With deep respect and heartfelt sorrow, Vandor Group and Starmark announce the death of Gerald H. Davis, former president and longtime board member, on Dec. 20, 2025. He was 73 years old. Gerald’s visionary leadership and unwavering integrity leave a legacy that will endure for generations. A Visionary Leader and…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee SCI Direct has announced the promotion of longtime funeral service professional Jamie Helfenstein to vice president of services, a move that underscores the company’s continued emphasis on service excellence, operational leadership, and family-centered care. The announcement was shared this week via SCI Direct’s LinkedIn page, where…
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By Rolf Gutknecht, president and CEO of LA ads Given recent conversations I’ve had with some folks at various firms and industry associations, I thought I’d pass along a story that was shared recently with me given that the beginning of a new year is right around the corner. The…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Broylman Memorial Group is making good on its vision of continuing to grow. Micah Brown, the CEO and founder of the company that has now grown to 18 locations – with a few more to be added shortly – told FuneralVision.com that the company recently acquired…
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Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Few individuals in the funeral profession embody a lifetime of uninterrupted service quite like Eugene M. “Gene” Pike Jr. The longtime president of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Pike marked 67 years with the firm in June 2025 — an accomplishment that colleagues often cited as unmatched in…
Read MoreTerry Alvin Kaufman, 71, of Bad Axe, Michigan was arraigned before Judge Julienne M. Ferris in the 73B District Court in Bad Axe on Nov. 24 for allegedly embezzling and converting funds he received for prepaid funerals and funeral insurance policies, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Kaufman, who founded and…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee In a recent episode of The Graveyard Shift, sponsored by Passare, two of the most influential voices in funeral service — Chris Cruger, CEO of The Foresight Companies, and Jake Johnson, president and CEO of Johnson Consulting Group — offered a candid, practical and at times…
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By Jay Jacobson There is a moment in every leader’s day when the office settles, the last call finishes, and the noise fades. In that quiet, we often overlook something that shapes culture and builds trust more than any policy or program ever will. Thank you. Not the rushed version…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee When Jake Johnson looks back on the 25-year journey of Johnson Consulting Group, he doesn’t just see the growth of a company. He sees the continuation of a mission that started long before he ever signed his first deal — a mission rooted in helping people…
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By Thomas A. Parmalee The Luzerne County Funeral Directors Association recently filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association, alleging that the association wrongfully refused to hand over financial records. The lawsuit was filed Oct. 2 in the Court of Common Pleas for Dauphin County. According to the lawsuit,…
Read MoreBy Jay Jacobson When a child loses someone they love, the world feels unfamiliar. Colors seem muted. The air feels heavy. Days that once made sense start to wobble. As adults, we want to protect children from pain. Yet what they need most is not distance from grief. What they…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee When Seth Viddal founded The Natural Funeral in 2019, his goal was simple but radical: to help families reconnect with death in ways that reflected their environmental and spiritual values. Now, just six years later, his Lafayette, Colorado–based funeral home is entering a new chapter —…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Jamie Meredith never imagined a future in funeral service. Growing up in Urania, Louisiana — a small town of fewer than a thousand people — he learned the value of hard work from his father, a truck driver; and his mother, a beautician. “I went to…
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