Funeral Industry News, Information, and Trends

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The first of the baby boomers are entering their mid-60s, and the death rate in the U.S. is expected to rise from 8.1 people per thousand in 2006, to 9.3 in the year 2020, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The Baby Boomer generation includes 78 million Americans, and represents 29.4% of the total U.S. population, according to the U. S. Census Bureau.

"Boomers are not going to be happy with cookie cutter funerals" said Mark Davis, CEO of ValMark Memorial Group and founder of their newest division, Remembrance Centers of America. "They are demanding customized funeral arrangements, with personalized touches." As baby boomers grow older and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Boomers have never followed tradition, and planning their funerals is no exception. Baby Boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful, which begs the question: Which funeral homes are embracing the evolution in funeral customs and have adapted their offerings to meet the needs and desires of the Baby Boomers of America?

Read more: Funeral Homes Addressing the Needs of Baby Boomers

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A highly-promoted feature in the 2011 Ford Explorer are its new inflatable rear seat belts. The not-so-highly-promoted working stiffs that helped make it happen? Human cadavers. Here's how automakers still quietly use dead people to make your car safer.

When automakers and safety advocates show off the results of crash tests, they inevitably run video showing empty vehicles or crash test dummies; back in the 1980s, they even turned the dummies into lovable cartoon characters. What the industry doesn't like talking about is how much of the safety innovation in vehicles was built around testing cadavers.

Read more: How A Cadaver Made Your Car Safer

Throughout the United States, a trend toward cremation -- and away from traditional burials -- is steadily emerging, as indicated in the latest report issued by the Cremation Association of North America. The findings state that more people have been choosing cremation instead of burials, and this shift in tradition is only growing more substantial. Nationally, 28 percent of those who died in 2002 chose cremation, a figure that rose to just over 35 percent in 2007. More significantly, however, the number is projected to reach 39 percent in 2010 and then spike to nearly 59 percent in 2025.

Recognizing the growing need to make cremation easier and more affordable is All Ohio Cremation & Burial Society, Inc. The organization, which strives to ease the burden of arranging simple cremation and burial services, has launched a brand-new website: allohiocremation.com (http://www.allohiocremation.com). Whether planning arrangements for themselves or a loved one, consumers can conveniently use this online tool to make important decisions, as well as book cremations and burials, within the state of Ohio. The site also provides related services and products.

Read more: All Ohio Cremation & Burial Society, Inc. Responds to Trend in Funeral Choices and Launches allohiocremation.com

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Before being put to death, criminals are given the opportunity to say a few parting words. Some use this opportunity to apologize for their wrongdoings; some try to let their families know they love them; and others use it as a chance to proclaim their innocence. Then, you have the death row inmates who use their last statement to bewilder the public, leaving us saying "Did he really say that?"

This is the type of last statements we'll be looking at today. Here are the 10 craziest last statements made by death row inmates.

Read more: 10 Bizarre Last Statements of Death Row Inmates

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When Danny Daniels of Oskaloosa learned he would die from cancer, he told his wife, Cathy, exactly what his grand farewell should look like.

"He didn't want to be dressed up in a suit. Said he was a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy," she says. "He wanted to have an open bar in the back room at the visitation, so people could have a beer and visit and talk about all the good times. He said, 'Don't cry. Don't make this sad. I had a good life.'"

Read more: Not Your Typical Funeral: Death Takes a Personalized Makeover

A Bartlett funeral home and crematory has reopened one day after the chimney over its crematory caught fire.

The incident took place at 12:28 p.m. Saturday at the Countryside Funeral Home, 950 S. Bartlett Road. The first firefighters reached the scene at 12:30 p.m. and found heavy smoke pouring from the chimney.

Read more: Bartlett Crematory Chimney Catches Fire

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Veterans groups and members of Congress are questioning whether management of Arlington National Cemetery should be transferred from the Army to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The discussions come after investigators found dozens of unmarked or mislabeled graves, millions of dollars wasted on technology contracts and mismanagement that stretched from the cemetery's leadership to the upper echelons of Army leadership in the Pentagon.

"Let's let the experts take over," said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the country's oldest major veterans organization. Running cemeteries "is a primary task of the VA, whereas the Army's primary task is to fight and win our wars."

The American Legion has also called for the VA to be more involved at Arlington, the nation's busiest military cemetery, which has an average of 27 funerals a day and 4 million visitors annually. And several members of Congress, including Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, have asked whether the VA, which manages 131 cemeteries nationwide with 3 million graves, would be better suited to operate Arlington.

Read more: Veterans groups and lawmakers suggest that VA take over Arlington Cemetery

A Queens man who is hawking souvenirs from the borough’s iconic casket company is digging his own grave — legally speaking.

Gary Comorau has been selling South Brooklyn Casket Company T-shirts and other garb on his own website — but now the multinational funeral company that bought the Gowanus gravemaker in 2005 wants to put his business venture six feet under on the grounds that he is violating their copyright.

But Comorau is whistling past the graveyard.

Read more: Man selling unauthorized 'Casket Co.' T-shirts

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DENVER — The mortuary chapel smelled of brownies.

The tissues tucked discreetly at the end of each pew were being used not to dab at tears, but to wipe away fried chicken crumbs. And as the big band burst into “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” two couples—one with dog in tow—jumped up to boogie in the aisles.

It was just another rocking evening at Fairmount Cemetery.

Read more: Cemeteries Hold Parties to Die For