Late last week we received this press release that indicates that Park Lawn Corporation acquired eight stand-alone funeral homes in locations spanning the greater Oklahoma City market.  It represents Park Lawn’s entrance into the state of Oklahoma.

The press release announced “Park Lawn Corporation is pleased to announce that, effective December 1^st, it acquired substantially all of the assets of Service Group of Oklahoma (SGOK), a group of businesses consisting of eight stand-alone funeral homes with locations spanning the greater Oklahoma City market.”

Jennifer W. Hay, CEO of Park Lawn made the following prepared comment in the press release about the transaction, “Entering Oklahoma marks an exciting milestone in our growth strategy. These eight locations have deep ties to the communities they serve, and we’re proud to support their continued tradition of excellence.  We are pleased to welcome Chad Vice, John Davenport and the entire SGOK team to Park Lawn.  Their passion, expertise and commitment to service make them an outstanding addition to our organization.”

You can access the Park Lawn Corporation website here.  

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Acquiring eight established funeral homes around one major city in the United States will certainly add to the numbers of Park Lawn Corporation.  From my point of view, and this is only an anecdotal observation, it seems to me that the large national acquisition and operating companies have almost completely moved on from acquisitions in what I would call Regional Centers and are very much concentrating on what I would term mid-major and major cities almost exclusively.

That strategy makes sense. . . . . the numbers of deaths and the economies of scale make those communities very attractive to the large scale companies that can raise the combination of capital and secure the debt that it takes to acquire them.  It also allows for future “bolt-on” acquisitions in the future that can make those markets even more profitable for the operators.

If that is the strategy it leaves a lot of great communities and their funeral homes, probably outside of America’s largest 50 markets, available for acquisition by the next tier of consolidators — those that compete in a more regional sphere.  That’s good news for those operators.

While the brand names of the eight funeral homes acquired were not listed in the Park Lawn press release, here are the websites of those funeral homes that we believe may be included in the acquisition.

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Amy Cunningham is a friend of mine.  She was a writer/editor who has become a funeral director and she has teased me that I was a funeral director who has became a writer/editor with Funeral Director Daily.

This second career for Ms. Cunningham has brought her to the forefront of a growing movement in America. . . the movement of Green Burials.  What is interesting about Amy Cunningham, however, is that she is not in some rural community in flyover country, but her and her funeral business are located in New York City and she is thriving in the world of Green Burials in that concrete environment.

This article from BK Reader and titled “Green Burials take root in Brooklyn” will give you a little idea about some of the thinking that is going on there when it comes to the world of “environmentally friendly” Death Care options.  For instance, Green-Wood Cemetery in the city allows the deceased to be buried anywhere in the cemetery in a non-treated pine box or burial basket.

Theresa Wozunk, a memorial counselor at Green-Wood is quoted in the above article saying, “It’s certainly not traditional but interest, in general, is way up.”  In fact, the article mentions that,  “Inquiries about placing the body directly in the earth, forgoing embalming and using biodegradable materials have increased so much (that) staff there organized an hours-long seminar this fall that was packed with about 80 curious residents, death doulas and family members planning after-death care.”

Funeral Director Cunningham is also quoted in the article saying,  “People who choose green burials like to think that their body has a usefulness to the earth.” 

And while any type of burial at Green-Wood is not inexpensive, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, about 33 miles north of Brooklyn also offers a natural burial ground with a less costly grave site.  You can see information on that cemetery here.

Related — Here is the website for “Fitting Tribute Funeral Services”, Amy Cunningham’s funeral service in NYC.

Related Article —  Green Burials:  Old methods a new option for funerals.  The Signal (Nova Scotia – Canada)

Funeral Director Daily take:  There is no doubt that what I term the “Niche” funeral choices, such as Green Burials will grow in popularity over time.  There may actually be some emotional correlation between big cities and Green Burials.  Emotionally we know about the contrast that the more involved in technology we get, the more human contact we crave.

Maybe there is also some correlation between living in a very large city and craving a more simple way of Death Care?  That might explain what seems to be an odd, and seemingly growing, acceptance of Green Burials in large cities.

I also think that Green Burials will become more popular overall when a nexxus is reached between “interest” and “opportunity”.  I think that there is a lot of interest in the idea at this time, but the businesses that can and will provide an easier “commercial opportunity” for the public are not built-out as yet.  I think that will come providing easier access for the consumer and Green Burials will grow in commonality at that time.

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

Golf courses, in this day and age, are incredibly expensive to build.  It’s not only the land acquisition costs but you have the costs involved in shaping the fairways and the greens, building a clubhouse and equipment garages, and, of course, the holding costs while the landscape grows into a playable course.

I don’t exactly know what it costs to build a cemetery.  You’ve got acquisition costs and you have the build-out of columbariums and mausoleums, so I’m sure it is not inexpensive either.  And, like a golf course growing into playing shape, you also have a holding costs for certain forms of revenue such as interment costs until deaths have occured.

There is a debate going on right now in Australia’s largest city about turning the Carnarvon Golf Course into a “modern memorial park“.  It turns out that about 10,000 people are buried in Sydney each year and the Metropolitan Memorial Parks (MMP) CEO Denise Ora claims that there is a “pressing need” for more burial space.

One of her suggestions is to take over the Carnarvon Golf Course and turn it into a cemetery.  Ms. Ora is quoted in this article from ABC News Australia as saying, “Our vision for the Carnarvon site is to create a modern memorial park that not only meets essential burial needs but provides a public space for the whole community.”

As you can imagine, not everybody is excited about the Metropolitan Memorial Parks’ plan for Carnarvon Golf Course.  Local Member of Parliament (MP) Lynda Voltz described the plan as “lazy and short-sighted“.

Voltz continued with these comments in this article that appeared in Australian Golf Digest, “To look at any golfing facility and other sporting facilities as just land that they can make alternative plans for… this is the sixth golf course that we’ve seen under attack in Sydney, and it won’t be the last, but the fact is Carnarvon is our busiest sporting precinct.   Between Carnarvon and the soccer fields at Coleman Park, they are full all the time. Every single day of the week, it’s packed with cars. There’s 2,000 members, there’s a waiting list. There are 1,500 booked rounds a week, and then there’s walk-ins on top of it. . . . . .You’re talking about working class people here [who enjoy] this cheap, public golf course. . . . . ”

According to the Australian Golf Digest article, a round of golf at Canarvon Golf Course is priced at AUS $49 which is the equivilent of US $30. . . .

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I find this controversy interesting.  While I understand that people want cemeteries near where they live, I had not thought that a country as expansive as Australia would have worries about running out of cemetery space. . . . especially when they have a 70% cremation rate at this time.  And, space for cremation memorialization is less than would be necessary than for full-body burials.

I also find it interesting, and I question that in a finite area such as a city limits if a cemetery would have a majority of citizens choose it over the other options of having a golf course and/or other recreational facilities available for the residents.  It will be interesting to see what happens with this situation as it moves forward.

A Not So Serious Take on This Subject:  I’ve been a big fan of the 1980 filmed comedy movie “Caddyshack” over the years.  It is one of my all-time favorite movies and in the day of video movie rentals and/or purchases, I’m guessing that I had watched it over 20 times.  One of the favorite lines of the movie is spoke by comedian Rodney Dangerfield playing a wealthy real estate developer when he says, “I tell ya, country clubs and cemeteries, the biggest wasters of prime real estate.  Dead people, they don’t want to be buried nowadays. Ecology, right?”

Related — Here is an archived article about cemeteries, golf courses, and the use of water.  It actually refers to the Dangerfield line in the article.

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