By Thomas A. Parmalee J. Bradley Green, the chief executive officer of Park Lawn Corp., who spearheaded its transition to private ownership in a deal valued at about $970 million, including net debt, announced to employees earlier this month that he’ll be stepping down as the company’s chief. Jennifer Hay,…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Members of Selected Independent Funeral Homes continue to reap the benefits of membership – especially as they relate to participating in communities that contribute to personal and professional growth. One community in particular that is becoming increasingly popular is Selected’s Women in Funeral Service Community, according…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee A new podcast features four big thinkers from the death-care profession who share candid insights about how to better serve families, delivered with a healthy dose of levity and humor. Passare, which belongs to the family of companies owned by Directors Investment Group, recently released the…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Allyse Worland remembers a piece of wisdom she learned when she started in funeral service. “My first mentor always told me the person in the casket is like the bride at a wedding – if she doesn’t look good, the whole thing isn’t right,” she said.…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Work in death care long enough, and you’ll meet some interesting people who once did something else. Still, the story of Micah Brown is a little unusual. A native of Kentucky, he graduated from Cumberland College in Williamsburg, where he earned a political science degree before…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee John D. Smith, the new CEO of Foundation Partners Group, is accustomed to competing … and he doesn’t like to lose. “I’ve been an athlete and competing all my life,” he told FuneralVision.com. “I played baseball, basketball and football, and did track. From humble beginnings, I had…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee In November 2024, death-care professionals heard some rather unwelcome news: Bill Williams announced that he’d be retiring as the CEO of Funeral Services, Inc. after many years at the helm. Williams, a licensed funeral director and straight shooter who never wavered from telling funeral professionals the…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Melissa Drake-Messina’s unexpected journey into the world of death care began more than 35 years ago. And it began in an unexpected place: at the State University of New York in New Paltz, New York. It was there that she met one of the profession’s pioneer…
Read MoreIf you look at Jamie McDermott's resume, you'll be impressed. He got his start in death care in 1994, working in sales at B&L Cremation Systems, spending two separate stints at the company for a combined 12 years or so. He'd go on to work at U.S. Cremation Equipment before…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Milestone Funeral Partners expects to serve almost 6,000 families at its funeral homes and another 400 families through its cemeteries at 64 partner firms in all six New England states and New York this year. But Michael Martel, the company’s co-founder and CEO, suggests he’s only…
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