If you enter "Private Label Caskets" into Google, you may stumble upon something that might be news to you: The company is closing. The all-important Google Business listing on the right-hand margin of Google notes that the company is "permanently closed" as per the image at the top of this…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee When visitors arrive at Better Place Forests’ St. Croix Valley location in Minnesota, they often come seeking something more than a walk among the trees. Some come to visit a loved one’s memorial tree. Others come to explore, to find a spot that feels right for…
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By Thomas A. Parmalee Bob Arrington tended to disappear when he was seven years old, but his mother always knew where to find him … at the local funeral home. It was across the street from his elementary school and was where he spent most of his free time. He…
Read MoreBy Jay Jacobson, founder of Jacobson Professional Staffing An obituary has always been sacred ground. It is where a name becomes a story, where a life lived finds its voice one final time. For generations, that story was printed in the newspaper. Today, it lives online, where words travel farther and…
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Mandy Stafford, preplanning and national partnerships manager for Return Home, recently joined Alan Creedy and Danny Jefferson on their podcast Two Guys and a Question to discuss how her company is helping families embrace a new, natural approach to death care through natural organic reduction — also known as terramation…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Lisa Baue’s book “Wake-Up Calls: A Journey of Learning to Lead and Succeed in the Funeral and Deathcare Profession” lives up to its name, with the author candidly sharing moments in her life that allowed her to grow as an individual and leader. Like all good…
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Bob Ekins, a longtime executive at Johnson Consulting Group, has made a big move -- joining Newcomer Funeral Service Group as vice president of field operations. In an announcement on LinkedIn, the company stated that he'd be working closely with Newcomer-owned firms across the country and will report to Chief Operating…
Read MoreLeviathan Winn has been named chief financial officer of Foundation Partners Group, the company announced on its LinkedIn page. Leviathan brings more than 20 years of finance, mergers & acquisitions, strategy, digital, and retail services experience. FPG said in its post, "Leviathan brings proven experience leading financial operations turnarounds and…
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By Thomas A. Parmalee Talla Kuperman will never forget the moment she discovered fingerprint jewelry. She was sitting in a funeral home across from a funeral director, drowning in grief after losing her brother, Amir, to cancer. “She gently slid a manila folder across the desk to me,” she recalled.…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Elisha Elliott, a longtime staff member at McGuinness Funeral Home in Woodbury and Sewell, New Jersey, was honored by the Greater Washington Township Chamber of Commerce with the Rick Zammer Business Hall of Fame Award earlier this year. “She wears the hat of all hats --…
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Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee When you talk with Rone Luczynski, it’s immediately clear that he brings a creative perspective to deathcare. His career didn’t begin in cemeteries, crematories, or funeral homes — it began in the retail world, where he spent years doggedly reengineering Fortune 500 supply chains. That experience…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Barcley Cadet, talent acquisition manager at Carriage Services, remembers the words of wisdom his first manager shared with him 11 years ago when he got his start in human resources. “The industry does not matter,” Cadet recalls being told. “It’s always the same process. We are…
Read MoreBy Thomas A. Parmalee Carriage Services reported huge news during its recent quarterly conference call: It’s back in acquisition mode. For the second quarter, the company reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.70 compared with $1.38 in the year-ago period, with total revenue of $209.2 million compared with $205.8…
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