In this press release issued last week you can read that PlotBox has acquired MIS (sometimes referred to as HMIS).  The PlotBox website brings about this statement about the integration of the companies, “ (this transaction) bring(s) one of the industry’s most comprehensive capabilities – from PlotBox’s cloud-native mapping, operations, records, and financial management to MIS’s longstanding experience serving funeral homes.”

The press release also states this about MIS, “MIS is a management platform serving funeral and cemetery operators across North America, streamlining operations from first call through aftercare. The software unifies case management, scheduling, arrangements, billing, and reporting, with integrations for accounting, payments, and partner tools.”

PlotBox CEO Sean McAllister made this prepared comment in the press release,  “At PlotBox, we believe funeral and cemetery professionals deserve technology that meets the complexity of their work and supports their commitment to service.  We are excited to welcome MIS customers and provide them with the innovation, reliability, and partnership they need to operate with confidence.”

MIS had been owned by Batesville since 2012.

Here is the website for PlotBox

Here is what PlotBox investor Serent Capital says about the company

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  There has been a lot of shifting of ownership of Death Care companies lately.  Every week we see notices of different companies moving in different directions, sometimes like in today’s article, via acquisition.

In my opinion, the one common denominator in the transactions is the movement to “more and more” technology.  I think those who own and manage funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries should take heed of what the supplier companies are doing.  I think these transactions and the vendor companies getting more and more technology oriented is showing a roadmap of what the consumers of Death Care are going to want down the road.

My take on all of this technology is that even if you consider yourself “technology challenged” like me, it will pay to learn about the capabilities that these technology companies can bring to your operation and to have some semblance of how you may want that technology available to work for you in your specific situation.

Death Care is fast transforming in the services that we provide for consumers and fast transforming in the options that consumers have to select their Death Care choices from outside the traditional funeral home provider network.  If traditional funeral homes want to keep and expand their market share in the future they need the technology tools to do so.  Putting your head in the sand and hoping these technologies will go away will, more than likely, not bring a positive outcome for your business.

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PlotBox Acquires MIS, Strengthening U.S. Market Position and Expanding Access to Modern Deathcare Solutions

BOSTON, MA & BATESVILLE, IN – October 15, 2025 – PlotBox, a leading cloud-native platform for cemetery and funeral home management, announced it has acquired HMIS (also known as MIS) from Batesville.

MIS was acquired by Batesville in 2012. This acquisition expands PlotBox’s presence in the United States and gives MIS customers a partner focused on modern solutions for deathcare operators.

MIS is a management platform serving funeral and cemetery operators across North America, streamlining operations from first call through aftercare. The software unifies case management, scheduling, arrangements, billing, and reporting, with integrations for accounting, payments, and partner tools.

The announcement follows a year of strategic growth for PlotBox, including a new investment from Serent Capital, the launch of enhanced e-commerce and operational automation capabilities, and a much-anticipated entry into the funeral home segment. 

The addition of MIS customers aligns with PlotBox’s broader mission to help deathcare providers simplify workflows, improve transparency, and deliver better experiences for the families they serve.

“At PlotBox, we believe funeral and cemetery professionals deserve technology that meets the complexity of their work and supports their commitment to service,” said Sean McAllister, CEO of PlotBox. “We are excited to welcome MIS customers and provide them with the innovation, reliability, and partnership they need to operate with confidence.”

PlotBox is committed to providing exceptional service and support to the MIS customer base while also giving customers access to PlotBox’s full software suite, which integrates mapping, records, sales, finance, inventory, and reporting into a single cloud-based system. The platform is used by a growing number of cemeteries, crematories, and funeral homes to streamline daily operations and scale with evolving business needs.

PlotBox will feature its expanded funeral offering at the 2025 NFDA International Convention & Expo in Chicago, October 26-29, 2025, where attendees can engage with the team, explore product capabilities, and hear from operators using PlotBox to modernize their operations.

About PlotBox

PlotBox is a leading cloud-native software solution for cemeteries, funeral homes, and crematories. It’s an all-in-one platform that combines mapping, records, sales, inventory, finance, and analytics in one intuitive system. PlotBox helps deathcare organizations simplify operations, improve performance, and better serve their communities. The company supports customers across North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Learn more at www.plotbox.com

About Serent Capital

Serent Capital is a growth-focused private equity firm that invests in founder-led, technology and tech-enabled service businesses. With deep expertise in software, Serent partners with high-potential companies to drive growth through strategic and operational support. Founded in 2008, Serent has supported more than 60 companies across sectors including healthcare, education, government, and business services. Learn more at www.serentcapital.com 

Honoring the Past, Advancing the Future: Express Funeral Funding Acquires Ford Acceptance

EFF proudly carries forward Ford Acceptance’s 55-year legacy while expanding its commitment to innovation, compassion and service excellence.

JEFFERSONVILLE, IN – (For Release 10.13.25) Express Funeral Funding (EFF), the nation’s FASTEST. EASIEST. at-need insurance assignment funding company, is proud to announce its acquisition of Ford Acceptance, a trusted name in funeral funding known for exceptional service and strong client relationships since 1969.

This strategic move enhances EFF’s national presence and furthers its mission to deliver compassionate support, unmatched service, and innovative funding solutions to funeral professionals and the families they serve.

“With a shared commitment to integrity and customer care, Ford Acceptance was a natural fit for EFF,” said Andy Buckman, president of Express Funeral Funding. “We’re honored to carry forward their legacy and deliver even greater value through expanded resources, advanced technology, and our unwavering dedication to service.”

Owners David LeVine and Alan LeVine, expressed confidence in EFF’s ability to continue serving their clients with excellence:

“EFF was the clear choice when considering the future of our clients,” said the LeVines. “They share our values and commitment to customer care. We know our clients will be in the best of hands.”

Ford Acceptance clients will now benefit from a seamless transition to EFF’s comprehensive suite of services, including faster claims processing, personalized support from an experienced team, and access to intuitive, user-friendly technology designed to streamline the funding process.

This acquisition marks another milestone in EFF’s continued growth and reflects its deep commitment to empowering funeral professionals with the tools, technology and support they need to serve families with excellence and care.

For more information on EFF, please visit www.expressfuneralfunding.com, email sales@expff.com, call or text 415.949.2428. EFF has been providing funeral homes and cemeteries nationwide with the ultimate funding experience since 2002. EFF eliminates the challenges of working with insurance companies by limiting administration, providing immediate payment, and advancing complete policy funds. 

There’s always a risk when a funeral home firm acquires another location.  There’s even more risk when a funeral home acquires a location that has had its license suspended by a state board of funeral directors.

However, as you can read and view in this report from Pennsylvania’s WTAJ-TV News that’s exactly what is happening in Howard, Pennsylvania, with the acquisition of the former Singer-Kader-Neff Funeral Home by the 5th generation firm of Wetzler Funeral Service & Victorian Cremation Services of Bellafonte, Pennsylvania.

What has happened, according to this additional article from the Centre Daily of Centre County, Pennslyvania (which you may not be able to access because of a paywall) is that the former owner of Singer-Kader-Neff Funeral Home has pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and with that plea agreement, again according to that article, has had to give up his funeral director license which would prohibit him from working in any capacity within the mortuary field.

The new owner of the mortuary, Wetzler Funeral Service & Victorian Cremation Services owner Dylan Wetzler made these comments in the WTAJ-TV article, “I wasn’t sure if it was something we were going to want to entertain just because of the history.  Coming here to earn the trust of Howard back was going to be difficult. Once you leave, once a family chooses to go to a different funeral home, it’s very tough to get them to come back, especially with what had happened here.”

Wetzler is making “thousands of dollars” worth of renovations to the structure and expects these renovations to be done by the Spring of 2026.  He’s also making a committment to the Howard community by announcing that the funeral home will honor all previously made prearrangements.

Here is the website of the Wetzler Funeral Home and Victorian Cremation Services.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  My dad, who was the 3rd generation funeral home owner in our family and who not only operated the funeral home, but also operated a small retail furniture store and liked to accumulate real estate, used to tell me, “You don’t always make your income by how much you sell something for, but by how much you bought it for.”

Dad served on a bank board and also had great relationships with all the bankers in our small community.  It was those relationships which allowed him to purchase distressed real estate for “dimes on the dollar”, improve it, and then sell it for a good profit.  In essence, his profit came not from the high selling price, but the low acquisition cost.

My guess is that is what will happen with this transaction.  Bellafonte and Howard are small communities in Pennsylvania where there is probably not a great amount of choice of funeral home operators.  And, the fact that Bellafonte is only 12 miles from Howard should allow the Wetzler family the ability to service Howard in an economical fashion — possibly folding the work into the existing staff in Bellafonte which would allow for economies of scale in the most expensive category of costs.

In addition, reputations among small rural communities travel fast.  The fact that the Wetzler family has been in business in Bellafonte since 1895 and are in their 5th generation of operation should give comfort to those Howard families and retard any movement to funeral homes in other communities — especially since Wetzler’s will not only be keeping a facility in Howard, but making visible improvements to it.

I think that this is a good reminder that there are all kinds of reasons one funeral home may acquire another one.  It’s also a good reminder that there may be opportunities for funeral homes that might mean taking some reputational risk but that might be able to be funded, because you are taking that risk, with a financial outlay of “dimes on the dollar”.

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Tukios Acquires Batesville’s Funeral Home Website Hosting Services to Propel Websites to the Next Level

Ogden, UT and Batesville, IN – July 17, 2025 – Tukios, a leading provider of website technology solutions for the funeral profession, announced today that it has acquired the funeral home website hosting services from Batesville, a trusted leader in the North American deathcare industry. Effective immediately, the acquisition includes Batesville’s Website Hosting Services, Floral Select, AI Obit writer, and sympathy tree offerings.

Renowned for its cutting-edge technology and exceptional customer service, Tukios is excited to unify the two web hosting platforms and create the most robust solution possible. As a result of the transition, funeral home customers will benefit from a dedicated technology customized to meet the unique needs of funeral professionals.  

“We are laser-focused on creating the best website platform in the funeral profession, and we are honored to carry that mission forward with Batesville’s website hosting services,” said Curtis Funk, Founder and CEO of Tukios. “Our team is dedicated to providing a seamless transition and an exceptional level of customer service. We have long admired Batesville and are proud to work alongside a company that shares our commitment to serving funeral professionals.”

For Batesville, this transition is about sharpening its focus on delivering greater value for funeral home customers. 

“Through targeted investments, we are strengthening our leadership position in Burial products, broadening our Cremation portfolio, and delivering integrated Technology Solutions that simplify operations and enhance the planning experience for families,” said Chris Trainor, CEO of Batesville. “Our goal is to equip funeral professionals with the tools and resources to support their business and help position them for long-term success.” 

Both companies are working closely together to ensure a seamless experience for customers, with no disruption in service. Funeral homes will continue to receive the same high level of service and features. As part of the transition, customers will have the option to take advantage of the Tukios platform at their own pace and will not be required to make any immediate changes.

For more information about Tukios, visit www.Tukios.com. To learn more about Batesville’s burial, cremation, and technology solutions, visit www.Batesville.com. 

About Tukios
Tukios builds software to improve funerals. Their innovative tech platform is revolutionizing the profession. Their tribute video software is the industry standard, and they have the fastest-growing website product in deathcare. Tukios’ reputation for stellar customer service continues to create raving fans. To learn more, please call 801.682.4391 or email Sales@Tukios.com 

About Batesville Services
Batesville is a recognized leader in the death care industry in North America, offering a comprehensive portfolio of burial and cremation products, memorialization options and innovative technology solutions. For more than 125 years, Batesville has supported licensed funeral professionals in helping families honor the lives of those they love^®. A history of manufacturing excellence, product innovation, superior customer service, and reliable delivery helped Batesville become – and remain – a trusted leader in the death care industry. To learn more, please call 812.931.5084 or email Media.Inquiries@Batesville.com 

Starmark® Cremation Products Acquires Chateau Urns

RICHMOND, IN, June 12, 2025 – Starmark, the cremation solutions leader, has announced the acquisition of Chateau Urns in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The addition of the Chateau Urns line expands Starmark’s innovative range of funeral products, providing more urn solutions to customers. 

Chateau Urns was established in 2009 alongside a cigar humidor company and became a family-owned and operated business in 2016. Brandi Combs, owner of Chateau Urns, recognized that due to the lack of options on the market for crafted display urns, funeral homes were purchasing humidors for their families to use as a memento set or a decorative piece to display on their mantle, reminding them of their loved ones. “This realization showed us the need in funeral service to create a more personalized urn with unique designs to represent loved ones passed.” 

“At the start of Chateau Urns, my primary focus was to create a meaningful product that would play a role in people’s most significant moments. We used high-quality materials, developed unique designs, and aimed to build a brand that was not just a business but a name that people could trust when they wanted to commemorate a loved one. There has been no greater honor than to be a part of those moments in someone’s life.” Combs shared. 

Over the coming months, Starmark plans to build on the already respectable reputation Chateau Urns has established in funeral service. Combs will work closely with Starmark’s team to ensure a seamless transition for Chateau Urns’ customers. 

Through this acquisition, Combs will continue to serve funeral professionals as a team member with Starmark, serving as the Starmark Local Account Representative for the Florida Region. Combs expressed her excitement for her new role, saying, “Like Chateau Urns, Starmark has also built a brand on quality, innovation, trust, and reliability, which is why I could not be more excited to become a part of the Starmark family. By teaming up with Starmark, I look forward to collaborating on creating products and helping funeral professionals focus on what matters most: allowing families to lay their loved ones to rest in a sensible yet dignified and respectful manner.” 

About Starmark: Starmark Cremation Products creates Sensible Solutions® for funeral professionals to help families honor life’s most meaningful moments with grace and respect. It is all about celebrating the lives of loved ones with dignity and care. This belief inspires everything we do at Starmark, allowing funeral service professionals and families to focus on love, legacy, and healing.  For more information, visit: www.starmarkcp.com.

On May 1 of this year Matthews International announced the closing of the sale of their SGK Brand Solutions Segment in this press release.

According to this press release that was posted yesterday from Matthews International it didn’t take long to put some of those proceeds to work as they announced the acquisition of the Dodge Company for a reported $57 million.  Again, according to that press release:

“Dodge is a leading supplier of embalming chemicals and supplies in North America and sells a variety of other related products to Funeral Homes. Matthews Memorialization is a leading supplier to Funeral Homes and Cemeteries in North America, selling a broad range of products including caskets, bronze and granite memorials, and cremation equipment. The acquisition advances Matthews’ strategy of providing a comprehensive product offering to its death care industry customers.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  This acquisition will broaden Matthew’s product line for funeral homes.  We mentioned in our article published last week about Matthews 2nd Quarter Earnings Report that the next six months will be very important in charting the future of Matthews International and this acquisition points in the direction that the company will continue to be a major force in the Death Care profession and industry.

As an aside it is interesting to note that this sale/acquisition is being conducted by two of the oldest businesses in the profession.  Dodge Company is a 132-year old family company and Matthews International is celebrating their 175th year in business during 2025.

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This article from North Country Now of New York announces the acquisition of the Green Funeral Home of Gouverneur, New York, by the Frary Funeral Home.  From the company’s website which you can access here, it appears that the Gouverneur location will be the 6th location operated by Frary.

The article from North Country Now makes the following statement, “Both businesses have deep-rooted histories as multi-generational family businesses, committed to serving the community.”

It also appears from the article that Wesley McGill, a funeral director at Frary’s had been a funeral director previously at the Green Funeral Home.  It appears that Mr. McGill was born in Gouverneur and a natural fit to now be working with the Gouverneur location.

According to the newspaper article the press release also made the following comments, “With Wes’s guidance, Frary Funeral Home looks forward to continuing its tradition of excellence while offering fresh, thoughtful solutions to meet the evolving needs of our community. . . .We are committed to serving Gouverneur and the surrounding area with care and compassion, just as both Frary Funeral Home and Green Funeral Home have for generations.” 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  A viewpoint of mine is that the anticipated sale of existing funeral homes by so many owners who are reaching retirement age is happening.  It’s been predicted for years and I now think it is upon us.

A simple suggestion to those funeral homes who want to expand is now is the time to make sure that your finances are in order and you have the resources available to do such.  I would also suggest that if you have not talked to potential acquisition site owners, now is the time for that also . . . before you miss the opportunity.

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Precoa Acquires Life-Planning Brand Everplans

PORTLAND, Ore.. (October 16, 2024) – Precoa, the nation’s leader in proactive preneed, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Everplans, the life-planning brand that offers a leading digital organizational platform. Together, Precoa and Everplans will provide families across the country with easy, secure, and accessible ways to prepare for the unexpected as part of Precoa’s mission to create the highest quality preneed experiences for families, advance funeral planners, and funeral homes.

“Our first twenty years at Precoa have brought incredible innovations like the Funeral Planning Center, digital marketing, and the unique data and technology that powers it all behind the scenes,” said Tyler Anderson, senior vice president of Business Development. “Today, our pace of innovation is rapidly accelerating. We’re building new ways to reach families, and our acquisition of Everplans enables us to take another huge leap forward in helping our partners meet the demand of tomorrow’s customers.”

Founded in 2012 by Abby Schneiderman and Adam Seifer, Everplans helps people manage, organize, securely store, and share critical information with the people in their lives who may need it during an emergency or in the event of a death. More than 30 million people have utilized Everplans’ robust content library and tools, consisting of thousands of articles and checklists that cover a broad range of topics related to end-of-life and legacy planning. Upon completion of the acquisition, Everplans will become a subsidiary of Precoa and continue to service all its existing customers.

Michael Hornibrook, president and CEO of Precoa, looks forward to the innovations and enhanced experiences to come. “Anyone who has ever lost a loved one knows the emotional toll of planning a funeral while trying to navigate finances and affairs,” said Hornibrook. “We believe that by planning for the inevitable, you make a challenging time a little easier so that you can focus on connection and healing. Together with Everplans’ technology and roadmap, we can help families across the country be better prepared for life’s most difficult moments.”

“We have always been committed to helping as many people as possible plan for the unexpected,” said Abby Schneiderman, co-founder of Everplans. “Joining forces with Precoa enables us to bring our platform to an even larger audience.” 

“We’re excited about Everplans’ unique nurturing capabilities, thoughtful and in-depth content libraries, and the experience on the platform itself,” Anderson said. “This is not to mention their focus on SOC2 and HIPAA compliance, which will give families the comfort of bank-level security as they navigate sensitive and difficult moments. This comes as we’ve already started laying the groundwork for an innovative tech ecosystem that will drive the future of ProActive Preneed®. It’s an undeniably unique platform in the funeral profession, and we can’t wait to see the impact it will have on our funeral home partners and families.”

About Everplans

Everplans is the leading digital tool that helps people organize, store, securely share and keep up to date all the important plans and information they need throughout their life and that their family would need in the event of an emergency.  Everplans serves the clients, policyholders, and employees of 400+ companies, including some of the largest providers of insurance and financial services. Everplans can be found at www.everplans.com; Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram.

About Precoa

Instead of letting the trauma of loss close people off, Precoa believes we are all connected and can help each other achieve profound healing. Working side by side with leading funeral homes, Precoa shares the value of pre-planning with families across the nation. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon since its founding in 2004, Precoa employs over 350 employees, plus a network of more than 1,000 independent preneed agents, all passionately focused on one thing: helping people plan today so their families can focus on connection when they need it most. To learn more, please visit precoa.com.

Roughly 18-months into their journey as an individual operating company, Batesville has made their first acquisition.  And, it should come as no surprise that the acquisition expanded the company’s technology offerings.  It was announced last week, in this press release, that Batesville has acquired Halcyon, a deathcare management system.

Batesville CEO Chris Trainer made these comments in the press release, “Over the last two decades, Halcyon has become one of the most respected providers of funeral home and crematory management software by delivering high levels of product innovation, technology leadership and outstanding customer service – all while maintaining the same integrity the company was founded on.  We are excited to continue to invest in new capabilities, new partnerships and integrations to support the changing needs of today’s professionals and provide a foundation for success for the next generation.”

According to the press release, Halcyon’s technology applications can help funeral homes and cemeteries in the following areas:

• Funeral home management software with a family-facing arrangement tool
• Crematory management software with body tracking capabilities
• Trade services management software
• Pet cremation management software

For more information on the company that will now operate with Batesville as their parent, you can access the Halcyon website here.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  It is pretty evident in the funeral home business that there is a trend to be more technology savvy and also to have some type of technology interface with the consumer public.  It appears that Halcyon does that with added benefits that can interface with accounting packages, credit cards, and online document signing software.

At Funeral Director Daily we’ve also preached about the ability of funeral directors to have all the necessary information on accounts and services at their fingertips and, according to the Batesville press release, Halcyon and its systems can be accessed from any device with a “user-friendly” navigation system.  In my opinion, that is almost a necessity in today’s Death Care world where current families being served may call or text directors at any time while directors could be in any location. . . .most of the time out of the office.

From my point of view, the next 24-36 months will show an increasingly competitive environment for these management software navigation systems in the Death Care sphere to become your funeral home or cemetery’s management system partner.  Company’s like Funeral365, Passare, PlotBox, Osiris, Halcyon, and many more will have a short-term race to become your management system of choice because funeral home’s without a “family-friendly” management system may risk loss of clientele because of out-dated technology that many families will be looking for.

I also think that with the number of players in this ever-crowding field that we will see some consolidation of the providers in the not so distant future.

Related Information — “Why is Batesville making acquisitions”?

When I started in funeral service employment in 1980, Batesville was predominently a wholesale casket company. Here is a couple of statistics that I found on why that business has changed so drastically:

• 1970 Number of United States Deaths:    1.921 million
• 2022 Number of United States Deaths:    3.279 million

• 1970 U.S. Cremation Rate:    5%
• 2022 U.S. Cremation Rate    60%

• 1970 Estimated Number of Casketed Burials:  1.824 million
• 2022 Estimated Number of Casketed Burials:  1.179 million

Analysis of those statistics will tell you that America has became a “Cremation Nation”.  Over a span of 52 years the country has approximately 1.4 million more annual deaths than in 1970.  However, because of the higher cremation rate, the country is purchasing about 645,000 less caskets annually. . . . . .and that continues to decrease as cremation continues to increase.

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