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Understanding Poor Information Choices in State Associations
Read more: Understanding Poor Information Choices in State AssociationsThis week, an Ohio funeral director made the news for all the wrong reasons. He plans to obtain a liquor license so that he may serve mourners in the funeral home. He said he wants to be able to “provide guests with a livelier vibe if that’s the way they want to celebrate their loved…
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Human Composting is a No-Go in New York
Read more: Human Composting is a No-Go in New YorkIn recent years, there has been a growing movement towards alternative methods of burial and funeral practices, with one of the most controversial being human composting. This alternative method of disposition, which involves converting human remains into soil, has generally been met with controversy and opposition. Proponents argue that it is an environmentally friendly and…
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Debunking Misleading Articles About Women in Funeral Service
Read more: Debunking Misleading Articles About Women in Funeral ServiceThe notion of “young girls breaking into funeral service” being a novelty is outdated. Currently, half of mortuary school graduates are female, rendering such stories irrelevant. We don’t find it surprising to encounter female professionals in other fields, so there’s no need to perpetuate such old-fashioned ideas when discussing funeral service.
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A “Contemporary” Funeral Home
Read more: A “Contemporary” Funeral HomeWe’ve noticed, recently, several funeral homes billing themselves as “modern” or “contemporary.” They claim to have a new way of doing things; that they are bringing a new awareness to death and making it less sad. Really!? Light and airy reposing rooms will not change the abject sorrow felt by a family whose daughter has…
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How We Remember
Read more: How We RememberI was honored to be asked to contribute an essay to NFDA’s ‘Director’ magazine in observance of the somber 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. I chose to write about a few of the many 9/11 memorials to be found in cemeteries around the country. One of my favorites is in the Cemetery of the…
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A Dying Business
Read more: A Dying BusinessOne upon a time, a young woman walked into a funeral home in Queens, New York. She needed an after-school job to earn some money, while she worked her way through college, and the funeral home was hiring. She had dreams of one day becoming a great writer. Well, if not a great one, at…
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Pinelawn Memorial Park: The Cemetery That Forgot Compassion
Read more: Pinelawn Memorial Park: The Cemetery That Forgot CompassionFor most people, a cemetery is a place of solemnity, ritual, and closure. For me—and for too many families I’ve served—it has also become a place of dread. My own family endured appalling treatment at my mother’s funeral in 2015, and again at the funerals of my uncle in 2017 and my aunt in 2019.…
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I Want to Watch
Read more: I Want to WatchAn essential component of our role as funeral directors is to maintain the sanctity of our work and protect the privacy of those in our care. Something that continues to trouble me is the prurient interest some have in the most private part of funeral service. “I want to watch. Can I?” It is an…
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RIP Dr. Jacquie Taylor
Read more: RIP Dr. Jacquie TaylorWe were saddened to learn about the recent passing of Dr. Jacquie Taylor. Funeral service lost an excellent champion in her. An educator, who was also licensed as a funeral director, Dr. Taylor truly “walked the walk and talked the talk” unlike so many others today. In 2013, I attended a continuing education seminar Dr.…
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Read more: John Fitzgerald KennedyBy Melissa Johnson Williams Those of us who witnessed the events 56 years ago of President Kennedy’s assassination, remember it vividly. He was so much more than just our President. He was of course a husband, father, son, brother, and friend to many. He was a decorated war hero and an inspiration to generations of…
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The Morte Girls 