Wednesday, March 10, 2010
   
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Casket Makers Dig In as Sales Take Hit As their sales slow, some casket makers worry their business is hitting a dead end. Sales of caskets have been declining for years as more people choose cremation. But the economic slump is compounding the industry's woes as those who do pick caskets buy cheaper, more spartan accommodations for the hereafter.
The Importance Of Having A Funeral Director When a person we love dies so suddenly, our initial emotional responses would be shock and disbelief. Usually, it is very tough to accept the demise of a loved one. Then, when the disbelief has worn off, it is replaced by deep anguish. With the deep anguish, it can be very difficult to make sound decisions, especially decisions related to the organization for the funeral of our beloved.
Apple Ditches iPad, Unveils iCasket? Steve Jobs shocked the world today by abandoning Apple's long-awaited iPad tablet in favor of the iCasket, a high-tech coffin that allows the dead to send text messages, download books and install apps. "This is a game-changer for the funeral industry and the afterlife," said one analyst. "Well, unless cemeteries refuse to add WiFi..
Forgotten Dead, In Storage It's a small room that could be in any Midwestern basement: paneled walls, concrete floor, low ceiling, fluorescent lights, gray metal shelves lining two walls. But what's on the shelves sets this room apart: more than 100 small cardboard boxes of cremated human remains. But what's on the shelves sets this room apart: more than 100 small cardboard boxes of cremated human remains.
Cemeteries Not So Safe During Earthquakes I have never though of a cemetery as being a safe harbor during an earthquake, but apparently some companies in Japan have studied the option. I found it to be pretty interesting. Check it out below: The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 in Japan prompted a surge in earthquake-resistance work on buildings in an effort to save lives when the next major temblor strikes. But now, moves are afoot to boost the quake-resistance of heavy gravestones.
Minnesota Leads Midwest in a Hot Trend: Cremation Just as there are blue states and red states, there are burn states and bury states. Minnesota is feeling the burn. About 45 percent of the people who died here last year were cremated, according to state health department figures. That's not as high as some Western states and New England states where half to two-thirds of the dead are cremated.
Thousands of Wreath-Layers Carry Out Arlington Tradition Pfc. De'Angello Robinson, 19, traveled seven hours by bus to place a wreath on the tombstone of a soldier he didn't know. For Robinson and other Marines who came from Camp Johnson, N.C., to Arlington National Cemetery to decorate graves, the day was about paying tribute to the men and women who served.
NY Funeral Homes' Less Grave Image As cremations rise, funeral directors like Richard and Michael Ruggiero offer a wider range of 'concierge' services to the bereaved. When customers asked Richard Ruggiero to display their recently deceased mother's cookware during her viewing, the co-owner of two F. Ruggiero & Sons funeral homes didn't bat an eye.

ConnectingDirectors.com - Funeral Industry News, Information, and Trends

SCI Hires Outside Company To Figureout Why Death Numbers Are Down

imageThe North American funeral business is showing signs of life.

A year ago, most public “death care” companies were reporting mysterious drops in the number of funerals they were performing, but now things have improved and some are seeing growth close to long-term trends.

And all of the companies in the funeral industry are looking forward to the next few decades, when business should be brisk as baby boomers come to the end of their run.

The hardest-hit company last year was Service Corporation International, (SCI-N8.550.080.94%) the biggest death care company on the continent, with more than 1,600 funeral homes and cemeteries in the United States and Canada. In the first quarter of 2009 it experienced an 11-per-cent downturn in the number of funerals it performed. While the quarter-to-quarter decline was only 3.6 per cent by the fourth quarter, the company conducted 6.7 per cent fewer funerals in all of 2009 than it did in 2008.


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Supreme Court Wades Into Funeral Protests

imageWASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the father of a fallen Marine can collect damages from a religious sect that picketed his son's funeral with vulgar placards celebrating the death of American soldiers.

The court also accepted two other cases on Monday, one testing whether vaccine makers are immune from lawsuits under state law and another that challenges government background checks on federal contractors as an invasion of privacy. The cases are likely to be heard in the fall.

The funeral case, Snyder v. Phelps, tests the limits of First Amendment protection for demonstrators who aim obnoxious and hurtful speech at the most sympathetic of victims. It centers on the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., founded in 1955. Most of the church's 70-odd members are children, grandchildren or in-laws of its founder and sole pastor, Fred W. Phelps Sr., according to a lower court opinion.

The Westboro Church searches the Internet for notices of military funerals it can picket to get attention for its message of hostility to homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church, and its claim that battlefield casualties represent divine retribution for what it views as America's sins.


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Funeral Org Pushes for ‘Green’ Burials

imageThe idea of a funeral and burial with no embalming, no metal casket vault and nothing else to stop the decomposition of the body and container is an enduring idea that is getting the “green” tag.

The uncomplicated funeral and burial, however, is complicated in the here and now for consumers, according to the leader of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Mid-South.

“Green burial has different definitions,” said Furniss B. Harkness. “Locally, the interest I think is in … an old fashioned burial – meaning without a vault, sometimes without a casket, or if there is one, a wooden decomposable one.”

Other options include a shroud with or without a casket.

The 10-year-old nonprofit consumer group regularly sends out questionnaires to funeral homes, cemeteries and others to gauge prices and services.


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Funeral Home Resource Completes Rollout of Core Product Line

imageRon R. Browning, president of Funeral Home Resource, announced a new partnership with the industry’s leading telephone answering service that rounds out the company’s service offerings.

The partnership with ASD (Answering Service for Directors) is significant because it allows customers to implement cutting edge technology and integrate their websites with an automated phone answering and messaging system and enables Funeral Home Resource to boast the capabilities of a full-service, online marketing partner.

In addition to offering free listings on the FuneralHomeResource.com directory, which features over 35,000 nationwide funeral home and cemetery listings, Funeral Home Resource develops and maintains customized, search engine optimized websites for funeral homes and cemeteries along with a full complement of online marketing services.


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Monday Funny - Grief Fail

imageEveryone seems to need a little chuckle on Monday mornings to get their day started, so here ya go!! Whenever I find funny funeral industry related photos I like to try and share them with you. So below is a photo I found on Failblog.org (very funny site).

The caption for this photo is: Grief Fail. I don't know if the family planned for the photo to include what is in the bottom right corner or not. I guess it would have been their very last chance to get a family photo.

Do many people take photos like this in you funeral home?


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Funeral Director Sued For Showing Family Burning Body

imageHenreyville, IN - Two Louisville women have sued Henryville, Ind., funeral director Richard Pyke, alleging that he showed them a burning human body and human bones during a visit to his business last October to discuss funeral arrangements for a relative.

The claims in the Clark Circuit Court lawsuit give only one side of the case. Pyke declined to comment and referred questions to his lawyer, Richard Mullineaux of New Albany, who did not return a call Friday.

Pyke, meantime, faces unrelated felony insurance fraud charges in Clark and Floyd counties. Following an Indiana State Police investigation, authorities accused him of cashing burial insurance policies of several customers, most of whom are still alive.


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Press Releases

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Funeral Home Resource Completes Rollout of Core Product Line

Ron R. Browning, president of Funeral Home Resource, announced a new partnership with the industry’s leading telephone answering service that rounds out the company’s service offerings. The partnership...

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Apex Caskets Announces The Royal Solid Mahogany Casket

Apex caskets is pleased to announce The Royal solid Mahogany casket. (H- CS50). The Royal casket features full polished high gloss Mahogany finish with pillar column corners and bronze hardware and a...

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Wilbert Signs On to Sponsor PBS Program

“The Neon Man and Me” Centers On Bereavement, Loss and Friendship Wilbert Funeral Services, on behalf of the Wilbert Foundation, has agreed to be a national sponsor for “The Neon Man and Me”....

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Funeral Industry News And Articles

Top Headline
SCI Hires Outside Company To Figureout Why Death Numbers Are Down

The North American funeral business is showing signs of life. A year ago, most public “death care” companies were reporting mysterious drops in the number of funerals they were performing, but now things have improved and some are seeing growth close to...

Read More...
Supreme Court Wades Into Funeral Protests

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the father of a fallen Marine can collect damages from a religious sect that picketed his son's funeral with vulgar placards celebrating the death of American soldiers. The court also accepted two other...

Read More...

I am just moments away from heading to the airport to catch a plane to San Antonio for the 2010 ICCFA Convention. This is my first time being at the ICCFA convention so I am looking forward to the experience and doing a great review at the end of the show. While...

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