According to Gemini AI, “(the number of) articles can indicate short-term reactions, they can also foretell longer-term trends by reflecting shifts in public and business attention and sentiment”.  And, if you read the number of articles that I do while researching for Funeral Director Daily, you would probably believe, as I do, that there is great interest in the subject of “green or natural burials”.

However, like anything new and somewhat different, there seems to be a great deal of caution from governmental organizations in granting permissions for green or natural cemeteries.

That preamble brings us to the case of Matt Connell and his 20-acre parcel located about 25 miles southwest of Duluth, Minnesota, in Minnesota’s Carlton County.  According to Connell, and from information in this article, it appears that Connell bought his acreage with, what he claims “was (already) zoned to allow for a private cemetery, without the need to acquire a conditional use permit.”

Turns out that now we are over two years later and Connell has survived a 2-year moratorium from the Minnesota legislature on Minnesota natural cemeteries and now another moratorium on an approval process, expected to last at least one year put in place by Carlton County officials.

According to the same linked article as above,  “(Connell) and his business partner filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Carlton County officials of illegally blocking his project on land zoned to allow for private cemeteries. He also alleges that the county is violating his constitutional and religious rights.”

Carlton County in response filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed and those arguments were heard on Wednesday, October 22, in Federal Court.  A decision on that motion is expected in 60 to 90 days.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily:  The eventual decision in this case may give some clarity about green cemeteries vs. traditional cemeteries and the associated factors about public health, environmental concerns, and the public acceptance of things that are new and different in the greater Death Care world.

According to an expert quoted in the article, there is no cemetery specifically devoted to the green or natural burial method as of this time in Minnesota.  According to that same expert, there are green or natural burials in Minnesota but they have taken place in areas of traditional cemeteries.

From my point of view, I don’t know if green or natural cemeteries will become mainstream or continue as a niche business in the greater Death Care universe, however, there seems to be plenty of interest in them and it will be interesting to see where this disagreement ends up.

Related Articles:

1. Proposed green burial cemetery in Carlton County in federal lawsuit.  Northern News Now (MN)
2. Petition for burial in shroud to National Assembly.  City News – Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

There is an interesting case, which you can read about and see a news video of here, blowing through the tradewinds of Hawaii at this time concerning the eligibility of burial in a Veterans’ Administration National Cemetery.  The case concerns the potential of a dis-interment of U.S. Army veteran and Honorably Discharged Dr. Robert Browne who has been buried in Honolulu’s Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific since 1991.

The case has prompted a letter from the Hawaii congressional delegation, including United States Senator Mazie Hirono to the secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affair “requesting legislation allowing the VA to review and initiate disinterment proceedings for Dr. Brown”.

From the article that I read it appears that the disinterment stems from a person who “identifies as a survivor of sexual abuse by Browne and has family members buried at the Honolulu cemetery”.

Of interest in this situation is the fact that Dr. Browne died before he was ever charged with the crimes but the Kamehameha Schools of Hawaii paid a settlement of $80 million to (his alleged) victims.  Another factor in the case against Dr. Browne is that his death was ruled a suicide.

The letter to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs makes this statement according to the article from Hawaii News Now, “The presence of an alleged serial abuser in a place reserved for those who served with distinction is deeply painful and unacceptable to survivors and the families of those buried alongside him.”

Funeral Director Daily take:  I think that this is a very complicated case under the current rules of VA cemetery eligibility.  In general, here are the simple requirements for burial eligibility in a VA national cemetery:

Veterans, service members, spouses, and dependents may be eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, as well as other benefits, if they meet one of these requirements.

One of these must be true:

• The person qualifying for burial benefits is a Veteran who didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge, or
• The person qualifying for burial benefits is a service member who died while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty for training, or
• The person qualifying for burial benefits is the spouse or surviving spouse of a Veteran (even if they remarried after the Veteran’s death), or
• The person qualifying for burial benefits is the minor child of a Veteran (even if the Veteran died first) or, in some cases, the unmarried adult dependent child of a Veteran

 

Certainly Dr. Browne qualifies under the first criteria.  But, as I continued to look at criteria for exemptions to those requirements there are possible exemptions that could, in my opinion, make Dr. Browne ineligible.  However, they seem a little bit in the areas of gray when it comes to this situation.

A couple of those exeptions include the following:

Veterans aren’t eligible if:

• They’ve been convicted of a federal or state capital crime and may receive a sentence of imprisonment for life or the death penalty—and the conviction is final, or

• Clear and convincing evidence shows that they’ve committed a federal or state capital crime, but they couldn’t have a trial due to flight to avoid prosecution or death

• They were convicted of a Tier III sex offense and sentenced to a minimum of life imprisonment—and the conviction is final.

My next cause of action was to look up “Capital Crime” and it is defined as “A capital crime, also known as a capital offense, is a crime that is punishable by the death penalty.  These crimes are considered the most serious offenses under the law and vary by jurisdiction, but often include aggravated forms of murder, treason, and terrorism”. 

So, if that definition is true, then Capital Crime does not seem to fit this situation as reason for disinterment nor does the conviction of a sex offense because Dr. Brown died before he was charged and/or convicted.

I want you to know that I’m not taking a side here but I do find there to be interesting arguments on each side.  It will be interesting to see how the situation plays out.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Final Thought — For the first time in my life I was called to jury duty this summer and was selected to a jury for a short trial.  I will say that when I found myself in the jury box for the beginning of the trial I felt the huge weight of justice on my shoulders.  I’m relieved that the case did not have repercussions of prison time — it was a simple case of a defendent accused of violating a restraining order against loud noise in an apartment complex.

Even though the case seemed fairly straight forward and simple, I was struck by how emotionally drained I was after listening to the case and deliberating with fellow jurors.  It was an interesting lesson for me to learn about the responsibilities of a “jury of your peers” in the American justice system.

I’m certainly glad that I will not be sitting in and trying to figure out the justice in this Hawaii case.

Related Article — “Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery”.  U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Ethics in Cremation: A Colorado Case Study 

Public Trust and Funeral Service with Faith Haug at the CANA Convention 

WHEELING, IL— Research suggests that the public’s trust in institutions – schools, the government, organizations, and corporations – has fallen more than 20% in the last 50 years. And when bad actors damage that trust and cast doubt on a particular profession, what does recovery look like? Faith Haug, Director for the Mortuary Science Program at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, takes the stage at the Cremation Association of North America’s 107^th Annual Cremation Innovation Convention to discuss how practitioners, regulators, and the public navigated three recent cases in Colorado and found a path forward.  

From 2015-2023, three pivotal cases exposed significant gaps in regulations of funeral practitioners in Colorado. In her session at the CANA Convention, Faith Haug walks attendees through the events at Sunset Mesa Funeral Home, Bailey-Kent, and Return to Nature to discuss Ethics in Cremation: A Colorado Case Study. Her presentation will trace how these cases directly influenced Colorado’s funeral service laws and Code of Practice, focusing attention on the importance of ethical cremation practices and maintaining public trust.  

“We do things very differently from state to state, so there is not a lot of uniformity in regulation, licensing or even business practices. That leads to challenges,” says Faith. “Many options were presented to satisfy the regulatory agencies and the stakeholders that were invited to the process, and that’s the best you can hope for.” Her presentation will show how regulators, legislators, and industry leaders collaborated to create new protective measures. Concrete examples pulled from these cases illustrate how the public response has shaped consumer expectations and industry standards for cremation services. 

Faith Haug serves as Program Director and Faculty for the Mortuary Science Program at Arapahoe Community College, bringing 20 years as a funeral service professional to her role. As a licensed funeral director and embalmer, she combines practical industry knowledge with academic leadership. Faith is also consulted as subject matter expert for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs. During her CANA Convention session, she’ll draw from this range of experience to examine how public response to multiple high-profile Colorado cases has shaped consumer expectations and industry standards for cremation services for the entire profession. 

Each session at the CANA Convention is designed to place the client families’ experience at the heart of what we do: 

• In the keynote, Joan Fox, President of Inspired Solutions, asks Are You Creating or Killing Customer Loyalty?, and shares why customer satisfaction is an inadequate goal, how company culture and customer loyalty are connected, and what strategies measure customer loyalty to grow your business. 

• Two experts take the stage to share Data-Driven Digital Marketing Fundamentals with advice to build your business. Scott Jensen, Co-owner of FirstCall Marketing, offers Steps to Take to Know If Your Marketing is Working or Not. Then, Zack Moy, Co-founder/CTO of Afterword, guides you through The Efficient Funeral Home: A Data-Driven Look at Technology Implementation.  

• Succession planning and driving enterprise value should always be top of mind, so Jake Johnson, President & CEO of Johnson Consulting, will show how to Exit with Success: Succession Planning and Your Business. 

• In Historic Cemeteries Facing the Future, Regina Harrison, Director of Sales of Mount Auburn Cemetery, shares how to think creatively with options for cremation memorialization—whether you’re managing historic grounds or guiding families through end-of-life choices. 

• Barbara Kemmis, Executive Director of the Cremation Association of North America and Chance Parker, Chief Research Officer of Fortitude Research + Marketing, present the Cremation Practitioner Benchmarking Study of insights into current practice and provides strategies to address future challenges. 

What could be better than what’s happening on the CANA stage? It might be the backdrop! The Convention hotel is the Arizona Biltmore which offers seven relaxing pools, five appealing shops featuring hand-curated pieces, three unique dining experiences, two picturesque golf courses, and one award-winning spa and salon – plus two iconic bars where you can revel in a tequila sunrise. You’re invited to explore, to discover, and to feel inspired by the colors, culture and the captivating energy of the Valley of the Sun. Make your reservation now at canarooms.com. 

To make the most of the resort experience, the CANA Convention schedule is revamped so you can enjoy all that Phoenix has to offer in the cool desert nights and mornings. First is a 9-hole scramble on The Estates Course at the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club with an 8am shotgun start. Not a golfer? Take in the scenery with the Arizona Biltmore History Tour to explore the bold Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced architecture, get the scoop on historic celebrated guests, and view the meticulous restoration. Moving at a different speed? Put relaxation first and take a yoga class or book your appointment at the award-winning Tierra Luna Spa and Sol Garden. Or take advantage of the resort pools open around the clock. 

Understand the importance of ethical cremation practices and maintaining public trust with Faith Haug at CANA’s 107^th Annual Convention this August 6-8, 2025. Special rates are available for teams to learn, grow, and implement strategies together. Plus, the schedule is redesigned to ensure you can explore the Valley of the Sun in the cool mornings and evenings and fully savor the networking and learning in the air-conditioned Convention hall during the heat of the day. Visit cremationassociation.org/CANA25 to learn more and register today! 

About CANA 

Founded in 1913, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) is an international organization of over 3,700 members, composed of funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, industry suppliers, and consultants. CANA members believe that cremation is preparation for memorialization. 

HBO’s recent documentary “The Mortician” probably gave the Death Care profession some bad publicity.  However, at least in one case as evidenced by this article in The Free Press titled “My husband wants to be cremated.  I’d ignore his dying wish“, it brought out a re-constituted call for the traditional visitation and funeral.

The author of the article, River Page, says this about cremation of a loved one, “I know the peace that ritual brings, and I am afraid of losing it. That’s why I refuse to cremate my husband. I also have a terrible, recurring vision about checking the mailbox to find his ashes crammed in there next to the water bill and a coupon for 75 cents off dishwashing liquid. But the indignity of it all is a secondary matter, as is the possibility, raised by HBO’s documentary, that the ashes might not even be his. I don’t think I could survive the loneliness of taking his ashes into the house, opening the box, and crying alone, trying desperately to figure out when and where the end ought to be.. . .”

And here is what she says of the traditional funeral of her grandmother:

“We buried my grandmother where six generations of her family lay. The finality of this moment gave us permission to stop crying, stop hoping, and go to sleep. We had exhausted ourselves, destroyed our will to fight or flee reality with the sight of dirt hitting casket, and reached the final stage of grief: acceptance. . . . . . The lesson you learn by grieving is that life goes on, and you learn that lesson quicker and easier when you have to see the corpse, the coffin, the grave or funeral pyre—when you have a process to be worked through, one that you didn’t choose, one that isn’t convenient or easy, because that’s life, and death too.”

She continues by saying the following about her family’s tradition:

“. . .  mourning is a process, and processes require structure: a beginning, middle, and end. This is what traditional death rituals provide. They also force the mourner to do things he does not want to do: get out of bed, get dressed, leave the house, talk to people, carry the coffin, shovel the dirt. His ancestors, who passed down these traditions, recognized what he, in his grief, could not: that one cannot deny death by ignoring it, that it is not good to grieve alone, that life goes on, and so must he.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily:  I thought that this was a very good read and great  re-inforcement for those that believe in “the value of the traditional funeral”.  I also understand that with the continued trend of cremation this thought process will not do any more than “bend the curve” but it does give ammunition for those who prefer to go through the traditional grief process.

And, I think that grief process is healthy.  Maybe as more people realize it the “tide of no services” may be slowed down somewhat.

However, I’m also a firm believer that society moves through stages and as John Naisbitt offered in his book “Megatrends”, America has moved through the Agricultural Age, the Industrial Age, and the Information Age.  I’m of the opinion that we are on the cusp of the “Convenience Age” and many of our historical traditions will be eliminated because of their “lack of convenience”. . . . . . Traditional funerals will be one of them. . .

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

When I served my community as a funeral director I had a couple of expressions that I absolutely lived by:

1. “Underpromise and overdeliver”
2. “Have a low ego and high output”

I worked very hard to deliver on everything I promised and to do so in a personal way where nothing was more important than the families I was serving.  I found out that once you live with that thought it simply becomes a mindset and way of life.

It’s why I get disappointed at times with my service at Funeral Director Daily.  My aim is not to deluge you with thousands of emails in your inbox but to simply put one article out every weekday morning and hope that you anticipate getting it and get some practical knowledge that you can put to use from the short daily article.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Like needing a police escort to a cemetery or trusting a far away funeral firm or trade service to bring a client’s deceased relative to your funeral home I have to rely on some things that are out of my control to accomplish this task.

And, like the police that get called away to a crime or accident scene, or the trade service that cannot get death certificates signed in time, or an airline flight cancellation, sometimes the situation is out of your control – and you feel absolutely helpless.

With Funeral Director Daily it is technology.  I count on the website in which I write my articles to have them designed and ready for dissemination to my readers at a certain time. . . . .I also count on a company to then pick up those articles and distribute via email  at a certain time every day.

I’m certainly not perfect and have had my share of mistakes — such as putting P.M. instead of A.M. on a publish time at times or putting the wrong publish day down.  I do, however, work hard to keep that to a minimum. . . .and double, triple, and quadruple check most of my articles.

However, there are times where I’ve got everything right and I get up at 6 am and check the 4 am distribution email — I get the FDD article email in three different accounts just to be sure it is not the account that is down — and the article is not in my inbox.

It happened last Friday and again on Monday and Tuesday. . .

When that happens I have a back-up plan.  A 12:00 noon Eastern Time distribution available.  When the distribution e-mail does not go out at 4 am I notice that at 6 am when I am up and simply re-calibrate the e-mail to be sent at Noon.  That’s my back-up that I have to use once in a while. . . . However, on Friday andMonday the back-up e-mail also did not go out — for the first time in the history of my blog, the backup did not work.

That’s when a call to the distribution technology company comes in and we get them working on the issue.  As I write this on Monday, now Tuesday morning, that company is checking but still does not really know why it did not pick up my articles and disseminate them to FDD  subscribers.

We will find out, learn from it, and be better for knowing.  I apologize to my readers and sponsors and we will try to get to a fail-safe situation but I’m guessing that will never happen in the world of technology.

One consolation of this happening is that I hear from faithful readers who are Johnny-on-the-spot to let me know that they didn’t get their Funeral Director Daily article that day.  While it is no fun to know that the article did not go out as planned there is also some solace in knowing how much many of you appreciate my daily articles. . . . So thank you.

If there is anything to learn from this situation it may be a comparative with the local clientele you serve.  Maybe it is the police escort that doesn’t show up right at the proper time or some other situation that you cannot control.  My guess is, however, if you have served your community or clientele with diligence and competence for some time, it may be at that time that your clientele realizes how often you do things correct and without a hitch and how being a responsible funeral director is big a part of a community’s well being.

Sorry about last Friday, Monday, (and now this morning). . . .I will continue, even with an occaisional hiccup, to work harder and smarter to make Funeral Director Daily a product that you can count on.

Update —  After being assured by our provider that all things were back to normal on Saturday for us, our email did not go out again yesterday (Monday morning) as mentioned.  When I contacted our provider today I received this message that indicates the issue may not be on our part. . . .Hang with me, I’ll get it right eventually.

“Thank you for reaching out to Mailchimp Technical Support. We currently are experiencing an internal issue that is refraining support from being able to look into your account. You might also experience some issues with logging into Mailchimp, test email or regular emails not being sent, and the Mailchimp site running slow. If you have any technical questions over tools or Mailchimp I would be more than happy to help assist, however if you are needing assistance with your account or a specific Campaign I will be needing to convert this chat over to email so we can further assist when these issue reside. We thank you for your patience and assure you we are working promptly to resolve any errors present.”

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Earlier this week Funeral Director Daily learned from this press release from Batesville that “the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana awarded summary judgment in favor of Batesville Casket Company, LLC and Batesville Services, LLC and against Vandor Group, Inc., rejecting Vandor’s claims that Batesville’s cardboard rental insert, which the company launched in 2011, infringed four of Vandor’s patents.” 

The press release went on to say “Batesville vigorously disputed Vandor’s allegations of patent infringement and filed its own counterclaims requesting a declaration from the Court that Vandor’s patents were invalid. In its summary judgment decision, the Court agreed with Batesville that all four patents asserted by Vandor were invalid and dismissed Vandor’s infringement claims against Batesville in their entirety. Batesville’s motion for attorney’s fees is now pending before the Court.”

Batesville’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer Jenn Parvin made the following comment in a prepared statement in the press release, “The Court’s ruling allows us to put these accusations behind us and continue designing and delivering the high-quality products that funeral professionals need and that families deserve.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  When I served on the Board of Regents for the University of Minnesota one of the most fascinating aspects for me was serving on the University’s Litigation Committee.  I served on that committee for my entire six year term and for a short period of time served as Chairman when that position was temporarily vacant.

While a lot of the legal issues for the University were in the realm of employment law or patient medical issues as a research university we had our share of disputes over patents as well.  I found them fascinating and was involved in the  University strategies for many cases.  One thing I learned about patent disputes are that they take a long period of time to resolve and if you are not well-funded many companies can just wait you out.

Just for perspective, as a major public research university with a large scope of research in our mission, during my time at the University of Minnesota our researchers were applying for one patent every three days . . .so there was ample opportunity for disagreement.  Somewhat under the radar, most observers don’t know that the University of Minnesota ranks 12th nationally with expenditures of about $1.32 billion in our budget for research annually.

When I first was put on the committee I had a discussion about it with then U of M President Eric Kaler.  I remember him telling me, “Companies don’t like litigating issues with us because if needed we have the financial resources of the entire state of Minnesota behind us and we can play the long-game.”   I never wanted to pursue cases that I felt didn’t have merit for the University of Minnesota, but for those cases that we felt had merit the thought of President Kaler’s comments to me always gave me the point of view that if we felt we were right, we could wait out the eventual outcome.

As to the length of these patent disputes I cannot comment on many that are still ongoing, but there some in the public realm that I worked on.  For instance, here’s an article on one such dispute that was started in 2014 and continues, to my knowledge, unresolved to this day — the case being over a decade old at this time.

I’m guessing that Batesville is glad that their litigation on these patents is over and probably very happy that they prevailed with their side of the argument.  They can now continue to concentrate their efforts on providing products that funeral providers can use to enhance their service.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Batesville Prevails in Patent Infringement Case Filed by Vandor; Continues Innovating with New Cremation Products

BATESVILLE, Ind., February 24, 2025 – Following a nearly two-year legal process, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana awarded summary judgment in favor of Batesville Casket Company, LLC and Batesville Services, LLC and against Vandor Group, Inc., rejecting Vandor’s claims that Batesville’s cardboard rental insert, which the company launched in 2011, infringed four of Vandor’s patents. Batesville vigorously disputed Vandor’s allegations of patent infringement and filed its own counterclaims requesting a declaration from the Court that Vandor’s patents were invalid. In its summary judgment decision, the Court agreed with Batesville that all four patents asserted by Vandor were invalid and dismissed Vandor’s infringement claims against Batesville in their entirety. Batesville’s motion for attorney’s fees is now pending before the Court.

“At Batesville, we take pride in bringing innovative and original solutions to market,” said Jenn Parvin, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Batesville. “The Court’s ruling allows us to put these  accusations behind us and continue designing and delivering the high-quality products that funeral professionals need and that families deserve.”

A trusted resource for cremation offerings for more than three decades, Batesville has an expansive assortment of products – from cremation urns and keepsakes to caskets and alternative containers, remembrance jewelry, and memorialization products. The company is continuously expanding and refining its product line to improve quality or performance, enhance functionality or deliver greater value.

“Our goal is not just to provide more products, but to provide the right products at the right price points that meet the functional needs of funeral directors and that deliver value to families,” said Parvin. “We have a lot of exciting things in development as we head into 2025.”

Since late 2023, Batesville has added more than 100 new cremation products, touching all categories, including a growing line of cremation containers, rental caskets and inserts. The company recently launched several products in this line.

• Fairview^™ 27 – the first rental casket offering personalization through the company’s patented LifeView^® panel
• Sureview^™ – a competitively priced rental insert that is stronger and easier to use
• NewPointe^® – entry-level cardboard cremation container

ABOUT BATESVILLE SERVICES, LLC

Batesville (www.Batesville.com) 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 market leader.

Service Corporation International (SCI) reported its 4th Quarter of 2024 as well as its 2024 Year End results last week.  Being as large a Death Care company as they are it is probably as close as one gets to an annual report on the status of Death Care in the North America when one digests their annual results.

Here is the press release from Service Corporation International on their 2024 4Q and 2024 Annual results which was released last week.

Here is what CEO Thomas Ryan said in prepared remarks in the press release, “We are pleased to report a strong finish for the year with adjusted earnings per share growth of 14% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This was driven by revenue growth in both our segments, which translated into solid gross profit performance and margin expansion. Growth in cemetery preneed sales production and higher funeral general agency revenue more than offset a decline in services performed during the quarter . . . . cash flow for the year allowed us to invest $181 million into the acquisition of 26 funeral homes and 6 cemeteries in major metropolitan markets and $62 million into real estate transactions to expand our footprint of funeral homes and cemeteries in our existing markets.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  There is a lot in this report and it takes some time to digest.  And, following the release of the company’s Earnings Call transcript I’ll probably provide more details and have more to say.  For the time being, here are some thoughts that I have. . .

Revenue: Total Revenue for SCI jumped from FY2023’s $4.099 billion to FY2024’s $4.186 billion — an increase of about $87 million or 2.11%.  The company probably also gained margin as the year went on because their 4Q24 revenue jumped 3.6% over the same number for 4Q23.  In my book, especially because they reported less services conducted on the year, that revenue increase is probably indicative of price increases.

SCI does report in their “Consolidated Funeral Segment” that revenue per services jumped to $5,651 in FY2024 over the FY2023 number of $5,536 — an increase of 2.1%.

Service Case Volume:  In the company’s “Consolidated Funeral Segment” results, SCI reports 355,074 services perfermed in FY2024 as compared to 358,873 services performed in FY2023 — a drop of about 1.1%.  From those numbers alone we don’t know if that drop is because of a loss of market share or simply because of less deaths occuring in their market areas.

Matthews International, in their quarterly report last week, explained away a lower unit sales of casket by what they termed as “less deaths”.  That may be correct and the case with SCI’s lower volume, but one might keep an eye on market share — especially when SCI tells us of the acquisition of 26 facilities during the year whose services numbers should also be included.  When contemplating that fact, however, we do not know when during the year, or even if, those acquisitions started contributing to the financial numbers.  In my opinion, however, the reported number of “Services Performed” will be a number worth watching in the future.

In what SCI calls their “Comparable Funeral Results” which is defined by “those businesses owned for the entire period beginning January 1, 2023 and ending December 31, 2024″,  the company shows an even steeper drop in “Services Performed” for the 4th Quarter of 2024.  SCI indicates a drop of 3,366 services performed during the 4th Quarter, compared to the year prior, which translates into a 3.8% decline for the period.

Again, that number being “Same Store” results. . . . is that indicative of a loss of market share or simply a number reflective of less deaths in their market regions?  I believe it is a number worth watching in the future.

Preneed:  In July 2024, SCI announced a new Preneed agreement with Global Atlantic as you can read from this Funeral Director Daily article on the subject.  We believe, that as is common with new partners, implementation to fine-tuned operations will take some time to get to.  In fact, the SCI report offers footnotes on that subject.

However, in reporting their “Comparable Preneed Sales Production” a Total Preneed sales dollar drop of 9.2% for the 4th Quarter of 2024 as compared to the 4th Quarter of 2023 is reported.  That, too, will need to be watched over time to see if the drop is simply in the implementation of a new policy, a change in accounting in moving from trusts to insurance-based preneed, or reflects a market share trend.

It could possibly reflect a market share trend based on the seemingly growing popularity of low-cost and/or online cremation puchases.  My thought is that the drop in preneed revenue could represent lower cremation sales prices to meet growing competition or simply losing clientele to lower priced online cremation providers.  In any case, this number bears watching in future quarterly reports.

Final Thoughts:  When I read these reports with my background in funeral home ownership I realize that the numbers simply give us a “point in time” reflection of a public company.  However, I think that bringing up questions and possibilities about the numbers is how one can “see into the future” to put their funeral home in the best possible situation to win customers in the future.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Service Corporation International.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

We’ve just been through a presidential election in America and in less than one week a new president will be inaugurated.  Anyone who watched that presidential election proceed and move to its conclusion over the past year would now know that “anything can happen” in American politics and just when you think you have seen it all. . . . .something you have never thought of pops up.

It’s just another reason why I’ve became a believer that “Truth can be stranger than fiction”.

I’m from the state of Minnesota and our politics are as strange as they are anywhere else.  Quite frankly, the state is like lots of other places at this point in time — very much equally divided among the liberals and the conservatives.

As a matter of fact, Minnesota is so equally divided that, as this article points out, the state legislature was set to begin today with 67 House members who are Democrats and 67 House members who are Republicans and the State Senate was set to convene with an even tie also. . .with 33 Democrats and 33 Republicans.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

However, nothing is as it seems — as in the House Democrats are down to 66 members because one of their victorious candidates had his residency challenged and lost that challenge. So, they are down to 66 and in the minority until a new election for that House district position takes place in late January.  And, as the above linked article points out the minority group is planning not to show up today so that a quorum is not present. . . which, if present, would let the Republicans elect the speaker and place the majorities on all committees because of their temporary 67-66 advantage.

And, in the Senate which normally has 67 members avoiding any ties, one Democrat member has passed away putting the number at 66 — 33 of each party.  In an even stranger twist, Republicans are trying to get Senate member Nicole Mitchell disqualified from voting until her burglary charge case is adjudicated in late January which would at least temporarily drop the Democrat number to 32 and give the Republicans the edge in that chamber also.

What exactly is one of the items that Mitchell is accused of stealing?  . . . . her father’s ashes.  There is more to that story, but here is what the USA Today reported last April when Sen. Mitchell was first arrested and charged:

“The Minnesota state senator who was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary said the incident unfolded at the home of a relative with dementia as she was trying to sneak in to retrieve her father’s ashes.”

We all saw the pathways of how the 2024 Presidential Election played out. . . . . now we have these types of issues happening.  Do you think that this is what our forefathers anticipated back on July 4, 1776, when our Declaration of Independence was adopted?

Related History— Here’s a story that Funeral Director Daily published on July 4, 2024, which gives a look at my “connection” to America’s Declaration of Indepence.

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Last week Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told reporters in this article that Netflix has no plans to pursue mergers and acquisitions next year. . . . .what is interesting about his comments is that he also said, “We are better builders than buyers”.

I found that a really interesting statement from a company that has grown its subscriber base from 34 million subscribers in 2013 to approximately 283 million subscribers this year.  In the article, Sarandos states that Netflix has done small acquisitions but re-iteretated, historically (we’ve) “. . . been a better builder”.

It made me think, “What about funeral homes?”  What are the options. . . and what works better — expanding and growing services organically or taking on debt to build or grow through acquisition?

It is an interesting question. . . and there is no right or wrong answer.  Growing organically by gaining more market share or expanding a geographic reach of a single location through marketing may be more profitable in a more immediate sense, but large gains in volume and profitability probably only come from acquisitions of other locations.

Yet, growing organically poses little downside, especially in the thought of long-term debt, whereas a purchase puts long-term debt on the table, which if all does not go as planned leaves a funeral home servicing debt from its present location.  i.e. acquisitions carry more risk. . . . and, you even see the large public companies sometimes talk about having too much debt.

Netflix and the streaming industry also has the idea of what I call “service flux” in common with funeral establishments.  While an acquisition by Netflix of a legacy media company such as a cable company creates risk in the possibility of many of those customers leaving cable (cutting the cable cord) for a streaming service that may not be Netflix should an acquisition happen.  In essence, it is a lot like a funeral home acquisition — there is no guarantee consumer families may continue to use the acquired funeral home (or the acquired cable firm).

That’s somewhat like purchasing a funeral home in a 50% cremation market that over the next few years might become a 70-80% cremation market.  i.e. a funeral home purchaser needs to almost have a crystal ball to know going forward the cremation percentage of his future business much like Netflix needs that crystal ball to know how many customers it will keep from an acquired company. . . . So that risk to a funeral home acquisition, in my opinion, is somewhat akin to the risk a streaming company might have when buying a legacy media company.

So, what if you want to grow your funeral business and are somewhat averse to the risk of long-term debt?  I was fortunate in my business that at times I stressed both ways of growth— at one time we put a strategy together to raise our market share organically and at another time we took on some debt to buy out a competitor.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Both strategies worked for us. . . . . but before you go after one of them you need to know and plan how you will implement your strategy.  In the case of organic market share we did it with a highly-defined strategy and maximum effort in preneed marketing and  sales.  Interestingly enough, we found that our additional marketing dollars put into our preneed campaign also brought benefits in the area of “Top of Mind” awareness by consumers at the time of At-Need deaths.

We also worked very hard to be the funeral home that could get the job done in the fashion that pleased the family.  Concentrating on satisfying families always played a role in building market share. . . . because to first build market share I contend that you have to retain market share of existing clientele.

We gained both in the At-Need death market share at the time of the campaign and the preneed effort solidified that market share expansion over time.

And in the case of acquisition expansion, I always made sure that I had a way to fund the on-going debt service in case that the acquisition plan didn’t materialize exactly as I thought it would.

Every week or so Funeral Director Daily has an article about an acquisition.  But don’t be fooled by that . . . . like Netflix does, the really good funeral homes are also building their location market share organically every single day. . . .That’s one of the best kept secrets that legacy funeral homes know and understand.

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