Professional Car Society - The Southern Funeral Director Magazine
Professional Car Society - The Southern Funeral Director Magazine
Professional Car Society - The Southern Funeral Director Magazine
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
December 2011 • January 2012<br />
www.southernfuneraldirectormagazine.com<br />
<strong>Professional</strong><br />
<strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong><br />
2011 International Meet<br />
Ambulance & Coach/Accubuilt Awards and Photos<br />
Bill Black Chevrolet/Cadillac Profile<br />
Shields Southeast Sales<br />
Federal & Eagle Coach<br />
Communicating With the New Customer by Bob Gordon<br />
Making Your Business Better by Fred Lappin<br />
Unique Places - Final Destinations - La Recoleta Cemetery<br />
by Ed Horn<br />
Future Leaders of the Profession by Jennifer Frew<br />
Reel Thoughts - Confessions of a Movie Buff by Bob Fells<br />
Non-Terrestrial Memorialization by Oscar Rios<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 1
2<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Casket & Shipping Issue novEMBER 2011<br />
Alliance/<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> National <strong>Funeral</strong> Service Journal with a<br />
<strong>Southern</strong> Accent Since 1919<br />
Celebrating 92 Years of Service to the<br />
Industry<br />
Vol. 167 No.9<br />
POSTMASTER:<br />
Please Notify us of address changes<br />
by form 3579 to:<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
P.O. Box 768152<br />
Roswell, GA 30076<br />
404-513-9405 | www.sfdmagazine.net<br />
Features<br />
4 Notes from the Editor –Associate Publisher, Ed Horn<br />
6 <strong>Professional</strong> <strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong> 2011 International Meet<br />
14 Ambulance & Coach<br />
23 Bill Black Chevrolet/Cadillac Profile<br />
25 Learning How to Communicate with the New Customer<br />
28 Making Your Business Better<br />
30 Unique Places – La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires<br />
34 Final Destinations<br />
36 Unique and Future Leaders of the Profession<br />
38 Reel Thoughts from Bob Fells<br />
40 A Brief History of Early Non-Terrestrial<br />
Memorialization: Chapter Three – Eternity Burst<br />
News Releases<br />
17 Accubuilt Announces Circle of Excellence Winners<br />
18 Accubuilt Awards Top Dealers at National Sales Meeting<br />
20 Accubuilt Unveils New MKT Hearse<br />
24 Piedmont Precast, LLC Acquires Gilmer Vault Company<br />
42 Live Oak Bank Expands its Focus into Death <strong>Car</strong>e<br />
Management – Welcomes Doug Gober, Senior Loan<br />
Officer and Jerald Pullins, Board of <strong>Director</strong>s<br />
44 Vantage Products - Meeting the Demands of the<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> Industry<br />
Departments<br />
45 Classifieds<br />
45 Ad Index<br />
Published by:<br />
Extreme Designs, LLC.<br />
P.O. Box 768152<br />
Roswell, GA 30076<br />
Contact us by email:<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> appearance, reference or advertisement<br />
of any product or service in the publications<br />
shall not be deemed an approval or<br />
endorsement of these products or services<br />
by the <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>,<br />
or the owners therof. This publication cannot<br />
be responsible for the return of unsolicited<br />
material.<br />
John Yopp<br />
Editor/Publisher<br />
Subscriptions/Classifieds<br />
Accounts<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
Ed Horn<br />
Associate Publisher<br />
ehornesq@openonline.net<br />
917-642-6266<br />
Elli Morris<br />
Staff Writer<br />
elli@wackophoto.com<br />
Ashley Eberhardt<br />
Design/Layout<br />
ashley@georgiaprinters.com<br />
For Advertising and Editorial Information,<br />
Contact John Yopp:<br />
404-513-9405<br />
www.sfdmagazine.net<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
Please check out our new website at<br />
www.southernfuneraldirectormagazine.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 3
I have been the Associate Publisher for a short time but I have<br />
become more dedicated to the <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>s <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
with each new issue. Though the magazine has a long and illustrious<br />
history the time for reinventing it had arrived. John Yopp and I plan<br />
on making SFD a vibrant and exciting magazine that while continuing<br />
its traditions will step beyond the box.<br />
Oscar Rios imaginative writing about our profession and the problems<br />
mankind will encounter when planting the flag in space evokes thought<br />
and consideration of how evolution demands inventive solutions.<br />
While Oscar is examining the universe for us Bob Fells, Executive<br />
<strong>Director</strong> of the ICCFA takes us back to our favorite pastime, movies<br />
of the past. Bob’s love of the films that continue to reward us with their<br />
artistry and qualities allows us to comprehend that we owe respect<br />
for those who came before us.<br />
Our authors cover an ever increasing spectrum that addresses the<br />
interests of our profession but just as importantly the lives of the families<br />
we are all dedicated to serve. Regardless of the years experience or<br />
the freshness of our newest and best young professionals the voices<br />
that will direct the future are open within the pages of the SFD.<br />
I hope you join us by reading our editions and providing your thoughts,<br />
commentary, suggestions and yes, your objections or complaints.<br />
SFD will reflect our reader’s diversity opening the door to discussions<br />
that can only enhance the conversation while uniting us to always<br />
doing better for those we have dedicated ourselves to.<br />
I wish each of you a Happy New Year and my wish to hear from you<br />
during the coming year!<br />
Ed Horn<br />
Associate Publisher<br />
<strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong><br />
4<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
FOR OVER 55 YEARS, WE HAVE BEEN<br />
PROVIDING QUALITY PRODUCTS AND<br />
SERVICE IN THE SOUTHEAST...<br />
...AND ARE COMMITTED TO ANOTHER 55!<br />
1-888-55-DORIC<br />
doric-vaults.com<br />
EXCEPTIONAL PRODUCTS , SERVICE AND PEOPLE
<strong>Professional</strong> <strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong><br />
by: Gregg Merksamer<br />
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum<br />
on the Lake Erie waterfront.<br />
<strong>The</strong> oldest ambulance at the <strong>Professional</strong><br />
<strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong>’s 2011 International<br />
Meet was this extremely rare surviving<br />
horse-drawn, completed around 1860 by<br />
an unknown builder and originally used in<br />
Columbus, Ohio. Its owner, Dover, Ohio<br />
funeral director Robert L. Smith, added<br />
“I get an Amish guy to drive it parades,<br />
hitched to his black Percheron horses.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Professional</strong> <strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong>’s 2011 International<br />
Meet officially commenced Tuesday,<br />
July 12th with a morning procession<br />
down Ohio 8 and Interstate 77 to the Military<br />
Aircraft Preservation <strong>Society</strong> (MAPS)<br />
Museum at the Akron-Canton Regional<br />
Airport. First-in-line up this exit ramp is<br />
Daniel Herrick’s 1978 Miller-Meteor Cadillac<br />
hearse/ambulance “combination” from<br />
Chatham, N.Y., followed by Peter Menedis’<br />
1948 Barnette Chevrolet from Fayetteville,<br />
PA; Patrick J. Martin’s 1985 Bayliff Packard<br />
from Palatine, Illinois; and PCS President<br />
Rick Duffy’s 1964 Miller-Meteor Cadillac<br />
from Pittsburgh, PA.<br />
Several polls have declared Swenson’s<br />
Drive-In has the tastiest burgers in Northeast<br />
Ohio, compelling the PCS to lunch<br />
at its Massillon location after touring the<br />
MAPS Air Museum. Hearses awaiting the<br />
car hop include Darren Bedford’s 1960 S&S<br />
Cadillac and John McCulloch 1939 S&S La-<br />
Salle from Ontario, while the red-and-white<br />
1972 Miller-Meteor ambulance belongs<br />
to William Ives of Ephrata, Pennsylvania.<br />
No Eating in the <strong>Car</strong>, Folks! Luckily, six<br />
doors meant six trays when Lee Ann Boston’s<br />
1994 S&S Cadillac “commercial glass”<br />
limousine headed to Swenson’s Drive-In for<br />
Cheesburgs and Galley Boys after Tuesday<br />
evening’s pilgrimage to the May 4th, 1970<br />
Memorial at Kent State University.<br />
This 2002 Federal Cadillac raised-roof<br />
six-door was one of several livery vehicles<br />
furnished by Robert Mazzarella’s American<br />
Coach Sales to take 2011 PCS International<br />
Meet attendees on a downtown Cleveland<br />
tour that featured the I.M. Pei-designed<br />
With their folding attendants’ seats and<br />
removable beacons, funeral coach/ambulance<br />
“combinations” like Ron Devies’<br />
1966 Superior Pontiac proved popular with<br />
small town directors in the days before<br />
community-operated rescue squads were<br />
common. With its “limousine” styling accentuated<br />
by wrap around corner windows,<br />
this Kentucky-sourced Bonneville looked<br />
suitably-sleek beside the Grumman F-11<br />
Tiger admired by many 2011 PCS International<br />
Meet attendees at the Military<br />
Aircraft Preservation <strong>Society</strong> Museum.<br />
Combination coaches mixing hearse and<br />
ambulance features in one body were<br />
rarities by the time this “limousine style”<br />
Superior Sovereign was completed on a<br />
1982 Cadillac Commercial Chassis. Accordingly,<br />
it turned a lot of heads when<br />
6<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Jerome S. Jacobson of University Heights,<br />
Ohio brought it to the Rock and Roll Hall of<br />
Fame and Museum for Wednesday’s tour<br />
of downtown Cleveland.<br />
erected 1912-15 by Goodyear Tire Founder<br />
F.A. Seiberling and his wife Gertrude.<br />
right at home beside a Douglas C-47 Skytrain<br />
dubbed the “Ruptured Duck.” Along<br />
with the Jeep, the bazooka and the A-<br />
bomb, General Eisenhower hailed this<br />
stout, all-metal transport as one of the four<br />
weapons that proved most crucial to the Allies<br />
winning World War II.<br />
Thursday evening found the pro-cars at a<br />
double feature at the Midway Drive-In Movie<br />
<strong>The</strong>ater in Ravenna, where the PCS Ohio<br />
Chapter hosting the 2011 International Meet<br />
has held several successful events. Last in<br />
line is Jeremy Ledford’s 1973 Miller-Meteor<br />
Cadillac from Lebanon, Tennessee, preceded<br />
by Scott Avnaim’s 1969 M-M combination<br />
from Yellow Springs, Ohio.<br />
Shortly before this 1967 Miller-Meteor<br />
Cadillac was photographed in front of the<br />
greenhouse at Stan Hywet Hall, its owners<br />
- Anthony Militello & Nina Taylor of Columbus,<br />
Ohio - were married in the gardens<br />
with 14 hours of advance planning. Impressively,<br />
this limo-style hearse had served<br />
a Flagstaff, Arizona funeral home through<br />
April, 2004, and Anthony had “not one<br />
problem” driving it 2,800 miles home after<br />
purchasing a one-way plane ticket.<br />
Thunderbird landau bars and a bumpermounted<br />
“Continental” spare tire were<br />
two of the spiffy custom touches on this<br />
1956 Cadillac Fleetwood Series Seventy-Five<br />
Eight-Passenger Sedan shown<br />
with full chauffeur’s garb by Christopher<br />
G. Axelrod of Bratenahl, Ohio.<br />
Thursday evening found the pro-cars<br />
heading to a double feature at the Midway<br />
Drive-In <strong>The</strong>ater in Ravenna, where Jeremy<br />
Ledford’s 1973 Miller-Meteor Cadillac from<br />
Lebanon, Tennessee was photographed beside<br />
the box office. <strong>The</strong> PCS Ohio Chapter<br />
hosting the 2011 International Meet has held<br />
several successful events here.<br />
A Stylemaster Sedan Delivery with a<br />
wheelbase stretch and two additional side<br />
doors was the foundation for this 1948<br />
Chevrolet ambulance built by Guy Barnette<br />
& Co. of Memphis, Tennessee, which<br />
had 3,500 original miles “and a pack of<br />
Lucky Strikes in one of the compartments”<br />
when Peter Menedis purchased it from a<br />
Pennsylvania colliery in 1994. Following<br />
a full mechanical rebuild, its odometer has<br />
reached the 8,400-mile mark.<br />
Following an overnight rain that made PCS<br />
show field temperatures almost twenty degrees<br />
cooler from Tuesday to Wednesday,<br />
Shawn Blyler is at the half-wet, half-dry<br />
stage of wiping down his 1968 Cadillac<br />
Fleetwood Seventy-Five Series Nine-<br />
Passenger Sedan, which once belonged<br />
to the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies<br />
baseball club.<br />
Following their trips from Michigan, Dennis<br />
Lloyd’s 1979 AHA Lincoln hearse and Brady<br />
Smith’s 1977 Miller-Meteor Cadillac hightop<br />
ambulance were welcomed to Akron<br />
by a Goodyear blimp cutout in the gardens<br />
at Stan Hywet Hall, a Tudor-style manor<br />
Once the <strong>Professional</strong> <strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong> arrived<br />
at the Military Aircraft Preservation <strong>Society</strong><br />
(MAPS) Museum, Peter Menedis’ 1948<br />
Barnette Chevrolet Ambulance seemed<br />
This raised-roof 1972 Chevrolet <strong>Car</strong>ryall<br />
Suburban ambulance - recalling the last<br />
year this platform had two doors on the<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 7
ight side and one door on the driver’s side<br />
- was originally built for De Witt, Nebraska’s<br />
rescue squad by the Safety Equipment<br />
Co. of El Dorado, Kansas. Its owner, William<br />
Wright, will host the 2012 PCS International<br />
Meet in Daytona Beach, Florida<br />
from June 18th-22nd.<br />
<strong>The</strong> recently-refreshed, deep green paint<br />
on this 1960 Cadillac seemed well-suited<br />
to the conservative coachwork of the Eureka<br />
Company, which was situated in Rock<br />
Falls, Illinois from 1871 through 1964. Tom<br />
Hoczyk, a former PCS President from Ft.<br />
Wayne, Indiana, found this fine hearse in<br />
Las Cruces, New Mexico 16 years ago.<br />
F-Series panel truck converted by Alberter<br />
Coach. <strong>The</strong> Dover, Ohio funeral director detailed<br />
the ‘59 came from a Utah mine where<br />
it apparently “never went further than the<br />
front gate,” as it had just 18,000 miles.<br />
As William Wright will be hosting the 2012<br />
PCS International Meet in Daytona Beach,<br />
Florida next June, it was fitting that his<br />
1972 Chevrolet Suburban high-top - built<br />
by the Safety Equipment Co. of El Dorado,<br />
Kansas - was the first vehicle to arrive at<br />
the 2011 edition in Hudson, Ohio. <strong>The</strong> giant<br />
trophy Bill is leaning on was presented<br />
to the “Top 100” of 1,140 entrants in an Arthritis<br />
Foundation car show held in Columbus,<br />
Ohio the previous weekend.<br />
Though the Flxible Co. is best known for<br />
building busses, it also bodied professional<br />
Buicks from 1925 through 1964. This stately<br />
1964 Premier long-wheelbase combination<br />
was brought from the firm’s home town of<br />
Loudonville, Ohio by Walter Lindsey of the<br />
Byerly-Lindsey <strong>Funeral</strong> Home.<br />
Steel disc wheels, triple bar bumpers and<br />
a six-window “landau back” roof were defining<br />
details on this 1927 Henney Combination<br />
Coach that won Marietta, Ohio<br />
mortician William Peoples a Class First at<br />
the 2011 PCS International Meet. In 2009,<br />
this car appeared prominently in Aaron<br />
Schneider’s feature film GET LOW, which<br />
starred Robert Duvall as a Tennessee hermit<br />
who hires Bill Murray to stage his funeral<br />
party while he’s still alive.<br />
Mansfield, Ohio funeral director Thomas<br />
Wappner drew a large crowd of admirers<br />
the moment he trailered in this 1938 Eureka<br />
Cadillac Chieftain DeLuxe hearse,<br />
which truly epitomized Art Deco elegance<br />
with its V-shaped grille, streamlined “beaver<br />
tail” and satin-finished, seasoned poplar<br />
drapery panels.<br />
Thomas A. McPherson, whose 1973 book<br />
AMERICAN FUNERAL CARS & AMBU-<br />
LANCES was the first of several he’s authored<br />
on professional vehicle history, muchadmired<br />
this 1964 Flxible Buick Premier<br />
Combination brought from the firm’s home<br />
town of Loudonville, Ohio by Walter Lindsey<br />
of the Byerly-Lindsey <strong>Funeral</strong> Home.<br />
Blackwell tires proved a period perfect<br />
compliment to the two-tone grey paintwork<br />
on this Packard-based 1954 Henney Junior,<br />
which originally belonged to the Nebraska<br />
National Guard before it was sold in<br />
1979 to a Kansas City racetrack that kept it<br />
in service until 1998. As the owner, Bruce<br />
Taylor, was working in Abu Dhabi, it was<br />
brought to the 2011 PCS International by<br />
Bud Heffley of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.<br />
In addition to addressing meet attendees on<br />
the history of ambulance service, Robert L.<br />
Smith displayed a half-dozen rigs including<br />
this 1956 Ford rescue wagon and 1959 Ford<br />
After being judged the highest-scoring Cadillac<br />
at the 2011 PCS International Meet,<br />
8<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Ed and Kandis Renstrom’s 1986 Hess &<br />
Eisenhardt front-drive six-door limousine<br />
won the Cadillac-LaSalle Club Award<br />
as well as the Best-in-Show. <strong>The</strong> couple’s<br />
1,338-mile drive from Hot Springs,<br />
South Dakota - 900 of which were done<br />
without air conditioning - also earned them<br />
the Distance Award.<br />
Williams reported his 1955 A.J. Miller Cadillac<br />
low-top ambulance was “identical to<br />
one we had when I was a child. I have a<br />
photo of me in it when I was 12 years old.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> hardtop-style window frames give the<br />
roofline an attractively-airy feel.<br />
Tinted glass roof panels were an Oldsmobile<br />
factory fitment on the 1964 Vista<br />
Cruiser used to build this Automotive Conversion<br />
Corporation Amblewagon, which<br />
earned Jim Vowell of Romeo, Michigan<br />
First Place in the standard-wheelbase<br />
Conversion Vehicle Class. After initial attachment<br />
to the General Motors Pavilion at<br />
the New York World’s Fair, this car served<br />
with the Fairmount Fire Company in Lansdale,<br />
Pennsylvania until 1989.<br />
William Peoples - who has a funeral service<br />
museum in Marietta, Ohio - earned<br />
First Place in the Pre-War Hearse class at<br />
the 2011 PCS International for this one-off,<br />
A.J. Miller-bodied 1938 Packard featuring<br />
carved side panels and an open “town car”<br />
driver’s seat. Remarkably, this magnificent<br />
coach wound up hauling chickens in<br />
Mexico before returning to the U.S. for restoration<br />
in the 1980s<br />
Hardtop-style window frames afforded<br />
an attractively-airy feel to this A.J. Millerbodied<br />
1955 Cadillac ambulance owned<br />
by Gainesville, Florida funeral director<br />
Gene Williams. <strong>The</strong> red-and-white 1956<br />
Superior Cadillac in the next space was<br />
brought to Ohio by Tony Corriher of Landis,<br />
North <strong>Car</strong>olina.<br />
Having clocked 1,200 miles’ worth of driving<br />
as he ferried five display cars from his<br />
Marrietta, Ohio funeral service museum,<br />
William Peoples justly earned the 2011<br />
John R. Keel Memorial Award for Youthful<br />
Enthusiasm. Class Firsts were also<br />
given to his 1927 Henney “landau back”<br />
combination (left) and his 1938 A.J. Miller<br />
Packard town car hearse (center), while<br />
his 1947 Packard Clipper limousine (right)<br />
scored third place in the livery category.<br />
Gainesville, Florida funeral director Gene<br />
Williams said his A.J. Miller-bodied 1955<br />
Cadillac ambulance was “identical to one<br />
we had when I was a child. I have a photo<br />
of me in it when I was 12 years old.” Aside<br />
from hardtop-style window frames, this rig<br />
employs an extremely-rare Federal C6BR<br />
siren fitting a rear-facing red light.<br />
Joined at PCS Ohio by his wife Vonda,<br />
Gainesville, Florida funeral director Gene<br />
Green accent striping and an illuminated<br />
hood ornament were unusual touches on<br />
this “radio-dispatched” 1953 National Pontiac<br />
“Mall City Unit 2” ambulance owned by<br />
Anthony Robert La Penna of Kalamazoo,<br />
Michigan. After National’s Knightstown,<br />
Indiana plant applied a 30-inch wheelbase<br />
stretch and patient compartment windows<br />
to a Pontiac sedan delivery, this unit was<br />
originally stationed at a U.S. Naval Station<br />
somewhere in the Midwest.<br />
In addition to four judging class trophies,<br />
William Peoples justly-earned the 2011<br />
John R. Keel Memorial Award for Youthful<br />
Enthusiasm for the 1,200 miles he<br />
clocked ferrying five display cars from<br />
his Marietta, Ohio funeral museum. His<br />
fleet included (front-to-rear) a 1948 Packard<br />
“Clergy <strong>Car</strong>” fitted with a padded top<br />
by Hess & Eisenhardt; a one-off 1938<br />
Packard town car hearse by A.J. Miller;<br />
a 1947 Packard Clipper limousine; a 1940<br />
Henney Packard combination coach; and<br />
a 1927 Henney “landau back” that saw extensive<br />
screen time with Bill Murray, Robert<br />
Duvall and Sissy Spacek in the 2009<br />
film GET LOW.<br />
10<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Olympian, even if the latter had been re-purposed<br />
as a parade wagon by a Muscatine,<br />
Iowa Shriners Temple in the 1940s.<br />
While its restoration was still at an early<br />
stage, knowledgeable International Meet<br />
attendees like PCS Vice-President Paul<br />
Steinberg (left) were much entranced by<br />
this 1964 Chevrolet “first call” car, which<br />
was stretched from a Biscayne station<br />
wagon for a Brooklyn funeral home by<br />
Pinner Coach of Mississippi. Its owner,<br />
Dwayne Brooks of Bucyrus, Ohio (right),<br />
bought it sight-unseen out of central New<br />
York state in September, 2010.<br />
With its Buick “straight eight” engine hidden<br />
behind a special radiator grille from Sayers<br />
& Scovill of Cincinnati, Mark Rodgers’ 1934<br />
S&S Olympian recalled the end of an era<br />
when hearse makers built their own chassis.<br />
<strong>The</strong> bright red paint, big brass bell<br />
and calliope-like roof pipes were added by<br />
the Muscatine, Iowa Shriners Temple for<br />
parade use in the 1940s.<br />
John & Patti McCulloch’s 1939 S&S LaSalle<br />
carved panel hearse from Durham, Ontario,<br />
which earned Best-in-Show and the<br />
Cadillac-LaSalle Club Award at last year’s<br />
PCS International in Albany, N.Y., received<br />
the Senior Award at the 2011 edition in Hudson,<br />
Ohio, as well as its third consecutive<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>s Choice award.<br />
This extended-wheelbase 1964 Chevrolet<br />
“first call” car, currently being restored<br />
by Dwayne Brooks of Bucyrus, Ohio, was<br />
the first of three that Mississippi’s Pinner<br />
Coach constructed from Biscayne station<br />
wagons for the Fred Herbst & Sons <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Home of Brooklyn, N.Y., with the other two<br />
based on 1965 and 1966 models.<br />
Willoughby, Ohio resident Mark Rodgers<br />
debated returning his Buick-engined 1934<br />
S&S Olympian carved panel hearse to<br />
stock condition, as the bright red paint and<br />
big brass bell added by the Muscatine, Iowa<br />
Shriners Temple for parade use in the 1940s<br />
still attracted much attention. Rodgers also<br />
owned the adjacent, A.J. Miller-bodied 1948<br />
Cadillac Landau, which originally served a<br />
Jacksonville, Florida funeral home.<br />
Sayers & Scovill hood badging and “date<br />
marks” were a no-cost substitute for Cadillac’s<br />
crest on this 1948 Victoria hearse<br />
owned by Bob Marcy of Conneaut, Ohio,<br />
which was joined beneath the PCS welcome<br />
sign by his matching 1947 Series<br />
Seventy-Five Limousine.<br />
Horse-drawn hearses at PCS Ohio 2011 included<br />
this elaborately-carved 1882 Sayers<br />
& Scovill shown by Ernie Morgan of Niagara<br />
Falls, Ontario. It was originally purchased<br />
new by the grandfather of New Oxford,<br />
Pennsylvania PCS member Fred Feiser for<br />
$800, which Morgan noted “was the price<br />
of TWO 50-acre farms at that time.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> fine detailing of pre-war Sayers & Scovill<br />
carved panel hearses was plain to see<br />
in this drape-to-drape display of John Mc-<br />
Culloch’s 1939 LaSalle V-8 with Mark Rodgers’<br />
“straight eight” Buick-powered 1934<br />
<strong>The</strong> diversity of hearses built on Cadillac’s<br />
1960 Commercial Chassis was demonstrated<br />
at PCS Ohio by placing Darren Bedford’s<br />
S&S Victoria from Toronto, Canada<br />
(left) nose-to-nose with Tom Hoczyk’s deep<br />
green Eureka Landau from Ft. Wayne, Indiana<br />
(right). <strong>The</strong> bodyside and window<br />
molding treatments from each coachbuilder<br />
are entirely unique, and Eureka’s landau<br />
bows are distinctively barbed at each tip.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 11
Despite a trip from Toronto, Darren Bedford’s<br />
1960 S&S Cadillac Victoria had<br />
just 30,000 miles clocked on its odometer.<br />
Having found this 3-way loader in<br />
Nebraska through the PCS website www.<br />
professionalcarsociety.org in December,<br />
2010, Darren named it “Grizelda” after the<br />
“Ghastly Gourmet” witch on the HILARI-<br />
OUS HOUSE OF FRIGHTENSTEIN, which<br />
aired on CHCH TV-11 out of Hamilton, Ontario<br />
during the 1970s.<br />
Final generation rear-wheel-drive Cadillac<br />
Fleetwood limousines were represented<br />
in Ohio by these commercial glass S&S<br />
“Presidential roof” triplets finished in three<br />
different colors. Lee Ann Boston’s Sovereign<br />
Gold 1994 hails from Hendersonville,<br />
Tennessee, while the black and deep red<br />
metallic 1996 models were respectively<br />
brought from Indiana by Larry Wilson and<br />
Brian Vaughan. Underhood, all three sixdoors<br />
tout a Corvette-derived “LT1” V-8<br />
making 260 horsepower.<br />
“Great Expectations” could have been<br />
the theme for this 1959 Superior Coupe de<br />
Fleur that Point Marion, Pennsylvania funeral<br />
director Philip S. Rishel drove about the<br />
PCS show field without its dashboard, bumpers,<br />
window glass and stainless steel flower<br />
deck, which was fitted to only 23 of the<br />
955 Cadillac Commercial Chassis bodied at<br />
Superior’s Lima, Ohio plant that model year.<br />
While most “combination” coaches had<br />
ambulance-grade linoleum floors and rear<br />
quarter windows that might get covered with<br />
screw-on landau panels for funeral usage,<br />
Robert L. Smith’s 1970 S&S Cadillac Victoria<br />
from Dover, Ohio was unusually finished<br />
with a permanent landau top, silver brocade<br />
upholstery and a carpeted casket floor.<br />
As Tony Corriher’s 1956 Superior and Gene<br />
Williams’ 1955 Miller Cadillac ambulances<br />
fired up their sirens and beacons for the<br />
“sound-and-light show” that concluded the<br />
2011 PCS International Meet, witnesses<br />
were already looking forward to the 2012<br />
edition that will take place in Daytona Beach,<br />
Florida from June 18th-22nd.<br />
“Great Expectations” could have been<br />
the theme for this 1959 Superior Coupe<br />
de Fleur that Point Marion, Pennsylvania<br />
funeral director Philip S. Rishel showed<br />
without its dashboard, bumpers, window<br />
glass and stainless steel flower deck.<br />
Dan Skivolocke’s adjacently-displayed<br />
1959 Fleetwood Limousine previews what<br />
Rishel’s car will look like once its restoration<br />
is finished in another two years.<br />
Incredibly, the coachbuilder serial on Peter<br />
& Stephanie Bain’s Light Sapphire Blue<br />
1986 S&S Victoria from Hendersonville,<br />
N.C. - 86713 - is just five numbers away<br />
from the 86708 on the metallic gray example<br />
also shown at PCS Ohio 2011 by Virgle<br />
& Karen Onnen of Sterling, Illinois. With<br />
their 16-inch chassis stretches and standard<br />
glass rooflines, both cars epitomized<br />
the rear-wheel-drive Cadillacs reintroduced<br />
by S&S/Superior after its first front-drive<br />
hearses were derided as “Dachshunds” by<br />
conservative funeral directors.<br />
12<br />
As the Ohio proceedings formally concluded<br />
with a post-banquet “sound-andlight<br />
show,” the owners of these ambulances<br />
were already looking forward to the<br />
<strong>Professional</strong> <strong>Car</strong> <strong>Society</strong>’s 36th Annual<br />
International Meet, which will take place<br />
in Daytona Beach, Florida from June 18th-<br />
22nd, 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012<br />
“Great Expectations” could have been<br />
the theme for this 1959 Superior Coupe de<br />
Fleur that Point Marion, Pennsylvania funeral<br />
director Philip S. Rishel showed without<br />
its dashboard, bumpers, window glass<br />
and stainless steel flower deck, which was<br />
fitted to only 23 of the 955 Cadillac Commercial<br />
Chassis bodied at Superior’s Lima,<br />
Ohio plant that model year. Incredibly, the<br />
trailer ahead of it was being used by Mark<br />
Rodgers to sell or trade a similarly-unfinished,<br />
silver-colored 1960 version that was<br />
even rarer with just ten produced.
Frigid Fluid Company, the name you’ve trusted since 1892.<br />
Frigid Casket Lowering<br />
Devices<br />
<strong>Car</strong>eful Construction<br />
Beautiful Design<br />
It works every time<br />
www.frigidfluid.com<br />
1-800-621-4719<br />
Pictured:<br />
Master Cemetery<br />
Model Plain<br />
(3-MAS4901SK )<br />
Each casket lowering device is manufactured in Frigid Fluid Company’s 50,000 sq ft. facility in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. <strong>The</strong> highest<br />
quality materials are used and the utmost care is taken in hand-assembling each model. <strong>Car</strong>eful construction, beautiful design, it works<br />
every time. To order, call Frigid direct at 1-800-621-4719 or contact your local participating Frigid reseller.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 13
Ambulance and Coach<br />
Nashville, TN<br />
This is the third fleet of 16<br />
S&S Hearses and limos<br />
delivered to the Greater<br />
Louisville <strong>Funeral</strong> limo.<br />
Association by Ellis Galyon<br />
With Amb-Coach Sales of<br />
Nashville, Tenn.<br />
This fleet delivered<br />
by Ellis Galyon with<br />
Ambulance & Coach<br />
Sales. <strong>The</strong> first fleet of<br />
blue vehicles, a change<br />
from white.<br />
This fleet of S&S<br />
Masterpieces delivered to the<br />
Shackelford <strong>Funeral</strong> Homes<br />
of Savanah, Tn Waynesboro,<br />
Tn. Selma, Tn. Boliver, Tn.<br />
and Henderson, Tn. by Ellis<br />
Galyon of Amb-Coach Sales<br />
of Nashville, Tenn.<br />
James Spurlin and<br />
Associates of Spurlin<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> Home Lancaster,<br />
Ky Having just received<br />
their new S&S Masterpiece<br />
from Amb-Coach Sales,<br />
Nashville, Tenn.<br />
14<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Ambulance and Coach, Nashville, TN delivers new fleet of white hearses, limo's and van to<br />
Ambulance<br />
Benton-Glunt<br />
and<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Coach,<br />
Home,<br />
Nashville,<br />
Henderson,<br />
Visit<br />
TN delivers<br />
KY (Photo<br />
new<br />
us<br />
fleet<br />
of James<br />
of<br />
at<br />
white<br />
Veccia,<br />
hearses,<br />
Owner<br />
limo's<br />
and<br />
and<br />
Wayne<br />
van to<br />
Benton-Glunt <strong>Funeral</strong> Home, Henderson, KY (Photo of James Veccia, Owner and Wayne<br />
Justice, Ambulance & Coach). Also, Ellis Galyon, Georgia Ambulance FDA and Summer Coach, delivering Convention car keys for<br />
Justice, Ambulance Coach). Also, Ellis Galyon, Ambulance and Coach, delivering car keys for<br />
new fleet of S&S Limo's delivered to the Central Kentucky Livery Service as shown in front of the<br />
new fleet of S&S Limo's delivered to the Central Kentucky Livery Service as shown in front of the<br />
Accubuilt<br />
Accubuilt<br />
Building,<br />
Building,<br />
Lima,<br />
Lima,<br />
OH.<br />
OH.<br />
www.amb-coach.com<br />
Michael Mims, Cherokee Casket President Receives<br />
Compassionate Friends <strong>Professional</strong> Award<br />
today or come see us in Nashville!<br />
Oak Brook, IL— Recognized as a in the United States and around the world, more than<br />
professional who has contributed greatly in the 10,000 a year.<br />
area of supporting bereaved families after the death<br />
“As a bereaved parent I truly feel <strong>The</strong><br />
of a child, Michael Mims, president and owner of<br />
Compassionate Friends is an organization of<br />
Cherokee Child Caskets in Griffin, Georgia has been<br />
compassionate friends willing and able to offer<br />
awarded the <strong>Professional</strong> Award by the nation’s<br />
support to bereaved families,” says Michael Mims.<br />
largest self-help bereavement organization, <strong>The</strong><br />
Compassionate Friends.<br />
For more information about Cherokee<br />
Casket Company, visit them on the web at www.<br />
“Michael’s quiet support of bereaved<br />
cherokeechildcaskets.com or call 800-535-8667.<br />
families exemplifies the best in companies that<br />
interact with those grieving the loss of a precious<br />
child,” says Patricia Loder, executive director of <strong>The</strong><br />
Compassionate Friends. She presented the award<br />
to Mr. Mims at the recent Compassionate Friends<br />
<strong>The</strong> Compassionate Friends has more than<br />
630 chapters in the United States offering support to<br />
bereaved families. Annually the organization sponsors<br />
National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota <strong>The</strong> Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting<br />
the second Sunday in December in remembrance of all<br />
as more than 1,000 bereaved parents, siblings and<br />
children who have died at any age from any cause. Many<br />
grandparents looked on in appreciation.<br />
bereavement organizations and groups, including funeral<br />
Cherokee Casket, founded in 1941,<br />
specializes in and only supplies handcrafted<br />
homes, sponsor services open to the public in conjunction<br />
with the event.<br />
infant, children’s, and youth caskets to the funeral<br />
For more information about <strong>The</strong><br />
industry. To support bereaved families, Mr. Mims’<br />
company sponsors and then purchases special<br />
Compassionate Friends and its many programs for<br />
bereaved families, call toll-free 877-969-0010 or visit them<br />
reprintings of <strong>The</strong> Compassionate Friends brochure, on the web at www.compassionatefriends.org. Also on<br />
Facebook at <strong>The</strong> Compassionate Friends/USA.<br />
“Understanding Grief After a Child Dies.” A copy is<br />
then included in every casket that the company ships<br />
Custom<br />
Custom<br />
Casket<br />
Casket<br />
Company<br />
Company<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> Pre Driven Coach <strong>Funeral</strong> Inventory Coach Inventory<br />
2011 2011 S&S Cadillac Medalist Masterpiece Cadillac - Black - White w/Gray -NEW! Leather Interior - Only 400 Miles!<br />
2011 Cadillac S&S Medalist - Dark Blue w/Blue Leather Interior - Almost New<br />
2011 (4) 2008 S&S Cadillac Medalist S&S Cadillac Medalist -- Blue Dark Blue - Oval w/Blue Window Leather - NEW! Interior - 30K Miles - Immaculate<br />
2011 2008 S&S Cadillac Medalist S&S Masterpiece Cadillac - - Black Blue w/Blue - NEW! Leather Interior - 38K Miles<br />
2006 Cadillac S&S Medalist - Blue w/Blue Leather Interior - 31K Miles - Sharp<br />
2010<br />
2006<br />
S&S<br />
Cadillac<br />
Medalist<br />
S&S Medalist<br />
Cadillac<br />
- Blue<br />
- Black/Silver<br />
w/Blue Leather<br />
- NEW!<br />
Interior - Call for Mileage<br />
2005 S&S Limo<br />
6 Door<br />
2007 2006 S&S Cadillac Medalist S&S Masterpiece Cadillac - - Black w/Black - 14K Miles Leather Interior - 29K Miles - Must See!<br />
2004 Cadillac S&S Masterpiece - Blue w/Blue Leather Interior - Pull Out Table and Strobe Light<br />
2006 S&S Medalist Cadillac - Black/White - 21K Miles<br />
2004 Cadillac Hearse - Black on White w/Neutral Leather Interior - Call for Mileage<br />
Bottom Handle<br />
2006 2003 Crown Cadillac Sovereign S&S Masterpiece - Black - Black - 49K w/Blue MilesLeather Interior - 41K - Very Nice<br />
2011 Cadillac Masterpiece<br />
Bottom Handle<br />
2001 Cadillac Superior - Blue on Blue w/Neutral Leather Interior - Call now<br />
2004 S&S Masterpiece Cadillac - Blue - w/Pull-out Table 75K Miles<br />
1999 Cadillac Superior/Sovereign - Black w/Black Leather Interior - Best Value<br />
1999 S&S Cadillac Masterpiece S&S Medalist Cadillac - Black - w/Black Black/Gray Leather - Interior w/Pull-out - 45K Table Miles - Excellent 51K Miles<br />
1999 Cadillac S&S Masterpiece - Blue w/Neutral Leather Interior - 50K Miles Very Nice<br />
1999 Cadillac Superior Crown Sovereign - Black w/Neutral Leather Interior - Must See!<br />
2010 S&S<br />
Limousine 1998 Cadillac Superior Inventory<br />
- White on White w/Neutral leather Interior - 52K Miles - Nice Looking<br />
Cadillac Medalist<br />
1998 Lincoln Eureka Coach - White w/Neutral Leather Interior - Pull Out Table - 43K Miles<br />
2005 S&S 47" Cadillac w/Executive Roof - Black - 38K Miles<br />
2005 Pre S&S Driven Lincoln - Limousine 6DR - White - Leather Inventory - Reversible Center Seat -14K Miles<br />
2005 (8) 2008 S&S Cadillac 6DR Cadillac S&S Limo - - Black/Silver Dark Blue w/Blue - 18K Leather MilesInterior - Executive Rook - 27k Miles<br />
American Made<br />
Custom Casket Company | 1603 (2) 2007<br />
2005<br />
Gibbs Cadillac<br />
S&S 6DR<br />
Drive S&S Limo<br />
Cadillac<br />
|<br />
-<br />
Gainesville, -41” Stretch Dark Blue<br />
Silver - 24K MilesGA w/Blue 30507 Leather Interior - Only 15K Miles!<br />
2007 Cadillac S&S<br />
2006 Lincoln Limo - 65” Stretch - White w/White Leather Interior - Strobe and Flip Seat - 24K Miles<br />
(877) 57 – CASKET | info@customcasketcompany.com | www.customcasketcompany.com American Made<br />
2005 Lincoln Cadillac 46" S&S 6DR Limo -- White Silver w/Gray - 23K Leather Miles Interior - 23K - Very Nice -<br />
Custom Casket Company | 1603 Gibbs Drive | Gainesville, GA 30507<br />
2004 Cadillac S&S Limo - Dark Blue w/Blue Leather Interior -Raised Roof - Call for Mileage<br />
2004 S&S 6DR Cadillac w/Executive Roof - Dark Blue - 48K miles<br />
2005 S&S<br />
(877) 57 – CASKET | info@customcasketcompany.com 2001 Cadillac S&S Presidential Limo - Black | w/Black www.customcasketcompany.com<br />
Leather Interior - 48K Miles<br />
6 Door Cadillac Limo<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011 17<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011 17<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> • Alliance <strong>Director</strong> December Alliance 2011 Cremation • January 2011 2012 2315
T O M O R R O W ’ S V E H I C L E<br />
T O D A Y<br />
Come see us at the NFDA Annual Convention at Booth 956.
INDUSTRY NEWS<br />
Accubuilt Announces Circle of Excellence Winners<br />
Lima, Ohio – Accubuilt, Inc. manufacturer of<br />
specialty-built funeral coaches and limousines,<br />
recently recognized a group of 15 dealers for their<br />
outstanding sales performance during the past year<br />
as a part of Accubuilt’s Circle of Excellence program.<br />
Established more than a decade ago, the Circle of<br />
Excellence program honors those dealers who sell 20<br />
or more vehicles in a one-year period.<br />
Nathan Hurst, Accubuilt’s Executive Vice-President<br />
of Commercial Operations, expressed his feelings<br />
about the accomplishments of the winning dealers.<br />
“We are extremely pleased with the number of dealers<br />
that received the Circle of Excellence award this year<br />
and would like to personally thank each of them for<br />
their hard work and dedication.”<br />
Hurst and Bob Messing, VP of Sales and Marketing<br />
for Accubuilt, recognized the Circle of Excellence<br />
winners at their 2011 Dealer Sales Meeting at the<br />
Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago on October 24, 2011.<br />
Many of the dealers were repeat and consecutive year<br />
winners. A complete list of dealer winners follows:<br />
1st Time Winners<br />
David Stultz/Midwest Coach<br />
David Priest/Heritage Coach<br />
3rd Time Winner<br />
Debbie Conaway/Conaway Enterprises<br />
5th Time Winners<br />
Anna Vaughan Lax/Vaughan Specialty Auto<br />
Ric Conaway/Conaway Enterprises<br />
7th Time Winners<br />
Joe Vasta/Specialty Hearse and Ambulance<br />
Chak Morcos/Douglas Distributors<br />
8th Time Winners<br />
Ellis Galyon/Ambulance & Coach Sales<br />
Wayne Justice/Ambulance & Coach Sales<br />
Dick Conaway/Conaway Enterprises<br />
9th Time Winner<br />
Michael Parks/Parks Superior Sales<br />
10th Time Winner<br />
Robert Durant/Heritage Coach<br />
11th Time Winners<br />
Scott O’Neill/Specialty Hearse and Ambulance<br />
Jim O’Neill/Specialty Hearse and Ambulance<br />
Jerry Small/Bill Black Cadillac<br />
About Accubuilt, Inc.<br />
Accubuilt is a diversified specialty vehicle manufacturer that<br />
traces its roots back more than 134 years. Our professional<br />
vehicles are S&S and Superior funeral coaches and limousines<br />
traditionally used by the funeral service industry. Built<br />
on Cadillac DTS and Lincoln MKT heavy-duty chassis,<br />
they are used by independent and corporate funeral homes<br />
as well as professional livery operators around the world.<br />
Accubuilt’s manufacturing facility is located in Lima, Ohio and the<br />
Company’s specialty vehicle offerings are certified and approved<br />
by the Lincoln Quality Vehicle Modifier program. For more<br />
information on Accubuilt, Inc. and its extensive vehicle offerings,<br />
please visit www.accubuilt.com.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 17
INDUSTRY NEWS<br />
Accubuilt Awards Top Dealers at National Sales Meeting<br />
Lima, Ohio – Accubuilt, Inc. manufacturer of<br />
specialty-built funeral coaches and limousines,<br />
presented their annual top dealer awards at their<br />
Dealer Sales Meeting on October 24 at the Hyatt<br />
Regency in Chicago.<br />
<strong>The</strong> dealer awards are separated into three unique<br />
categories:<br />
• Dealer of the Year<br />
• Top Volume Dealer<br />
• Top Performer in Commercial Glass<br />
<strong>The</strong> award for the 2011 Dealer of the Year was<br />
presented to Vaughan Specialty Auto from Alvarado,<br />
Texas. Criteria for this award include overall market<br />
performance, sales performance and salesperson<br />
hiring and retention.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2011 Top Volume award went to Specialty Hearse<br />
and Ambulance Sales Corporation from Plainview,<br />
New York for their sales volume achievements.<br />
Accubuilt 2011 Dealer of the Year<br />
Vaughan Specialty Auto<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2011 Top Performer in Commercial Glass<br />
category was won by Ambulance and Coach<br />
Sales from Nashville, Tennessee, selling the most<br />
commercial glass of all dealers with their one-of-akind<br />
hearse application.<br />
“We are very proud of the three dealers receiving<br />
these awards and would like to personally thank them<br />
for their hard work and dedication this past year,”<br />
commented Nathan Hurst, Accubuilt’s Executive<br />
Vice-President of Commercial Operations.<br />
Accubuilt 2011 Volume Dealer<br />
Specialty Hearse and Ambulance<br />
About Accubuilt, Inc.<br />
Accubuilt is a diversified specialty vehicle manufacturer that traces<br />
its roots back more than 134 years. Our professional vehicles are<br />
S&S and Superior funeral coaches and limousines traditionally<br />
used by the funeral service industry. Built on Cadillac DTS and<br />
Lincoln MKT heavy-duty chassis, they are used by independent<br />
and corporate funeral homes as well as professional livery operators<br />
around the world.<br />
Accubuilt’s manufacturing facility is located in Lima, Ohio and the<br />
Company’s specialty vehicle offerings are certified and approved<br />
by the Lincoln Quality Vehicle Modifier program. For more<br />
information on Accubuilt, Inc. and its extensive vehicle offerings,<br />
please visit www.accubuilt.com.<br />
Accubuilt 2011 Top Performer in Commercial Glass<br />
Ambulance and Coach Sales<br />
18<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
...SOME ARE OBVIOUS.<br />
DORIC PROTECTION<br />
NCBVA CERTIFICATON • 5000 PSI CONCRETE • EXCLUSIVE POLY-RIBBED LINERS • EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE<br />
1-888-55-DORIC<br />
doric-vaults.com<br />
Providing Exceptional Burial Products & Service for over 55 Years<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 19
June - July 2011 SFD:- 9/20/11 1:06 PM Page 27<br />
INDUSTRY NEWS<br />
Accubuilt Unveils New MKT Hearse<br />
Lima, Ohio – Accubuilt, Inc. unveiled an all new<br />
MKT Hearse during the National <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>s<br />
Association’s (NFDA) International Convention &<br />
Expo held in Chicago, IL on October 23-26. <strong>The</strong> 2011<br />
NFDA Convention was co-hosted by the Cremation<br />
Association of North America (CANA), a first for both<br />
associations.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new MKT is the replacement for the Lincoln Town<br />
car platform. <strong>The</strong> MKT Hearse application, unveiled<br />
by Accubuilt, met with extremely positive reaction<br />
from show attendees. <strong>The</strong> MKT Hearse features a<br />
modern design with advanced technology and comfort<br />
features that are particularly appealing to owners and<br />
operators. New features include a backup camera, rearsensing<br />
system, an 88 degree side door opening angle,<br />
a loading door height of 77” and a standard Urn device<br />
and storage tray.<br />
Nathan Hurst, Executive Vice-President of Commercial<br />
Operations commented about the unveiling, “We are<br />
very pleased with the amount of attention the MKT<br />
received and the number of orders that were written at<br />
the show. We believe that the positive reception to our<br />
MKT Hearse is a strong signal for future growth in<br />
this business sector.”<br />
About CANA<br />
Founded in 1913, the Cremation Association of North<br />
America (CANA) is an International organization<br />
of over 1,500 members, composed of cremationists,<br />
funeral directors, funeral home operators and owners,<br />
cemeterians, industry suppliers and consultants. For<br />
more information, visit www.cremationassociation.org.<br />
About Accubuilt, Inc.<br />
Accubuilt is a diversified specialty vehicle<br />
manufacturer that traces its roots back more than 134<br />
years. Our professional vehicles are S&S and Superior<br />
funeral coaches and limousines traditionally used by<br />
the funeral service industry. Built on Cadillac DTS<br />
and Lincoln MKT heavy-duty chassis, they are used<br />
by independent and corporate funeral homes as well as<br />
professional livery operators around the world.<br />
Accubuilt’ s manufacturing facility is located in Lima,<br />
Ohio and the Company’s specialty vehicle offerings<br />
and is certified and approved by the Lincoln Quality<br />
Vehicle Modifier program. For more information on<br />
Accubuilt, Inc. and its extensive vehicle offerings,<br />
please visit www.accubuilt.com.<br />
<strong>The</strong> historic NFDA/CANA convention provided the<br />
world’s largest annual offering of workshops, seminars,<br />
networking opportunities and exhibits to help funeral<br />
professionals develop strategies for success in an everchanging<br />
marketplace. Nearly 6,000 funeral directors,<br />
mortuary science students, exhibitors and other allied<br />
professionals from more than 40 countries, regions and<br />
territories attended NFDA’s convention.<br />
About NFDA<br />
NFDA is the world’s leading funeral service association,<br />
serving 18,500 individual members who represent<br />
more than 9,900 funeral homes in the United States and<br />
43 countries around the world. From its headquarters<br />
in Brookfield, Wis., and its Advocacy Division office<br />
in Washington, D.C., NFDA is the worldwide source<br />
of expertise and professional resources for all facets of<br />
funeral service. Through education, information and<br />
advocacy, NFDA is dedicated to supporting members in<br />
their mission to provide families with meaningful endof-life<br />
services at the highest levels of excellence and<br />
integrity. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.<br />
SELLING your<br />
FUNERAL HOME<br />
or CEMETERY?<br />
We provide the service you expect!<br />
TOTALLY DISCREET MARKETING<br />
–or Listing on Our Web Site–<br />
Receiving over 23,000 hits monthly.<br />
We maintain a large data base<br />
of qualified buyers.<br />
We also can simplify loan processing for:<br />
• Purchase<br />
• Expansion • Working Capital<br />
• Inventory • Equipment<br />
CONVENTIONAL or SBA LOANS<br />
1-800-341-0100<br />
“As a family owned<br />
and operated<br />
business, you have<br />
my guarantee of<br />
personal service.”<br />
DICK MATISE<br />
www.matise.com<br />
www.alliance’04 <strong>The</strong> 8-6-04 <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011 27<br />
20<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
June - July 2011 SFD:- 9/20/11 1:02 PM Page 18<br />
News Release<br />
PIERCE M ORTUARY C OLLEGES<br />
Genesis Casket Names High Profile Leader as Special Advisor<br />
E XCELLENCE IN F UNERAL SERVICE E DUCATION<br />
Robert G. Horn to Provide Guidance to Genesis Board of <strong>Director</strong>s<br />
Casket manufacturer Genesis Casket Company today announced<br />
that Robert G. (Bob) Horn has accepted an appointment<br />
to the Genesis Casket Board of <strong>Director</strong>s as a special<br />
“We are pleased and honored that Bob has accepted our invitation<br />
to serve and that he will be involved with our company,”<br />
stated Genesis President and Chief Executive Officer William<br />
Anthony (Tony) Colson. “I am personally looking forward to<br />
working with him and for Genesis Casket and all of funeral<br />
service to benefit John Braboy, from the President wisdom and expertise he brings.<br />
His dedication Mid-America to funeral service College and stellar reputation will help<br />
Genesis 800-221-6158 address several . www.mid-america.edu<br />
of the issues facing funeral professionals<br />
today. ”<br />
26 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
<strong>The</strong><br />
Right<br />
Choice!<br />
advisor. Horn began serving in this capacity at the Genesis<br />
August 30th board meeting.<br />
Patty Hutcheson, President<br />
Gupton-Jones College<br />
800-848-5352 . www.gupton-jones.edu<br />
Give Us A Call 800-527-6419<br />
Horn began his career in the funeral profession almost 50 years<br />
ago at a small family-owned mortuary and retired as CEO and<br />
Chairman of Keystone Group Holdings in 2007. Prior to cofounding<br />
Keystone, a multi-state funeral acquisition and operating<br />
firm, Bob was Chief Operating Officer and Partner of<br />
IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 ( P.L. 88-352) STUDENTS ACCEPTED WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE , COLOR , NATIONAL ORIGIN , SEX , RELIGION , AGE OR DISABILITY .<br />
Robert G. Horn<br />
18 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 21
22<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
When you’re searching for a used or new funeral<br />
vehicle, or researching financing options, our friendly,<br />
professional staff is ready to provide you with all the<br />
help you need.<br />
Our service and parts departments are standing by to<br />
assist you with every aspect of vehicle assistance.<br />
Just call us if you have any questions regarding our<br />
site information. We’re here to make your shopping<br />
experience hassle-free<br />
Sales Department<br />
Our sales department has one purpose: to exceed<br />
your expectations from test drive to delivery. Our<br />
professional sales team is committed to a no-pressure,<br />
high integrity approach to your ownership experience.<br />
Our goal is for you to feel that the vehicle you drive<br />
away in is the perfect one for you. Our online<br />
inventory of used vehicles is updated daily.<br />
Service Department<br />
Our service department offers the best in automotive<br />
service to our customers. Our state-of-the-art facility<br />
features the most current diagnostic and repair<br />
equipment available and our highly skilled factorytrained<br />
technicians will deliver efficient, quality<br />
vehicle care.<br />
Parts Department<br />
Manufacturer recommended parts are an important<br />
part of maintaining your vehicle’s optimum<br />
performance. We offer the same high quality parts<br />
your vehicle was built with and we keep a large<br />
inventory of these certified parts in stock at all times.<br />
Jerry Small<br />
Circle of Excellence 11 Years in a Row<br />
2011 Circle of Excellence Award<br />
2010 Circle of Excellence Award<br />
2009 Circle of Excellence Award<br />
2008 Circle of Excellence Award<br />
2007 Accubuilt Dealer of the Year<br />
2007 Circle of Excellence Award<br />
2006 Volume Increase Dealer of the Year<br />
2003 Accubuilt Dealer of the Year<br />
2002 Accubuilt Dealer of the Year<br />
Finance Department<br />
We have assembled a team of<br />
professionals specializing in a variety<br />
of financial solutions. We work with<br />
many financial institutions to assist every<br />
customer with their unique credit needs.<br />
Bill Black-Cadillac, Inc.<br />
601 E. Bessemer Avenue<br />
Greensboro, NC 27405<br />
800-451-8274<br />
www.billblackauto.com<br />
www.billblackfuneralcars.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 23
INDUSTRY NEWS<br />
Piedmont Precast, LLC Acquires Gilmer Vault Company<br />
On October 6, 2011, Piedmont Precast, LLC<br />
purchased certain assets of Gilmer Vault Company, a<br />
well respected concrete vault manufacturer in Perry,<br />
Georgia.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Gilmers started their vault business in 1985<br />
when Tom Gilmer purchased Eagle Vault Company<br />
from Mr. Jerry Ingram. Since that date, Gilmer Vault<br />
Company has proudly served the funeral profession<br />
with burial vaults throughout the southeast. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
product lines include the Eagle Burial Vaults® and<br />
Trigard® Burial Vaults.<br />
Piedmont Precast, LLC is a wholly owned company<br />
of Wilbert Burial Vault Company of Atlanta, Georgia.<br />
Piedmont produces precast concrete products for<br />
commercial projects, products for various state<br />
departments of transportation and Wilbert® brand<br />
name burial vaults for service by Wilbert Burial Vault<br />
Company.<br />
Piedmont’s expertise<br />
in the burial vault<br />
industry began in<br />
October 1937 when<br />
Frank Bowen and<br />
Fred Patterson<br />
started producing<br />
concrete vaults at a<br />
location on Mecaslin<br />
Street in mid-town<br />
Atlanta. Since the<br />
first vault produced<br />
and serviced 74 years<br />
ago, Wilbert Burial<br />
Vault Company has<br />
been recognized as a<br />
premier provider of<br />
quality products and<br />
service throughout<br />
the burial vault and<br />
precast industry.<br />
Piedmont Precast’s<br />
production facilities<br />
in Atlanta have<br />
met the extensive<br />
c e r t i f i c a t i o n<br />
requirements of the<br />
National Precast Concrete Association as an NPCA<br />
certified plant.<br />
(Left) Glen Bowen, President of Piedmont Precast, Atlanta, GA, finalizing the acquisition<br />
of Gilmer Vault Company, Perry, GA, with Aaron Gilmer (right) at recent NFDA<br />
Convention in Chicago, IL)<br />
Glen Bowen, President of Piedmont Precast stated,<br />
“Piedmont Precast is proud to begin its relationship<br />
with Trigard® and Eagle Burial Vaults®. This<br />
acquisition affords us an ability to meet the varied<br />
demands of a broad customer base in the southeast<br />
through our many alliances. We welcome the<br />
opportunity of two new product lines, and we thank<br />
the Gilmer family for their dedicated years of service<br />
to this industry.”<br />
Tom and Aaron Gilmer have been assisting Piedmont<br />
Precast through the transition. <strong>The</strong>reafter, the<br />
Gilmers will continue to operate their warehousing<br />
and logistical support businesses in central Georgia.<br />
24<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Learning How to Communicate<br />
with the New Customer<br />
By: Bob Gordon, CCFE, CCrE, CSE, Past President of the ICCFA<br />
Has the United States unique phenomena with the<br />
ever increasing trend toward direct disposal of<br />
families love one’s affecting your firms financial<br />
stability? If it hasn’t yet affected you, it will unless<br />
we make changes in the way we communicate with<br />
the client.<br />
If the demographics for the next 15 years are<br />
accurate, we will be handling more and more atneed<br />
cases, and if the majority of the increase<br />
business is direct disposal will we be able to support<br />
our facilities?<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are many countries that have much higher<br />
cremation rates than the United States, but they all<br />
have services and a place to remember their loved<br />
ones. Why is it that the trend in our country is<br />
direct disposal?<br />
I’ve had the honor of representing the ICCFA at the<br />
State Regulators National Meeting for the past few<br />
years. One of their primary concerns is the financial<br />
viability of Cemeteries in the future if they don’t get<br />
the opportunity to see the at-need family and have<br />
to depend on prior pre-need sales for any additional<br />
revenue. What if the <strong>Funeral</strong> Home is also bypassed<br />
and families go directly to the Crematory for direct<br />
disposal. (Can Crematories provide refrigeration,<br />
alternative containers, urns and even obtain Doctors<br />
signatures and file permits?)<br />
Enough of the doom and gloom, in my 47 years<br />
managing Cemeteries, <strong>Funeral</strong> Homes, Crematories,<br />
Pre-need Sales Forces and observing the industry<br />
and suppliers attempting to address this growing<br />
trend of direct disposal with products and packaged<br />
services, with no positive results.<br />
When I started in 1964, a family would come into<br />
make at-need arrangements, we TOLD them what<br />
was going to happen and what they needed to buy.<br />
In today’s world the consumer does not want to be<br />
TOLD what to do or what to buy. <strong>The</strong> baby boomer<br />
will not buy anything they don’t see value in, but<br />
on the other hand if they see a benefit (value in the<br />
product) money isn’t an issue. <strong>The</strong>refore we need to<br />
start at the beginning, understanding the emotional<br />
state they are in, moving them from anger, distrust,<br />
and wanting to get it over with quickly. We have<br />
to become a friend, by first gaining their trust,<br />
establishing you’re a knowledgeable professional<br />
that will provide a meaningful personalized service<br />
that they want.<br />
How do you gain their trust? Get the family<br />
and friends to tell you about what they have just<br />
gone through, so you can better understand the<br />
situation, this diffuses their anger. <strong>The</strong> adage,<br />
“that customer must like you, before they trust you,<br />
before they really listen and purchase from you”<br />
has never been more true than it is today. To make<br />
recommendations that fit the individual family’s<br />
wants that they see benefits and value in you must<br />
understand where the family is emotionally to move<br />
them to a position to want to provide a meaningful<br />
celebration of the life lived. Spend some time on<br />
this first, then move into the memories and what<br />
the individual, family and friend did together.<br />
Get them telling stories about events that happen,<br />
telling the family life story. All of this comes before<br />
talking about your organization, the services you<br />
can provide, setting times and places for the event<br />
or even showing any products.<br />
<strong>The</strong>refore we must develop a written presentation<br />
and be able to monitor it. <strong>The</strong> At-Need presentation<br />
needs to be well scripted, covering all points in the<br />
right order, just like a good play with all the acts<br />
and sense always in the right place and the right<br />
amount of repetition for understanding. If we are to<br />
move the family to a better more satisfying results<br />
for them. <strong>The</strong>y must see the value in the services<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 25
we provide or direct disposal will continue to grow<br />
and we become irrelevant.<br />
By continually monitoring what the arrangers are<br />
doing and saying, we can make positive changes<br />
for improvement and growth, by sharing our<br />
procedures with others, we learn what they do<br />
and what practices<br />
give better results.<br />
By working together<br />
we can improve and<br />
even diminish the<br />
phenomena of direct<br />
disposal by learning<br />
to communicate<br />
effectively with the<br />
customer.<br />
Century College with an added program for<br />
Celebrant Certification. Julie Burns, CCrE, CSE<br />
<strong>Director</strong> of Cremation Services provides many<br />
services, and training for members to improve<br />
their operations along with providing Cremation<br />
Education to Embalming College across the<br />
Country.<br />
ICCFA President, Ken<br />
Varner, CCFE has just<br />
created an Ad Hoc<br />
Committee to develop<br />
a written At-need<br />
Arranger Presentation,<br />
much like the Pre-need<br />
Presentation, that the<br />
Sales and Marketing<br />
Committee developed<br />
and has been used<br />
successfully across<br />
the nation for decades.<br />
This will be, for most<br />
organizations their<br />
first written At-need<br />
Arranger Presentation.<br />
One of the best ways<br />
to get started on<br />
this journey is by<br />
attending the ICCFA<br />
University Colleges,<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> College,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Cremation College<br />
with Certification<br />
for Arrangers,<br />
Administration and<br />
Operators, <strong>The</strong> 21ST<br />
26<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
Classified Ads<br />
FOR SALE<br />
Horse Drawn Hearse, by James<br />
Milton Fields in Georgia's ONLY state regulated endow-<br />
Cunningham & Son. Very ornate<br />
ment care GREEN cemetery. We are looking for a career<br />
Don’t carvings, forget original Pre-need lamps, gives you curtains. the best opportunity<br />
minded individual seeking full time employment as a<br />
to Fully keep restored and gain ready market for share, funerals, talk with families<br />
cemetery need sales presentation advisor. for If the you industry.<br />
want to help families plan<br />
when parades they’re or display not emotionally in funeral parlor. upset and a<br />
more<br />
simpler, more economical, natural alternative, we would<br />
willing Call or to email listen for to info,Grant options if a Gilbert well-designed plan<br />
and 256-729-1980<br />
like to talk with you.<br />
presentations given.<br />
or sales@webejeeping.com<br />
www.miltonfieldsgeorgia.com or 770-751-1445.<br />
active with the ICCFA and serves as Chairman of the Certification<br />
Committee and Chair of the AD HOC committee to develop an at-<br />
In addition to his many accomplishments in the Cemetery<br />
Industry, he held 3 terms as President of the Glendora Chamber of<br />
Commerce (1980, 1994, & 1995). Bob has been the Chairman of<br />
the Board of <strong>Director</strong>s for the East Valley Hospital (1990 - Present),<br />
was on the Board of <strong>Director</strong>s as a representative for the <strong>Southern</strong><br />
California Health <strong>Car</strong>e System (1995-2000), he was on the Board<br />
INDIVIDUAL WANTING Robert “Bob” TO Gordon PURCHASE AND of Governance for<br />
CCFE, CCrE, CSE.<br />
SPECIAL the California SUMMER Hospital Association OFFER!<br />
(1995-2002)<br />
OPERATE FUNERAL BUSINESS<br />
Bob is Any the owner orders and managing for the "<strong>Car</strong>ing director of Eternal Organizer Hills Memorial C.D.s"<br />
Licensed <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Bob started and Embalmer his career i nworking<br />
two Southeastern in Gardens<br />
family cemetery, Oakdale Memorial Park<br />
placed and <strong>Funeral</strong> in June Home will (1986-Present) cost $6.95 per and C.D. the Klamath<br />
states, wants to purchase and relocate to your town. Licensed Tribute<br />
and Mortuary (1964-1994), and as his<br />
Center (2011-Present).<br />
He has also been President of<br />
twenty plus years, not part of a corporation or group of<br />
a saving of $3.00 each<br />
Comprehensive Computer Management Services (CCMS 1986-<br />
career evolved, he took positions with other<br />
investors. I am an individual representing myself. Please send 1996)<br />
PLUS which developed<br />
FREE Shiping computer<br />
Mimium software for<br />
order the<br />
of<br />
Cemetery<br />
25<br />
cemeteries, served on Board of <strong>Director</strong>s and<br />
inquiries to: Advertiser #345, c/o <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>, Industry, Order the software today www.hearttoheartsite.com<br />
which was an application specialized for<br />
even served as Chairman of the Board.<br />
P. O. Box 768152, Roswell, GA 30076 or send emails to; the IBM or AS400, call Dick and was Perl adopted @ 1-866-269- by more than 0861<br />
50 mid to large<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com Bob was appointed to the Washington State cemeteries. Bob was also President of Safety Administration<br />
Cemetery Board by the Governor of Washington (1980-1983). Consultants (1991-2001). This consulting firm developed manuals<br />
and trained employers and employees on OSHA compliance and<br />
He Notice has held is hereby positions given in the to the ICCFA public including that on President June 30, (1988-<br />
2011, the Chancery Court of Shelby County, Tennessee entered its<br />
had over 600 clients.<br />
1989), Order Dean Granting of the the ICCFA-University Receiver’s Verified Graduate Petition College to Approve (1995-<br />
the Sale of the Assets of Forest Hill <strong>Funeral</strong> Home and Memorial<br />
Chancellor Park – East, of ICCFA-U LLC (“Forest (2003-2004), Hill”), was a funeral honored home with<br />
and cemetery Bob splits his concern time between located his in homes Memphis, in La Costa, Tennessee, CA and and Klamath<br />
ap-<br />
2002), an proving Honorary bidding Doctorate procedures from the and ICCFA-U other matters (2008), incident was inducted<br />
to such Falls, sale. All OR persons with his wife interested Darcy in and the their purchase dog Cotton. of the He assets enjoys<br />
of<br />
into Forest the Hill ICCFA should Hall contact of Fame Max (2009), Shelton, and has Receiver, been on the for ICCFA<br />
additional spending information time concerning with his children bidding and grandchildren. procedures as soon as possible,<br />
but<br />
Executive Committee no later than<br />
for August<br />
six terms. 5, 2011.<br />
After 47 years Bob is still<br />
Contact information for Mr. Shelton is: (901) 525-1455; Fax (901) 526-4084; e-mail mshelton@harrisshelton.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> Alliance <strong>Director</strong> PreNeed Alliance & Personalization Cremation 2011 29 37<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 27
MAKING YOUR<br />
BUSINESS BETTER<br />
By Fred Lappin<br />
If you’re like me we like to think of<br />
ourselves as prudent business people.<br />
Keeping that in mind whenever I am<br />
making a major decision that is important<br />
to my company one of the first questions<br />
that I ask myself is “what business am I<br />
in” and how does my decision fit into<br />
that business. Our company owns<br />
and operates cemeteries and as I have<br />
pondered this question over the years I<br />
have come to the interesting realization<br />
that despite all of the individual things<br />
that we do including digging graves,<br />
caring for grounds, providing funeral<br />
services and maintaining hundreds of<br />
acres of land, that none<br />
of these are the business<br />
we are in. Rather I<br />
believe that if we drill<br />
down to the heart of it<br />
we are, quite simply, in<br />
the business of helping<br />
people and everything we<br />
do is focused on that end.<br />
When I look at our profession in that light I find<br />
that in addition to prudent business and operating<br />
practices it is all the more important that I make<br />
the right decisions for the families that we serve.<br />
Having learned that I certainly don’t have all of<br />
the answers, it leaves me with both the question<br />
and responsibility of where do I go to find the<br />
information I need and the answers that I want?<br />
And that is why I am a member of the ICCFA<br />
(International Cemetery Cremation and <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Association). <strong>The</strong> ICCFA is unique in that it is the<br />
only trade association that embraces and serves<br />
all of the components of our profession. It cannot<br />
be overstated that good decisions are critical to<br />
operating a good business and that they cannot<br />
be made in a vacuum. Not only does the ICCFA<br />
provide exceptional education, informational<br />
resources and legal and legislative representation<br />
but embodied in its very name is the recognition<br />
28<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
of the necessary synergy and understanding<br />
that must exist between all of us to best help the<br />
families that we serve.<br />
This has never been more important than it is now<br />
given the changes in our society, changes in our<br />
profession and changes in how people are viewing<br />
their end of life options. And it is why I go to<br />
the ICCFA….to learn, to network and to better<br />
understand our profession. And it’s not just about<br />
being a dues-paying member of the association<br />
it’s about getting involved and taking advantage<br />
of all of the resources that the association has<br />
to offer. <strong>The</strong> educational opportunities, annual<br />
convention and conferences are where you will<br />
meet people, develop relationships and gain new<br />
perspectives that provide a broader understanding<br />
of the business we are in and that, in turn, will<br />
help in making better decisions.<br />
Many business professionals feel that they can’t<br />
justify the expense of joining a trade association<br />
but I say that in these times in particular one can’t<br />
afford not to belong. It is the only place to gain<br />
the knowledge and information that is essential<br />
to be successful in our profession in today’s<br />
challenging times and changing attitudes.<br />
I. FREDERICK LAPPIN, CCE is President and CEO of<br />
Knollwood Cemetery Corp. which owns and operates Sharon<br />
Memorial Park and Knollwood Memorial Park in Sharon and<br />
Canton Massachusetts. Fred is the Vice President of External<br />
Affairs for the International Cemetery Cremation and <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Association (ICCFA). He has served as the Vice President of<br />
Internal Affairs and on the Board of <strong>Director</strong>s of the ICCFA<br />
and the ICCFA Service Bureau. He is a founding trustee of<br />
the ICCFA Education Foundation and is a member of the<br />
ICCFA Sales and Marketing Committee. Fred has been cochair<br />
of the ICCFA Wide World of Sales Conference and the<br />
ICCFA Fall Management Conference. He is an active member<br />
and supporter of both the Massachusetts and New England<br />
Cemetery Associations and is a founding member of the New<br />
England Sales Conference. Active in his local community<br />
Fred has served as an officer and board member of the Newton<br />
Communications Access Center, the Jewish National Fund,<br />
Temple Ohabei Shalom and the Economic Development<br />
Commission of the City of Newton, Massachusetts.<br />
Moments Captured. Memories Shared.<br />
How do you want to be remembered?<br />
Custom Covers<br />
On markers of all types<br />
We are the only company with a Patent<br />
for applying bar codes to location,<br />
life-story remembrances.<br />
We are the safe, affordable<br />
choice!<br />
Easy on-line creation by family<br />
with video, audio, pictures, text<br />
for a one-time fee.<br />
Want to give it a<br />
try? Scan the Memory<br />
Medallion below with your<br />
smartphone’s bar code<br />
reading app.<br />
Plaques and Honor<br />
Rolls<br />
Contact us at<br />
www.memorymedallion.com or<br />
877.418.8107<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 29
Unique Places<br />
Remember the headstone that was<br />
inscribed “Told you I was sick?” Well,<br />
our profession offers many unique,<br />
beautiful and perhaps strange places<br />
and means of memorializtion.<br />
Final Destinations appeared in<br />
Traveler <strong>Magazine</strong> by National<br />
Geographic. Valerie and I recently<br />
visited La Recoleta, story on page 34.<br />
We were awe struck by the magnitude<br />
and architectural diversity of the<br />
Cemetery. Thanks to our Guide the<br />
story of this amazing place captivated<br />
our visit making it a highlight of our<br />
visit to Buenos Aires.<br />
Many of us enjoy traveling the world.<br />
Regardless of where we are our<br />
interest in the unexpected ways others<br />
practice our profession intrigues us.<br />
SFD is interested in your experiences<br />
and photos.<br />
Join us on our worldwide exploration.<br />
You are invited to send us your<br />
remembrances and photos. As part<br />
of the SFD family we want to share<br />
your story with fellow readers of the<br />
magazine.<br />
–Ed Horn<br />
30<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
La Recoleta, Buenos Aires<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 31
Unique Places<br />
Picture (Bottom<br />
Left): Evita’s private<br />
mausoleum.<br />
Picture (Bottom<br />
Right): <strong>The</strong> gentleman<br />
with me is<br />
Raul Rivas, English<br />
speaking tour guide<br />
and historian of the<br />
cemetery.<br />
32<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
La Recoleta, Buenos Aires<br />
La Recoleta<br />
Cemetery<br />
~<br />
Buenos Aires,<br />
Argentina<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 33
Final Destinations<br />
by: Margaret Loftus<br />
From the October 2011 issue of National<br />
Geographic Traveler magazine<br />
Many of the world’s most storied graveyards<br />
offer respite—and rewards—for the living too.<br />
Headstones, crypts, and landscapes divulge clues<br />
into the spirit of a place and its people. At these<br />
famous cemeteries, dig past the spooky surface<br />
to find a repository enlivened by the legends of<br />
the characters buried below.<br />
1 – Père-Lachaise<br />
Paris, France<br />
In the 20th arrondissement, this archetype for<br />
rural cemeteries opened in 1804. Parisians<br />
jog on winding paths, groupies crusade to Jim<br />
Morrison’s grave, and admirers leave lipstick<br />
kisses on Oscar Wilde’s tomb, which features an<br />
Egyptian-style depiction of a man in flight.<br />
2 – Merry Cemetery<br />
Romania<br />
Tucked behind Sapanta’s Church of the<br />
Assumption, ornately carved oak crosses mark<br />
each of the countryside plot’s 900-plus graves;<br />
art and poetry tell quirky tales of the dead. In<br />
an epitaph for a lifelong boozer, a posthumous<br />
request: “Leave a little wine.”<br />
3 – St. Louis No. 1<br />
New Orleans, Louisiana<br />
Near the French Quarter, a thousand<br />
aboveground vaults jam onto one square block,<br />
the 18th-century cemetery exploited in 1969’s<br />
Easy Rider. Interred here: architect turned pirate<br />
Barthelemy Lafon and—rumors say—voodoo<br />
priestess Marie Laveau.<br />
4 – Forest Lawn<br />
Los Angeles, California<br />
Hollywood Hills, overlooking top Tinseltown<br />
studios, serve as a resting place for its glitziest<br />
stars, from Bette Davis to Liberace. Many<br />
tombs are surprisingly staid (at nearby Glendale,<br />
Michael Jackson’s is hidden), but a Venetian<br />
glass mosaic ups the razzle-dazzle.<br />
5 – La Recoleta Cemetery<br />
Buenos Aires, Argentina<br />
At this exclusive graveyard, visitors beeline<br />
to Eva Perón’s tomb (under her maiden name,<br />
Duarte). Among large stone angels and carved<br />
mausoleums stands the heart-wrenching<br />
sculpture of a bride who died in an avalanche on<br />
her honeymoon.<br />
6 – Xoxocotlan<br />
Oaxaca, Mexico<br />
Crowded around an ancient, crumbling chapel,<br />
the rickety headstones in this old graveyard<br />
outside of Oaxaca can be difficult to walk<br />
between—especially during Day of the Dead<br />
celebrations. Revelers begin with a vigil the night<br />
of October 31, when the departed are feted with<br />
altars, candles, and marigold petals. Six blocks<br />
away, a carnival-like atmosphere pervades the<br />
Panteon Nuevo, or new cemetery, with picnicking<br />
families, strolling musicians, and vendors selling<br />
pan de muerto (bread of the dead) from tents.<br />
7 – Mount Auburn<br />
Cambridge, Massachusetts<br />
<strong>The</strong> roster of distinguished Americans interred<br />
here—Mary Baker Eddy, Henry Wadsworth<br />
Longfellow, and Winslow Homer, to name a<br />
few—is impressive, but this tranquil swath of<br />
34<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
olling hills, majestic maple and oak trees, and<br />
formal gardens outside of Boston remains true to<br />
its mission to be a place for the living. Founded<br />
in 1831, it was the first landscaped expanse open<br />
to the public, ultimately leading to the birth of<br />
the U.S. park system.<br />
8 – Old Jewish Cemetery<br />
Prague, Czech Republic<br />
Some 12,000 tombstones, ranging from Gothic<br />
to rococo, are wedged into this city block–size<br />
graveyard that dates from the 15th century.<br />
Symbols adorn the graves, such as the lion<br />
etched on the tomb of Judah Loew Ben Bezalel,<br />
the chief rabbi of Prague in the 16th century<br />
who, according to legend, made a golem out of<br />
clay to protect the city’s Jewish community.<br />
9 – Lone Fir Cemetery<br />
Portland, Oregon<br />
Roaming this natural landscape—one of the few<br />
cemeteries that allows the planting of a tree or<br />
garden to commemorate the dearly departed—is<br />
like the turning the pages of a Portland history<br />
book. You’ll find graves of pioneers; Block<br />
14, a memorial in the works for the Chinese<br />
immigrants who helped build the city; and crypts<br />
of captains of industry, like the imposing Gothicstyle<br />
MacLeay family mausoleum.<br />
10 – Green-Wood Cemetery,<br />
Brooklyn, New York<br />
From Louis Comfort Tiffany to Jean-Michel<br />
Basquiat, many of the names etched into the<br />
tombstones, granite monuments, and brownstone<br />
mausoleums here read like Page Six of the New<br />
York Post. But the real attraction of this 478-<br />
acre oasis in Greenwood Heights is the parklike<br />
setting with glacial ponds, a Gothic Revival<br />
entrance gate circa 1861, and the Manhattan<br />
skyline peeking through the century-old trees.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 35
Unique and Future Leaders<br />
of the Profession<br />
By: Jennifer Frew<br />
Breaking News…. “<strong>The</strong>atre Major turns to Death <strong>Car</strong>e”,<br />
yes you read that correctly. I graduated college in 1998,<br />
taking a little longer than anticipated and immediately<br />
started working what was supposed to be a two year<br />
gig as the switchboard operator, which has now turned<br />
into thirteen years. <strong>The</strong> job roles have changed a few<br />
times but have maintained as the Community Events<br />
Coordinator and Public Relations for the last eight years<br />
just recently adding Human Resources to the resume.<br />
A Strong independent woman in a man’s world, is it<br />
possible? You really want my answer, it’s more than<br />
possible, it’s realistic and I am living proof. My work<br />
ethics began at an early age when I started cleaning<br />
my father’s office building and from there I just kept<br />
working wherever I found employment. I’ve always<br />
been outgoing with natural skills to talk to others with<br />
ease so I never doubted my ability to provide quality<br />
customer service. However, if you would have asked<br />
me thirteen years ago, would I be working in the Death<br />
<strong>Car</strong>e Industry, I most likely would have laughed and<br />
responded with, you’re kidding right!<br />
When I first started working at Green Hills Memorial<br />
Park in 1998, I looked at it as just another job but it has<br />
become a journey and the end is unforeseen. I have grown<br />
and experienced more in this industry than a lifetime of<br />
jobs could provide. Although I have always been active<br />
in my community with organizations such as Pediatric<br />
<strong>The</strong>rapy Network, Leadership Torrance, CERT,<br />
Partners in Policing, Kiwanis Club of Torrance, and my<br />
most recent endeavor as the Chair for a Veterans <strong>Car</strong>eer<br />
and Resource Fair through the Torrance Area Chamber<br />
of Commerce, my life truly took a turn for the better<br />
when I became involved with the ICCFA (International<br />
Cemetery Cremation <strong>Funeral</strong> Association). It started<br />
with attending the Annual Conventions but in 2005 my<br />
boss was elected to a one year term as the President of<br />
the ICCFA so in addition to the convention, he felt it<br />
was important for me to attend the ICCFA University<br />
in Memphis Tennessee where you sign up for specified<br />
college courses taught by some of the best in the<br />
industry. This is a four year program treated just like<br />
a typical University only with one week courses once a<br />
year. During my time at the University, not only did I<br />
have the opportunity for continued growth, knowledge,<br />
experience, and networking, I also met some of my best<br />
friends to this day. Who would have thought all of this<br />
could come from a one week course in humid Memphis<br />
during the month of July. I graduated from the ICCFA<br />
University in 2008 not only with certificates from<br />
each college program; I also graduated as a Certified<br />
Celebrant. I may have “graduated” but my time has not<br />
ended at the University as I have continued attending<br />
and I am currently aiming at my goal of presenting or<br />
even one day being one of the College Deans. You can<br />
never reach too far as long as you believe you can touch<br />
the stars.<br />
In late 2008, I was approached by the President and a<br />
highly respected Board of <strong>Director</strong> and College Dean<br />
from the ICCFA asking if I would consider running for<br />
a seat on the Board of <strong>Director</strong>s for a three year term. I<br />
must admit that at first I was shocked but honored that<br />
they would even consider me. I took a moment and<br />
realized why not, why couldn’t I be just as respected<br />
not only for what I do but for who I am. You see, what<br />
I failed to mention earlier is that my boss is my father.<br />
One that I am continuously compared to but I can say<br />
with all due respect, that I am my own person and<br />
the only shoes I walk in are the ones that fit my size<br />
ten feet. I was once asked is it hard following in your<br />
father’s footsteps. My response was simply, not really!<br />
I indicated, I’m not trying to follow in his footsteps, we<br />
just happen to share the same passion.<br />
In March 2009, I was elected to the Board of <strong>Director</strong>s<br />
for the International Cemetery Cremation and <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Association. I was now one of approximately eight<br />
females voted onto the Board. A year later I was<br />
asked to organize the ICCFA Members and Veterans<br />
Memorial Service at the 2010 Annual Convention. I<br />
was complimented by many mentioning that it was<br />
the best memorial service they had seen in all their<br />
years of attending. What an accomplished feeling that<br />
moment was but I guess organizing the largest and best<br />
attended Memorial Day Observance in California and<br />
quite possibly the Nation provided some good practice.<br />
My involvement in the Memorial Service as well as<br />
being the Community Events Coordinator for Green<br />
Hills Memorial Park has allowed me opportunities<br />
such as the Veterans <strong>Car</strong>eer and Resource Fair that I<br />
36<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
am chairing on Thursday, November 10, 2011. This<br />
event was an idea I had after listening to a presentation<br />
given by Colonel David Sutherland, the Special<br />
Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff<br />
with principle focus on Warrior and Family Programs<br />
where he travels around the world reaching out with his<br />
mission of matching the donor to the cause that provides<br />
assistance, benefits, and opportunities to our returning<br />
veterans. With the <strong>Car</strong>eer and Resource Fair, we<br />
contacted businesses, organizations with resources, and<br />
Veterans Associations to discuss benefits that will either<br />
provide job opportunities or guidance as they transition<br />
back into society. Serving those who have served.<br />
It was also in 2010 that I served my first year as a<br />
member of the Next Generation Committee, a recently<br />
created organization that is focused more on the “Next<br />
Generation” up and comers of the Death <strong>Car</strong>e Industry.<br />
We are erasing the stereotypical image of what a death<br />
care representative should be, meaning that without<br />
taking dignity and class away, we are proving that times<br />
change and that the classic saying if it’s not broken<br />
don’t fix it doesn’t necessarily stand for itself anymore.<br />
Improvement is always necessary and thinking outside<br />
the box can be beneficial in the long run. In 2011, I was<br />
appointed as the Co-Chair for this organization where<br />
we raise money for ICCFA University Scholarships<br />
along with providing a networking group that exudes<br />
our mission statement. “Next Generation acts as an<br />
incubator for aspiring professionals in the Death <strong>Car</strong>e<br />
Industry, providing a foundation for continued education<br />
as well as a forum for communication, acknowledgement,<br />
experience, and achievement for success”.<br />
I experienced my first dealing with death at the age<br />
of six and now at the age of thirty eight, never giving<br />
a thought to the Death <strong>Car</strong>e Industry until I actually<br />
stepped foot into, I am now responsible for the<br />
organization of the largest and best attended Memorial<br />
Day Observance in California, voted onto the Board of<br />
<strong>Director</strong>s for the ICCFA, led one of the best Members<br />
and Veterans Memorial Services, graduated the ICCFA<br />
University and became a Certified Celebrant, appointed<br />
Co-Chair of the Next Generation, and chairing an event<br />
with purpose for our veterans. I am still considered<br />
a young female; however, I am accomplishing more<br />
in a short time in this industry than most might in a<br />
lifetime. I am making a difference with all that I do<br />
and all that I am. I am a young professional expressing<br />
to other young professionals to always believe in<br />
yourself, never let your goals or aspirations be deprived,<br />
and continuously reach for the stars because they are<br />
obtainable, and always walk in your own shoes because<br />
they fit the best. I heard a quote in a movie once that<br />
I felt was appropriate for so many situations whether it<br />
be every day life, love, health, or our professions. “<strong>The</strong><br />
brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at<br />
all. Go and be Brave.<br />
Jennifer Frew is a lifelong resident<br />
of <strong>Southern</strong> California and currently<br />
resides in the City of San Pedro. She<br />
graduated from Chapman University<br />
with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in<br />
1998.<br />
Immediately upon graduation,<br />
Jennifer accepted employment<br />
with Green Hills Memorial Park in<br />
Rancho Palos Verdes, California.<br />
Green Hills Memorial Park is a not<br />
for profit organization situated on<br />
120 acres of dedicated cemetery property, has 82 employees and<br />
conducts approximately 2000 interments each year. Jennifer has<br />
held several positions in the Administrative Department and is now<br />
the <strong>Director</strong> of Community Events, Public Relations, and Human<br />
Resources. In this position she orchestrates and oversees one of<br />
the largest Memorial Day Observance programs in the country.<br />
Her Easter Sunrise services have attracted over 2000 participants<br />
annually and, most recently, over 500 people attended a seminar<br />
at Green Hills that Jennifer had put together for dealing with grief<br />
during the holidays.<br />
In addition to her duties at work, Jennifer represents her company<br />
in the surrounding communities. She has served as a YMCA<br />
Camp Counselor and she is the President Elect of Kiwanis Club<br />
of Torrance. For that service club, she chairs committees serving<br />
veterans and organizing Special Olympics as well as continuing<br />
the Kiwanis goal of serving the children of the world. Ms.<br />
Frew has further enhanced her role in the community and on the<br />
Safety Committee at Green Hills Memorial Park by completing<br />
a course in Partners in Policing with the City of Torrance Police<br />
Department. She has also graduated from CERT (Community<br />
Emergency Response Team) and is the designated contact for<br />
the area around the cemetery. In 2004, Jennifer graduated<br />
from Leadership Torrance, a program that is part of a national<br />
educational program that develops leaders for the community and<br />
for businesses. Jennifer is presently chairing a Task Force through<br />
the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce organizing a Veterans<br />
<strong>Car</strong>eer and Resource Fair to take place in November 2011.<br />
In July of 2008, Jennifer graduated from ICCFA University,<br />
having attended the University for 4 years and completing the<br />
curriculum in the College of Sales and Marketing, the College of<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> Home Management, the College of Cremation Services<br />
and the College of 21st Century Services. She has been awarded<br />
the certification of Celebrant by the ICCFA U.<br />
Jennifer Frew served on the Board of <strong>Director</strong>s of Pediatric<br />
<strong>The</strong>rapy Network from 2004 to 2010, an organization providing<br />
physical, learning and social skills for children with Downs<br />
Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism.<br />
Ms. Frew is a current Board of <strong>Director</strong> of the ICCFA and has been<br />
a regular attendee at the ICCFA Annual Convention and events of<br />
the Cemetery and Mortuary Alliance of California. Jennifer is the<br />
daughter of ICCFA Past President, Ray Frew.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 37
Reel Thoughts<br />
Confessions of a Film Buff Part 2<br />
By Bob Fells<br />
Science-fiction fans divide into two categories: those<br />
who voraciously consume anything and everything<br />
sci-fi, and those who are very selective. Count me<br />
in the latter category although I must confess (since<br />
these are Confessions) that there are at least two<br />
sci-fi films I would like to have with me on that<br />
proverbial desert island. Before assaulting you with<br />
my recommendations, a little background.<br />
Sci-fi films are as old as motion pictures themselves.<br />
A few months ago, the annual Cannes Film Festival<br />
made international news for its re-premiere of A<br />
TRIP TO THE MOON, a film made in 1902 and<br />
expensively reconstructed to its original color glory.<br />
This was one of the first “special effects” movies<br />
by Frenchman Georges Melies, a magician who got<br />
the movie bug in the late 1890s. A TRIP TO THE<br />
MOON is only about ten minutes long and will be<br />
touring theaters in the U.S. I understand that a dvd<br />
release is also imminent.<br />
Of course, films back then were all “silent,” an<br />
odd term because like ballet, silent films always<br />
had musical accompaniment. Another landmark<br />
of early sci-fi films is the epic German film from<br />
1926, METROPOLIS. This silent film also made<br />
international news recently when a lost 20 minutes<br />
of this movie was discovered in South America.<br />
It has since been meticulously restored and is not<br />
only available on dvd but also, believe it or not, on<br />
blu-ray. This past summer I watched the restored<br />
edition on my PC streamed from Netflix. Even the<br />
creators of METROPOLIS couldn’t have imagined<br />
that! As I write this, yet another edition of the film<br />
is being issued on dvd and blu-ray with a pop score<br />
by Georgio Moroder that he wrote in 1984.<br />
So what are my two “desert isle” recommendations?<br />
You’ll be relieved to know that both are talkies but<br />
that’s about as close to contemporary as we’re going<br />
to get here. My first recommendation came along<br />
at the very end of the first horror film “cycle” in<br />
the mid-1930s and got lost in the shuffle. <strong>The</strong> film<br />
is THE INVISIBLE RAY and stars the dynamic<br />
duo of horror, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. This<br />
was their third teaming and this time they play<br />
research scientists so you just know there’s going<br />
to be trouble. <strong>The</strong> story deftly weaves in elements<br />
of astronomy, radiation and lasers – in 1936! Boris<br />
and Bela go on a safari in Africa (yes, you read that<br />
correctly) to find the site where Boris maintains<br />
a meteor fell eons ago. It contains a new element,<br />
Radium X, that can cure diseases of all types when<br />
its energy is harness as a ray of light (hence the<br />
film’s title). Back in Paris, Karloff evens wins the<br />
Nobel Prize for his discovery.<br />
But research has its price – Boris finds that he’s been<br />
38<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
contaminated by the new element and it makes him<br />
a bit anti-social – anybody he touches drops dead.<br />
Bela makes an antidote for him so he can continue<br />
to socialize but his mind soon becomes deranged<br />
and he decides to use his, uh, magic touch to<br />
eliminate some colleagues. First, he fakes his own<br />
death to avert suspicion but Bela, who knows from<br />
their earlier films that Karloff can’t be killed off,<br />
helps the police track him down.<br />
This intriguing tale, decades ahead of its time, has<br />
a marvelous finale that you’re just going to have to<br />
see. THE INVISIBLE RAY benefits from all the<br />
virtues of the studio system at its peak including a<br />
wonderful music score by Franz Waxman. Karloff<br />
is humanized for a change and has a wife, a dog, and<br />
even a mother. All these characters play key roles in<br />
the story too. And just when you think you’ve seen<br />
everything, Lugosi plays a good guy!<br />
My second sci-fi recommendation is, for me,<br />
practically new. From 1951, THE THING FROM<br />
ANOTHER WORLD, not to be confused with the<br />
unfortunate remake by John <strong>Car</strong>penter in the 1980s<br />
or the newest remake just hitting theaters now. I<br />
will go so far as calling the original THING a scifi<br />
film for people who don’t like sci-fi films – yes,<br />
it’s that good. This film was produced – and many<br />
say directed – by top director Howard Hawks. So<br />
why is this man who makes films with John Wayne,<br />
<strong>Car</strong>y Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and even Marilyn<br />
Monroe, fooling around in the sci-fi genre? Hawks<br />
found a story – just one – that he had to make into<br />
a film.<br />
the remakes, the 1951 version is neither violent nor<br />
gory but uses the element of suggestion to scare the<br />
hell out of you. A final point: Hawks made sure<br />
that we never get a good look at the alien (as in<br />
Martian, not Mexican) thereby playing on our fear<br />
of the unknown. Unfortunately, modern marketing<br />
for the dvd edition plasters his puss right on the<br />
box cover. Ignore it if you can – it’s like getting a<br />
murder mystery with the killer announced right on<br />
the cover.<br />
[A note on availability: THE INVISIBLE RAY is<br />
available for rent from Netflix and for sale in a dvd set<br />
with four other classic horror films for about $11. THE<br />
THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is available for<br />
rent from Netflix and for sale for about $6.]<br />
Robert M. “Bob” Fells is executive<br />
director and general counsel of the<br />
International Cemetery, Cremation<br />
and <strong>Funeral</strong> Association where he has<br />
worked for nearly 30 years. Bob has<br />
published four books on film history<br />
and criticism that are available at<br />
Amazon.com.<br />
Set in the Arctic – talk about spine-tingling – the<br />
story concerns a small contingent of military joining<br />
a small scientific community to check out a UFO<br />
that seems to have crashed nearby. Our heroes find<br />
the flying saucer embedded under the ice where it<br />
crashed, but being from the government, in trying to<br />
retrieve it they accidentally blow it up (some things<br />
never change). But there was a passenger onboard<br />
who doesn’t appreciate the destruction of his craft<br />
so he stalks down the members of the rescue team.<br />
Many reviewers say the story is a parable on the<br />
Cold War.<br />
At any rate, it’s the stuff that nightmares are made of<br />
and told as only a master director can tell it. Unlike<br />
28 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 39
A Brief History of<br />
Early Non-Terrestrial<br />
Memorialization<br />
by: Oscar Rios<br />
Chapter Three –<br />
Eternity Burst<br />
After the moon the first places mankind lived,<br />
worked and died were artificial space stations<br />
orbiting the Earth. Initially there were some two<br />
dozen small stations, the largest able to support<br />
approximately forty people. <strong>The</strong>y were mostly<br />
dedicated to scientific research, weather tracking<br />
and technological development. However, that<br />
changed dramatically on November 5th, 2096 when<br />
the Rosenthal Consortium opened Pangaea Station,<br />
a massive space station able to support twelve<br />
hundred people. Pangaea Station was dedicated<br />
towards ship building, research and support services<br />
for space travel to and from Earth. <strong>The</strong> Station<br />
was a major success for the Rosenthal Consortium<br />
and over the next 25 years it was expanded to the<br />
point where it supported more than six thousand<br />
residents. Today Pangaea Station is one of nine<br />
orbital communities above the surface of the Earth.<br />
It is also an independent nation, after two years<br />
of violent rebellion which ultimately lead to the<br />
financial collapse of the Rosenthal Consortium in<br />
2164.<br />
Those living in space stations face a unique set of<br />
challenges, such as prolonged exposure to micro<br />
gravity. Bone and muscle loss pose major health risks,<br />
which could only be partially mitigated by specialized<br />
diets and rigorous exercise programs. Mankind was<br />
simply not equipped to live for prolonged periods<br />
in such environments, as it hadn’t evolved under<br />
those conditions. So scientists on Pangaea Station<br />
made the choice to give human evolution a helping<br />
hand. Using genetic manipulation, gene therapies<br />
and selective filtering of gametes by medical nanobots,<br />
they inserted numerous artificial traits into<br />
the genome of those choosing a life living in the<br />
microgravity of space. Soon these humans were<br />
perfectly suited to live in microgravity, immune to<br />
the inherit health threats to their genetically altered<br />
bodies. <strong>The</strong>y now possessed certain physiological<br />
advantages such as immunity to motion sickness.<br />
However such specialization had drawbacks, as<br />
those undergoing such therapies would suffer grave<br />
health risks upon entering a gravity well. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
treatments would give someone an advantage in<br />
space but also a severe handicap should they ever<br />
return to a terrestrial body. <strong>The</strong> treatments were<br />
also hereditary, with those undergoing them passing<br />
them on to their descendants. While controversial<br />
even to this day, many scientists consider such<br />
people to be a new branch of humanity. Officially<br />
called Cosmo Sapiens, those with these specialized<br />
traits call themselves Spacers.<br />
Within 50 years nearly everyone living on artificial<br />
space stations had become Spacers, either by choice<br />
or by birth. An entire culture developed among<br />
them, with new sports (more suited to their own<br />
physiological adaptations), art, fashions and slang<br />
terms. Initially as these new people formed their<br />
own identity they became the subject of persecution<br />
40<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
y native Terrans. This resulted in strikes, protests,<br />
economic embargos and ultimately armed rebellion<br />
in 2162. Today Spacers are one of several genetic<br />
offshoots of humanity, all specifically altered to<br />
better cope with environments away from their<br />
cradle of humanity, the Planet Earth.<br />
Spacers, many of whom have never even experienced<br />
full gravity, found little value in being buried in the<br />
Earth as their form of final disposition. Lifecylcing<br />
was similarly an unpopular option, as their native<br />
ecosystem was one of recycled air, repurified water<br />
and artificial light. “We are children of the Cosmos,<br />
when other forms of humanity are learning to crawl;<br />
our children are learning to fly. We are unbound and<br />
unrestricted by the pull of other forces. We shine,<br />
glowing in our freedom, among the stars. “explains<br />
Deacon Duval Byte, of the first Spacer Church of<br />
Pangaea, “When our time has ended, when our spirits<br />
are free, then we shall die as falling stars, brilliant<br />
and beautiful, bursting outwards into eternity.”<br />
Spacers pride themselves on artistic expression,<br />
and their preferred method of final disposition,<br />
called Eternity Bust, reflects those sensibilities.<br />
In this process the dead are placed in caskets and<br />
surrounded by the artistic creations of their loved<br />
ones, paintings, poems, books, musical compositions,<br />
specially designed clothing, even baked goods or<br />
brewed items. <strong>The</strong> caskets are then sealed and<br />
jettisoned into space, in a specially calculated<br />
descending orbit. Memorial caskets of Spacers,<br />
called “Stars” are created with an alloy including<br />
zinc and magnesium. <strong>The</strong> friends and family of the<br />
departed spacer then gather in a Memorial <strong>The</strong>ater,<br />
dominated by a large window usually overlooking<br />
whatever terrestrial body they orbit.<br />
burning up in the atmosphere upon re-entry. <strong>The</strong><br />
Zinc and Magnesium alloy within the container<br />
glow brilliantly, exploding in a pyrotechnic display<br />
of beautiful colors and patterns. No two Eternity<br />
Bursts are the same, as each Star is uniquely<br />
designed. Nothing remains of the deceased or their<br />
casket, and especially large Eternity Bursts can even<br />
been seen from the surface of the earth, appearing<br />
like shooting stars.<br />
After the Eternity Burst, mourners traditionally<br />
attend a celebration which includes drinking, music<br />
and dancing. <strong>The</strong> length of such parties reflects the<br />
length of the deceased life, with especially longlived<br />
Spacers having celebrations lasting a full day<br />
or more. Deacon Byte explains, “We die as we live<br />
and we are remembered accordingly. <strong>The</strong> dead are<br />
never gone; they are out there floating free, waiting<br />
for us to join them. This is not a sad moment, it is a<br />
time to sing and dance, laugh and love, to remember<br />
with joy those who have left this party for the next.<br />
We are all shooting stars, slowly descending towards<br />
eternity, waiting to be truly free.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Star, containing the remains of the departed<br />
spacer, descends into the gravity well of the<br />
terrestrial body. <strong>The</strong> calculations are very precise,<br />
taking ten minutes for every year of the departed’s<br />
life before reaching what Spacers call the “Point<br />
of Eternity”, which is the moment the Star enters<br />
the upper reaches of the atmosphere and burns<br />
up. <strong>The</strong> location of the Point of Eternity is also<br />
specially calculated, happening in full view of the<br />
Memorial <strong>The</strong>ater window. While the mourners<br />
watch the “Star” reaches the “Point of Eternity”,<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 41
So<br />
INDUSTRY<br />
What<br />
NEWS<br />
Is Bio Cremation?<br />
by: Paul Rahill, Matthews Cremation Division<br />
Live Oak Bank Expands its Focus into Death <strong>Car</strong>e Management -<br />
Welcomes Doug Gober, Senior Loan Officer<br />
and Jerald Pullins, Board of <strong>Director</strong>s<br />
<strong>The</strong>re has been a long lead up to the final development<br />
of technology and necessary legislative changes required<br />
to allow forward progress on a new cremation process<br />
called “Bio Cremation.” Bio Cremation utilizes a<br />
high pressure and high temperature cremation chamber<br />
with January a process 23, 2012 called – Wilmington, alkaline hydrolysis NC – Live to reduce Oak<br />
human<br />
Bank has<br />
remains<br />
expanded<br />
to their<br />
its<br />
basic<br />
concentration<br />
elements.<br />
beyond the<br />
veterinary, dental and pharmacy industries to include<br />
Cremation by definition is reducing the body to its basic<br />
lending for death care management business owners/<br />
elements of bone fragments through the use of heat.<br />
CANA,<br />
operators.<br />
<strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><br />
Cremation<br />
bank will<br />
Association<br />
provide<br />
of<br />
financing<br />
North America,<br />
services<br />
is<br />
the including world’s largest acquisition, and most refinancing, respected authority real estate, on all<br />
things ground-up cremation. construction CANA has and progressively remodel projects. defined In cremation<br />
effort to as provide “the mechanical impeccable and/or service thermal and or expertise other dis-<br />
to<br />
an<br />
solution small business process owners that reduces in this human industry, remains we staffed to bonea<br />
fragments.” seasoned specialist Bio Cremation in death care technology management replaces along the<br />
use with of having flame a with consultant the utilization hand. of water, blended with<br />
an alkali solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH). <strong>The</strong><br />
human body is placed into a pressurized<br />
stainless steel cremation<br />
chamber where water and alkali<br />
are automatically added and the<br />
temperature is raised to 350°F.<br />
Water, alkali, high-heat and highpressure<br />
working in harmony<br />
gently circulate over the body,<br />
causing a reaction that begins and<br />
completes the cremation process.<br />
Let’s face it, there are not many<br />
attractive images when we envision<br />
the “transition” of a human<br />
body to bones (B2B). Within the<br />
complete death care process, the<br />
B2B transition is inescapable.<br />
This is a journey all of us will take<br />
regardless Doug of whether Goberour end of<br />
life choice Senior is Loan burial, Officer flame cremation<br />
or water based Bio Cremation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> end result will be the<br />
same. On October <strong>The</strong> difference 1st, Doug between Gober<br />
burial, was welcomed flame cremation to the team. or As Bio<br />
Cremation a Senior Loan is the Officer, B2B transition Gober<br />
time will act line as and the the industry “catalyst” expert we<br />
choose. and will With help burial, launch the transition Live<br />
may Oak take Bank 25 years into and unchartered the catalyst<br />
to territory. reduce the Thirty-two body to bones years is soil<br />
and ago, micro-organisms. Gober began his With funeral flame<br />
cremation, service careers the transition as a takes sales approximately<br />
representative<br />
2-3<br />
in<br />
hours<br />
the casket<br />
and the<br />
catalysts to reduce the body to<br />
industry. He has also served as<br />
10 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
42 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012<br />
bones are heat created by a chemical fuel (CH4 natural<br />
gas or C3H8 propane gas) mixed with oxygen. With Bio<br />
Cremation, the transition takes approximately 2-3<br />
hours and the catalysts to reduce the body to bones are<br />
water (95%) and a chemical, potassium hydroxide<br />
(KOH). a consultant All of on these various choices international begin with a projects. body and From eventually<br />
1995 until ends 2011, with bones. Gober With was offered the introduction a position of with Bio Cremation<br />
<strong>The</strong><br />
Doody Group.<br />
we<br />
He<br />
can<br />
served as Executive Vice President<br />
determine the<br />
and flawlessly directed and oversaw their European<br />
residual effects our<br />
operations. From there, he accepted a position with<br />
end of life decision<br />
will<br />
<strong>Car</strong>riage<br />
have<br />
Services,<br />
on the<br />
where he served as the <strong>Director</strong> of<br />
planet. Development and Marketing.<br />
It Joining is important Live Oak to Bank’s Board of <strong>Director</strong>s, is<br />
address industry a few veteran, common<br />
take an misnomers active role in a consultative capacity as Live<br />
Jerald Pullins. Pullins will also<br />
when describing
Oak Bank emerges into the death care management<br />
vertical. After earning his MBA at the University<br />
of Texas, Pullins launched his career in death care<br />
management in 1969 by accepting the position of<br />
Vice President of Corporate Development with<br />
Service Corporation International (SCI), a company<br />
that began by acquiring largely family-owned funeral<br />
and cemetery businesses. From 1984 until 1991,<br />
Pullins served as the President and Chief Executive<br />
Officer for <strong>The</strong> Sentinel Group, Inc., which grew<br />
from a startup to a $100 million business focusing on<br />
funeral, cemetery, insurance and related businesses.<br />
In 1991, Sentinel was acquired by SCI, which by<br />
that time, was the leading consolidator and operator<br />
of funeral home and cemetery-related businesses in<br />
North America. Pullins transitioned back over to SCI<br />
and was appointed to executive roles that would allow<br />
him to implement his plan for increased profitability<br />
and growth and would guide the organization into<br />
becoming a leader in the industry.<br />
In 2007, Live Oak Bank started to provide veterinary<br />
business loans to small, independent businesspeople<br />
looking to expand, remodel, refinance and/or acquire<br />
an existing practice. From the beginning, we took a<br />
personal approach and saw our clients not as numbers,<br />
but as real people facing real-life opportunities and<br />
challenges. We offer big bank expertise but provide<br />
personal attention to all of our customers to ensure<br />
their long-term success. It worked - for us as well<br />
as our clients - and we expanded our veterinary<br />
funding programs to serve the needs of independent<br />
pharmacies, funeral homes, and dental offices across<br />
the country.<br />
For additional information about Live Oak Bank,<br />
please visit www.liveoakbank.com.<br />
Contact: Laura Petty<br />
Marketing Communications Manager<br />
910.796.1676 office<br />
laura.petty@liveoakbank.com<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Jerald Pullins<br />
Board of <strong>Director</strong>s<br />
“As we break into a new industry, I feel<br />
confident knowing that we have experts<br />
of this caliber to support this venture.<br />
No two guys can bring more knowledge<br />
and insight to the table than Gober and<br />
Pullins,” commented Live Oak Bank’s<br />
Chief Executive Officer, Chip Mahan.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
24 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 43
INDUSTRY NEWS<br />
Vantage Products - Meeting the Demands of the <strong>Funeral</strong> Industry<br />
As deathcare professionals, we find ourselves<br />
in the midst of a changing landscape. We try to<br />
satisfy consumers’ desire to carry on tradition,<br />
within the context of an increasingly changing<br />
society. Appreciating how difficult it is to meet the<br />
requirements and wishes of today’s consumer, we’ve<br />
put considerable R&D into providing products that<br />
surpass everyone’s expectations.<br />
Vantage is now located and headquartered in a<br />
new, state-of-the-art 100,000 square foot facility<br />
in Covington, Georgia. <strong>The</strong> facility is home to two<br />
new injection molding machines, robotic painting<br />
systems, R & D, as well as ample storage and shipping<br />
facilities. Please contact us at 800-481-3303 or visit<br />
our website at www.vantageproducts.com<br />
Even the most staunch skeptics<br />
become converts when<br />
they see all the advantages<br />
of our newest polymerbased<br />
technology. Vantage<br />
engineered products are three<br />
times stronger than steel by<br />
weight and completely nondegradable.<br />
Engineered to<br />
withstand enormous earth<br />
and equipment loads, they are<br />
easier to handle and store, and<br />
more consumer-friendly than<br />
other products, yet cost no<br />
more.<br />
Vantage Products Corporation<br />
was founded in 1978. <strong>The</strong><br />
plant was a research and<br />
development facility of<br />
Hercules, Inc. before being<br />
purchased.<br />
Initially, manufacturing was<br />
small and included custom<br />
furniture parts, door skins<br />
and burial vaults, but the<br />
company grew very rapidly,<br />
and over time dropped other<br />
products to focus on the<br />
funeral products industry as<br />
their expertise and market<br />
share expanded. Vantage<br />
owns huge injection molding<br />
machines that can adapt to<br />
unique applications, ideal for<br />
the funeral products industry.<br />
Find us in more places than just campus.<br />
44<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012
FUNERAL DIRECTOR/ EMBALMER<br />
Immediate<br />
Opening<br />
Accubuilt 16<br />
Large, Ambulance beautiful, & Coach well established 15 family owned<br />
funeral home and cemetery organization, East<br />
Andover Marker 41<br />
Coast FL., seeks a highly motivated licensed funeral<br />
director/embalmer<br />
Bill Black<br />
or intern.<br />
22<br />
Columbian Financial 21<br />
Successful Doric candidate must 5, be 19 able to work independently,<br />
multi task, and demonstrate exceptional<br />
Eagle Coach 2<br />
integrity and customer service.<br />
Federal Coach 48<br />
Alternating weekends, easy on call schedule, no<br />
night or weekend removals, and limited prep-room<br />
work. Must be able to obtain a Florida <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
<strong>Director</strong>s License.<br />
Please contact Pamela at 386-267-1100<br />
fax your resume to: 386-267-1101<br />
or email: daytonafd@lohmaninc.com<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
All classified advertising needs to be paid in<br />
advance by check, credit card or have billing<br />
arrangements made through <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
<strong>Director</strong>, prior to printing of the issue. Rates are<br />
$1.00 per word, with a $25.00 minimum charge.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong><br />
Classifieds<br />
Attn: John Yopp<br />
404-513-9405 | 678-691-7431 Fax Only<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
1750 Peachtree Street | Atlanta, GA 30309<br />
www.sfdmagazine.com<br />
30 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
Cremation 2011 AD INDEX<br />
Ambulance & Coach 17<br />
Casket & Shipping 2011 Andover Ad Index Marker 28<br />
Batesville Casket 13<br />
Frigid Fluid Company Bill Black 13 Pierce Mortuary Colleges 3121<br />
IBC<br />
Columbian Financial 18<br />
Hoyt Matise 20 PSI Funds 43<br />
Custom Casket Company 23<br />
John A. Gupron College Doric Vaults 45 Service Casket Company 5 42<br />
Lemasters Consulting Federal 9Coach<br />
Shields Southeast Sales 2 IFC 35<br />
Frigid Fluid Company 15<br />
Master Grave Service, Inc. 48 Sutton Slover Law 45<br />
Holland Supply 7<br />
Memory June Medallion - July 2011 SFD:- Hoyt Matise 29 9/20/11 Ties 1:07 for PM You Page 30 2739<br />
Ogeechee Technical College John A. 44GuptonVantage Products Corporation 2713<br />
Pierce Companies<br />
Master<br />
27<br />
Grave Service 9<br />
Ogeechee Tech 19<br />
Pierce Chemicals 29<br />
Pierce Mortuary Colleges 26<br />
PSI Funds 24<br />
FUNERAL DIRECTOR/ EMBALMER<br />
SELLING your<br />
Service Casket Company 10<br />
4<br />
Sutton Slover Law 30<br />
Ties for You 28<br />
Wilbert <strong>Funeral</strong> Service<br />
32 BC<br />
Super Nova Mfg. Immediate<br />
FUNERAL HOME<br />
Opening<br />
or CEMETERY?<br />
Large, beautiful, well established family owned<br />
funeral home and cemetery organization, East<br />
We provide the service you expect!<br />
Coast FL., seeks a highly motivated licensed funeral<br />
TOTALLY DISCREET<br />
director/embalmer POSITION MARKETING<br />
or intern. OFFERING<br />
A –or multi Listing location on Our Web <strong>Southern</strong> Site– metropolitan full service<br />
funeral over 23,000 provider hits monthly. with cremation emphasis<br />
Receiving<br />
Successful candidate must be able to work independently,<br />
growth of qualified<br />
We seeks maintain a President a large data who basewill facilitate continued<br />
multi and reputation task,<br />
buyers.<br />
and as demonstrate a market leader. exceptional <strong>The</strong> primary<br />
and role customer will be to service. drive customer satisfaction<br />
integrity<br />
“As a family owned<br />
through excellent operational activities, build a<br />
We also can simplify loan processing for:<br />
and operated<br />
Alternating strong team weekends, and execute easy growth on call strategies. schedule, Experience<br />
no<br />
• Purchase<br />
business, you have<br />
night • Expansion or weekend<br />
in preneed<br />
• Working removals,<br />
contracting,<br />
Capital and limited<br />
marketing,<br />
my guarantee prep-room<br />
operations<br />
and P&L responsibility is desired.<br />
of<br />
work. • Inventory Must be • Equipment<br />
personal service.”<br />
able to obtain a Florida <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
<strong>Director</strong>s CONVENTIONAL License.<br />
SBA LOANS DICK MATISE<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> license and knowledge of <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
industry is a plus. Salary and bonus package<br />
Please commensurate contact Pamela with at experience 386-267-1100 and results. Please<br />
fax your forward resume your to: resume 386-267-1101 and salary history to Advertiser<br />
#310,<br />
www.matise.com<br />
or email:<br />
1-800-341-0100<br />
daytonafd@lohmaninc.com<br />
c/o <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>,<br />
P.O. Box 768152, Roswell, GA 30076.<br />
www.alliance’04 <strong>The</strong> 8-6-04 <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011 27<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
All classified advertising needs to be paid in<br />
advance by check, credit card or have billing<br />
arrangements made through <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
<strong>Director</strong>, prior to printing of the issue. Rates are<br />
$1.00 per word, with a $25.00 minimum charge.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong><br />
Classifieds<br />
Attn: John Yopp<br />
404-513-9405 | 678-691-7431 Fax Only<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
1750 Peachtree Street | Atlanta, GA 30309<br />
www.sfdmagazine.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 45<br />
Ambula<br />
Andove<br />
Batesvil<br />
Bill Bla<br />
Columb<br />
Custom<br />
Doric V<br />
Federal<br />
Frigid F<br />
Holland<br />
Hoyt M<br />
John A.<br />
Master<br />
Ogeech<br />
Pierce C<br />
Pierce M<br />
PSI Fun<br />
Service<br />
Super N<br />
Sutton S<br />
Ties for<br />
Wilbert<br />
A multi<br />
ice fun<br />
seeks a<br />
growth<br />
mary ro<br />
through<br />
strong t<br />
rience i<br />
tions an<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong><br />
neral in<br />
commen<br />
forward<br />
tiser #3<br />
zine, P.O
or email: daytonafd@lohmaninc.com<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
All classified advertising FOR SALE needs to be paid in<br />
Horse<br />
advance by<br />
Drawn<br />
check, credit Hearse,<br />
card or have<br />
by billing<br />
James<br />
arrangements Want To Own made Your through Own <strong>The</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> Home! <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Cunningham & Son. Very ornate<br />
Let<br />
<strong>Director</strong>,<br />
Extreme<br />
prior<br />
Marketing<br />
to printing<br />
Group<br />
of the<br />
help<br />
issue.<br />
you with<br />
Rates<br />
your<br />
are<br />
$1.00 carvings,<br />
per word, original<br />
with a $25.00 lamps,<br />
minimum curtains.<br />
charge.<br />
financing on acquisition or expansion projects.<br />
Fully <strong>The</strong> restored <strong>Southern</strong> ready <strong>Funeral</strong> for <strong>Director</strong><br />
funerals,<br />
parades or display<br />
Classifieds<br />
to purchase firm from their in owners funeral to current<br />
parlor.<br />
Attn: John Yopp<br />
owners Call 404-513-9405 wanting or email to acquire | for 678-691-7431 info,Grant other firms Fax in Gilbert Only their area.<br />
All 256-729-1980<br />
inquiries held johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
in strictest confidence. Email<br />
1750 Peachtree Street | Atlanta, GA 30309<br />
requests or sales@webejeeping.com<br />
to extrememktgrp@aol.com<br />
This includes independent funeral directors wanting<br />
www.sfdmagazine.com<br />
Wilbert <strong>Funeral</strong> Service<br />
32 BC<br />
Classified Ads<br />
POSITION OFFERING<br />
A multi location <strong>Southern</strong> metropolitan full service<br />
funeral provider with cremation emphasis<br />
seeks a President who will facilitate continued<br />
growth and reputation as a market leader. <strong>The</strong> primary<br />
role will be to drive customer satisfaction<br />
through excellent operational activities, build a<br />
strong team and execute growth strategies. Experience<br />
in preneed contracting, marketing, operations<br />
money and P&L to invest. responsibility Individual is desired. can buy interest in business and present owner<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> Milton Fields<br />
Home Owner in Georgia's<br />
Looking ONLY<br />
for Partner state regulated<br />
or Outright endowment<br />
care <strong>Funeral</strong> GREEN <strong>Director</strong> cemetery. is looking for We a partner are looking or will sell for operation<br />
a career<br />
Sale<br />
Georgia outright. minded Preference individual would seeking be individual full with time a moderate employment amount of<br />
as a<br />
cemetery sales advisor. If you want to help families plan<br />
can phase out over the next five years. Real Estate can be purchased<br />
a simpler, more economical, natural alternative, we would<br />
or leased. Any reasonable agreement. All inquiries held in strictest<br />
like to talk with you.<br />
Box www.miltonfieldsgeorgia.com 768152, Roswell, GA 30076 or email or to: 770-751-1445.<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
<strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> license and knowledge of <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
industry is a plus. Salary and bonus package<br />
commensurate with experience and results. Please<br />
forward your resume and salary history to Advertiser<br />
#310, c/o <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>,<br />
P.O. Box 768152, Roswell, GA 30076.<br />
confidence. Reply to Advertiser #360, c/o <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>, P.O.<br />
INDIVIDUAL WANTING TO PURCHASE AND<br />
OPERATE FUNERAL BUSINESS<br />
Licensed <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> and Embalmer i n two Southeastern<br />
states, wants to purchase and relocate to your town. Licensed<br />
twenty plus years, not part of a corporation or group of<br />
investors. I am an individual representing myself. Please send<br />
inquiries to: Advertiser #345, c/o <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>,<br />
P. O. Box 768152, Roswell, GA 30076 or send emails to;<br />
johnyopp3@aol.com<br />
SPECIAL SUMMER OFFER!<br />
Any orders for the "<strong>Car</strong>ing Organizer C.D.s"<br />
placed in June will cost $6.95 per C.D.<br />
a saving of $3.00 each<br />
PLUS FREE Shiping Mimium order of 25<br />
Order today www.hearttoheartsite.com<br />
or call Dick Perl @ 1-866-269- 0861<br />
Lovein <strong>Funeral</strong> Home, Nashville, GA has employment<br />
opportunity for a GA license FD/EMB. We are a third<br />
generation family owned, Selected Independent <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Home. We offer an excellent working environment with<br />
very competitive benefits and salary requirements. Please<br />
forward inquiries and/or resumes to Lovein <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Home, Inc, P.O. Box 25, Nashville, GA 31639.<br />
All received will be held in confidence<br />
Notice is hereby given to the public that on June 30, 2011, the Chancery Court of Shelby County, Tennessee entered its<br />
Order Granting the Receiver’s Verified Petition to Approve the Sale of the Assets of Forest Hill <strong>Funeral</strong> Home and Memorial<br />
Park – East, LLC (“Forest Hill”), a funeral home and cemetery 1998 concern Cad S&S located Masterpiece in Memphis, Coach, Tennessee, blu<br />
and approving<br />
bidding procedures and other matters incident to such sale. All persons interested in the purchase of the assets of<br />
Forest 2007 Hill Chevy should Express contact Max Van Shelton, w/casket Receiver, tbl<br />
for additional information concerning bidding procedures as soon as possible,<br />
but (8 no built-in later than rollers) August & 5, entry 2011. ramp<br />
1994 Cad Eureka 6 door limo, blk<br />
Contact 2004 information Chevy Astro for Van Mr. w/casket Shelton tbl<br />
1994 Cad Eureka Coach, blk, 36k mi<br />
Richard Palandech<br />
Exceptional Value<br />
is: (901) 525-1455; Fax (901) 526-4084; e-mail mshelton@harrisshelton.com<br />
(8 built-in rollers), blu<br />
(312) 259-8434<br />
30 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> Alliance Cremation 2011<br />
Cemetery / <strong>Funeral</strong><br />
Home COO – Cemetery<br />
/ <strong>Funeral</strong> Home Combo<br />
located in a Gulf Coast<br />
State is seeking an<br />
experienced cemetarian /<br />
funeral director to oversee operations. This combo<br />
location has a great heritage in the community<br />
and is family owned and operated. We’re seeking<br />
a highly motivated leader with a demonstrated<br />
record of strong organization, sales and supervisory<br />
skills who can assist in the day-to-day operations<br />
of this business and become a part of our family<br />
structure. <strong>The</strong> compensation package will include<br />
incentives for meeting sales performance goals and<br />
operational profitability.<br />
Responsibilities:<br />
• Manage and lead <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong>s, Sales<br />
Managers and location staff.<br />
• Assure the operating practices comply with<br />
appropriate regulations and company policies.<br />
• Assure that staff understands location goals,<br />
policies and procedures.<br />
• Develop staff with the skills necessary to<br />
serve family’s needs.<br />
• Ensure all services exceed the expectations of<br />
the families we serve.<br />
• Increase marketing and overall community<br />
involvement.<br />
• Serve as a mentor and coach to all employees.<br />
• Practice and promote teamwork among all of<br />
the staff.<br />
Requirements:<br />
• Minimum 5 years experience as a funeral<br />
director/cemetarian/funeral manager,<br />
preferred.<br />
• Minimum 3 years management or office<br />
management experience, preferred.<br />
• Familiarity with Alabama Laws.<br />
• Knowledge of various funeral management<br />
software programs, including HMIS,<br />
preferred.<br />
For confidential consideration Email<br />
poul@LemastersConsulting.com or fax resume to:<br />
1(888) 407-1147<br />
Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V<br />
46<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Director</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> Alliance <strong>Director</strong> PreNeed Alliance & Personalization Cremation 2011 29 37
<strong>The</strong> Federal MKT Stratford...Intelligent by Design.<br />
<strong>The</strong> commercial-size rear casket door features a<br />
rear-view camera, a 130-degree hinge, and a rear load door<br />
opening that measures 48-inches wide and 39.5-inches high.<br />
Standard interior features on the<br />
Federal MKT Stratford include the following:<br />
• Heated and cooled front seats<br />
• Intelligent Access with push button start<br />
• 8-inch Touch Screen with audio and climate controls<br />
• SYNC ® In-car Connectivity System, and much more…<br />
<strong>The</strong> rear side doors are 49-inches long and provide<br />
a large, spacious opening to the church truck,<br />
spare tire and umbrella storage compartments.<br />
<strong>The</strong> newest and most refreshing Federal funeral coach yet! <strong>The</strong> Lincoln MKT Stratford is built on the next-generation<br />
Lincoln professional vehicle chassis that features all-wheel-drive, heated and cooled front seats, rear back-up camera,<br />
and more. Combine these base chassis features with Federal’s intelligently-designed coach features,<br />
and you get what’s soon to become the most popular Lincoln funeral coach ever!<br />
PROUDLY FEATURES<br />
VEHICLES<br />
800/292-6210 • WWW.FEDERALCOACH.COM<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Funeral</strong> <strong>Director</strong> • Alliance December 2011 • January 2012 47