645.7700 to have membership information faxed or
mailed to you.
Regular
City of Bozeman Parks & Recreation
Department
Bozeman, Montana
City of Pacific Grove El Carmelo
Cemetery
Pacific Grove, California
Dorchester Memory Gardens Inc.
Summerville, South Carolina
James H Hunt Funeral Home
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Orange County Cemetery District
Lake Forest, California
112
ICCFA Magazine
Membership applications
Admission to ICCFA membership normally requires a majority vote
of those present and voting at any meeting of the executive commit
tee. The names of all applicants must be published in this magazine.
ICCFA members objecting to an application must do so in writing
to the ICCFA executive director within 45 days of publication. In the
event of an objection, the executive committee will conduct an in
quiry. If an applicant is rejected, they will be granted an appeal upon
written request. The decision of the Board of Directors shall be final.
Repatriacion Latina Corp.
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Simpson Funeral & Cremation Services
Monaca, Pennsylvania
Professional: Pet Loss Services
Family Pet Cremation
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Part of the Family Pet Memorial Centre
Edmonton, Alberta
Por Siempre Amigos
Luquillo, Puerto Rico
Professional/Supplier
Chapter Eternal Enterprises LLC
Flemington, New Jersey
Denmar Management
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Hallmark Monogram Co.
Deerfield Beach, Florida
Metallic Arts
Spokane Valley, Washington
Wanner Sculpture Studio
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
r
photos by Ken Peterson COURTESY OF THE DODGE CO.
Dodge Wreaths Across
America project The Dodge Co.,
Brunswick, Maine, is accepting registrations for its 2015 Wreaths Across
America Arlington Wreath Project. For
complete information, contact Sally
Belanger, CFSP, MBIE, who for eight
years has been conducting Dodge’s tour of Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area, along with monuments honoring
servicemen and women, all leading up to the Saturday, December 12, Arlington Wreath Project at Arlington National Cemetery.
The tour will take place December 10-13. For a registration form or additional information, contact Belanger at 207.406.2703 or
[email protected], or go -to www.Dodgeco.com.
Funeral museum plans patriotic tributes, focus on the holidays
T
he National Museum of Funeral History,
Houston, Texas, has a number of patriotic and
holiday activities planned for the fall.
• From October 1 to November 2, the museum
will hold its annual haunted house and display its
Myths and Legends of the Graveyard exhibit.
• October 24 the museum will hold its 8th annual
Halloween car show.
• From November 1 to the end of the year, people
who bring in a non-perishable canned food dona
tion for the museum’s food drive will receive $2 off
admission.
• November 1, admission will include Day of the
Dead festivities. Explore authentic altars made by
local artists, commemorate a loved one by leaving
them a message in the Book of the Dead and bring
mementos of the dearly departed to help build the
museum’s community altar.
• November 7-15 is Veterans Appreciation Week.
Veterans and active military persons admitted free.
• November 22 and November 25, admission
will include entrance into the presidential funerals
exhibition, featuring a special John F. Kennedy sec
tion.
r
Day of
the Dead
festivities
will be
November
1 at the
National
Museum
of Funeral
History.
Funeral museum, CANA plan cremation exhibit, seek artifacts
T
he Cremation Association of North Ame
rica and the National Museum of Funeral
History are working together to create an
exhibit entitled “The History of Cremation,”
which is set to open in the summer of 2016.
Documenting the birth and growth of
cremation in North America and promoting
enduring themes of memorialization, the ex
hibit will feature artifacts donated by CANA
members and items from the museum’s col
lection. Videos and interactive components
will engage visitors in learning about crema
tion through the ages and how individuals
would like to be memorialized.
CANA has convened a task force of cre
mation experts to conceptualize the exhibit,
which will document the adoption of crema
tion through four eras of development:
• Era One: Early Cremation in the United
States (1876 and earlier-1925)
• Era Two: A Focus on Memorialization
(1925-1975)
• Era Three: Movement Away from
Memorialization and Toward Simplification
(1975-2005)
• Era Four: Present Day Cremation
(2005-present) The Sky is the Limit
Artifacts from these eras being sought
include examples of cremation documents,
literature, urns, tools and photographs to
further the understanding of the history of
cremation and its impact today.
Task force members are CANA Past
President Robert M. Boetticher Jr.; CANA
Historian Jason Engler; CANA Past Presi
dent Mark Matthews; CANA Board Member
Scott MacKenzie; UCLA Donated Body
Program Director Dean Fisher; CANA Exec
utive Director Barbara Kemmis; and CANA
Communications Manager Sara Corkery.
The exhibit will launch just in time for
the July 2016 CANA convention in Houston,
Texas. Industry professionals interested in
donating artifacts to be considered for the ex
hibit are encouraged to submit a picture and
brief description of the item(s) to Genevieve
Keeney, [email protected].
r
October 2015
113
ad index
47 Abbott & Hast
31 Adfinity
51AFCTS
81 American Cemetery/Mortuary
Consultants
91 ASD—Answering Service for
Directors
17 Astral Industries
93 Baines Professional Vehicles Inc.
2 Biondan North America Inc.
33 Blackstone Cemetery Development
4 Carriage Services Inc.
3 Coldspring
19 Continental Computer Corp.
81 CremainGem LLC
37 Crystal Remembrance
89 Custom Air Trays
29 Dakota Granite Co.
27 Earthhandsfire
87 Eickhof Columbaria Inc.
47 Ensure-A-Seal
87 Flowers for Cemeteries
35 Forethought Life Insurance
Companies
93 Franklin Wrap
65 Funeral Call Answering Service
7th Annual Funeral Business & Technology
Workshop Cruise, departing from Miami, Florida.
1.866.748.3625;
www.FrontRunner360.com/cruise
February 24-25: International Conference
of Funeral Service Examining Boards Annual
Mtg., Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, California.
479.442.7076; www.theconferenceonline.org
February 26-28: Monument Builders of North
America Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia.
www.monumentbuilders.org
February 29-March 2: MKJ Marketing seminar,
Top-Line Growth, The Westin Riverfront Resort &
Spa, Beaver Creek, Colorado. 1.888.MKJ.1566
March 17-19: California Assn. of Public Ceme
teries Annual Convention, Embassy Suites,
Monterey Resorts. [email protected]
Check the classified announcements at www.iccfa.com/employment.htm
To place a classified, contact Rick Platter, [email protected]
Cemetery & preneed
receivables financing
We will lend your company money
on your receivables, or we will
115 Park Place Equity
53 Passages International
13 Perfect Memorials
23 Porcelains Unlimited
101 Regions Funeral & Cemetery Trust
Services
27 SEP Technologies
67 SRS Computing
7 Starmark Funeral Products
15 SuperNova International
91 Supply Link
47 SVE Portable Roadway Systems
71 The Foresight Companies LLC
27 The Key Chain Urn Co.
85 The Tribute Companies
25 Timberland Urns
61 Trigard
73 Triple H Co.
89 U.S. Cremation Equipment
69 U.S. Metalcraft
43 Wilbert Funeral Services
93 WithumSmith + Brown
99 Worsham College
95 Wuxi ANA Industries Ltd.
87 Zontec Ozone
r
calendar
➤from page 112
Classifieds
58 Funeral Data Manager
59 Funeral Data Manager
63 Funeral Home Gifts
41 Funeral Services Inc.
75 Great Western Insurance Co.
39 Holland Supply
65 Holy Land Stone
95Kryprotek
5 Live Oak Bank
55 Live Oak Bank
81 Madelyn Co.
105 Matthews Cremation
11 Matthews International
45 Matthews International
91 McCleskey Mausoleums
85 Meadow Hill Corp.
57 Merendino Cemetery Care
25 Miles Supply Inc.
79 MKJ Marketing
116 National Mortuary Shipping
9 Noble Metal Solutions
47 Nomis Publications
65 Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell &
Hippel
49 Omneo Group Americas LLC
77 Paradise Pictures
buy your receivables if you prefer.
Either way, you retain access to
your customers. Fast closings, with
immediate funding of perpetual
care fees. Call Harry Van Sciver at
508.428.3458, or fax your request
to 508.428.0607, or contact us
through our website at
www.whitebriar.com.
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114
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