Selected Leadership Academy Celebrates Graduating Class

2023-2025 Graduating Class Honored as New Participants Welcomed

CHICAGO, Ill. – May 6, 2025 — Members of Selected Independent Funeral Homes’ Leadership Academy created another memorable Leadership Conference in Centennial, CO on April 29 – May 2.

The event kicked off with orientation for the Academy’s new 2025-2027 class. The conference continued with a variety of events and activities, including members of the graduating class, Second Wind, giving their individual Capstone presentations prior to their graduation ceremony.

This year’s graduates are:

• Matt Asta, Whitney & Murphy Funeral Home in Phoenix, Arizona
• Stacy Billow, The Billow Company in Akron, Ohio
• Meghan Burmeister, Busch Funeral and Crematory Services in Cleveland, Ohio
• Hyrum Heward, Larkin Mortuary in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Jill Lazar, Hoffman Funeral Home & Crematory in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• Joeylynne Luck, Panebaker Funeral Home & Cremation Care Center, Inc. in Hanover, Pennsylvania
• Francis Maggiore, Keohane Funeral Home in Quincy, Massachusetts
• Doug Reinbold, Reinbold-Novak Funeral Home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
• Jason Storm, Starks Family Funeral Homes in St. Joseph, Michigan
• Ping Wu, Cypress Lawn in Colma, California

“It was exciting to celebrate the Academy’s twelfth graduating class,” said Melanie Hofmann, Professional Development and Events Manager. “When developing this program more than a decade ago, it was built on the mission to teach principles of leadership to current and emerging leaders within Selected member firms. Today we have more than 100 members who have experienced this meaningful and impactful program. It’s a testament to how Selected members truly are committed to life-long learning and being leaders, no matter position or title.”

Selected is grateful for ASD, the Academy’s Official Partner.

About the Selected Leadership Academy: The Selected Leadership Academy is a personalized journey for those, no matter title or position, who believe their leadership matters and choose to become better. It is open to anyone actively engaged in the daily operations of a Selected member firm who is inspired to expand their leadership skills. For more than a decade, the Academy has focused on building and supporting leaders because leadership is so deeply woven into the fabric of Selected’s culture.

About Selected Independent Funeral Homes: Selected Independent Funeral Homes delivers innovative and pertinent resources, solutions and ongoing support necessary for enduring excellence to its international network of independently owned death-care providers who aspire to be the very best in their profession. Members of Selected operate according to specific standards and best practices to provide the public with reliable, high-quality service and funeral-related information.

Leadership Starts Here: NFDA Announces 2025-26 Class of Emerging Leaders 

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is thrilled to introduce the 17 funeral service professionals selected to participate in the 2025-26 National Emerging Leaders Program. This year-long leadership development experience empowers participants to grow as visionary, values-driven leaders in their funeral homes, communities and the profession at large. 

Since its inception, the National Emerging Leaders Program has nurtured nearly 60 promising professionals, providing them with the skills, knowledge and confidence to lead with purpose. Through a combination of in-person and virtual learning, mentorship and invaluable networking, participants are equipped to inspire meaningful change in funeral service. 

The 2025-26 program will begin with a retreat at NFDA headquarters in Brookfield, Wisconsin, in June, and will conclude at the 2026 NFDA Leadership Conference. Participants will also engage in a series of approximately seven virtual learning sessions throughout the year, led by top funeral service leaders and experts from outside the profession. 

The members of the 2025-26 National Emerging Leaders Program class are:

• Kerri Bittner, Elm Ridge Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Muncie, Indiana
• Elijah Bragg, Heritage Funeral and Cremation, Spokane, Washington
• Dane Chasca, McPherson Funeral Services, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
• Renee Childs, A.A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Home, Chicago, Illinois
• Madison Crihfield, Covington Funeral Home, Covington, Tennessee
• Desirae Delgado, Harrell Funeral Homes, Austin, Texas
• Ryan Drake, Watkins Brothers Funeral Homes, Owosso, Michigan
• Monica Hall, Hill’s Mortuary, Statesboro, Georgia
• Caitlin Johnson, Evanson Jensen Funeral Home, Mott, North Dakota
• Nicole Lutz, Mueller Memorial, Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Michael McGaffigan, McGaffigan Funeral Home, Pepperell, Massachusetts
• Andrea Rief, Hoy Kilnoski Funeral Home, Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Tina Spedden, Lee Funeral Homes, Owings, Maryland
• Loran Spence, Carmon Community Funeral Homes, Windsor, Connecticut
• Jarell Springfield, Calumet Park Funeral Chapel, Merrillville, Indiana
• Katlyn Taueetia, Coleman-Taylor Funeral Services, Cecil, Pennsylvania
• Tyler Wilson, Arch L. Heady & Son Funeral Home – Okolona Chapel, Louisville, Kentucky 

“Leadership is not about a title – it’s about service, vision and impact,” said NFDA President Christopher P. Robinson, CFSP, CCO. “NFDA’s National Emerging Leaders Program is one of the most important ways we’re preparing the next generation of professionals to carry our profession forward with integrity and innovation. I congratulate this year’s class and look forward to watching their growth and leadership in the years to come.” 

The program is open to all licensed funeral professionals in the United States and Canada – regardless of NFDA membership – who are in the early stages of their careers. Participants are selected through a competitive application process. NFDA extends its sincere thanks to the Funeral Service Foundation for its generous support of the National Emerging Leaders Program. 

“The leaders we cultivate today will shape the future of funeral service,” said John Heald, chair of the Funeral Service Foundation Board of Trustees. “That’s why the Funeral Service Foundation is proud to support this transformative program: it equips talented professionals with the tools, connections and confidence they need to grow, lead and make a lasting difference in the communities they serve.” 

To learn more about the program, visit NFDA.org/EmergingLeaders. 

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit NFDA.org. 

A class-action lawsuit will begin a hearing today in a Tennessee court involving disturbing allegations that the remains of hundreds of people were mishandled.

Opening statements are expected from the lawyers representing relatives about 1,200 deceased, who claim the remains of their loved ones were not handled with dignity but were instead put in graves where other people had been buried and caskets were crushed to make room for more.

The lawsuit also claims some bodies were lost at the Galilee Memorial Gardens cemetery, which was shut down in 2014.

The class-action also alleges that licensed funeral homes sent bodies to Galilee cemetery for three years after the cemetery said its registration expired in December 2010.

More than a dozen Memphis-area funeral homes allegedly failed to carry out their “sacred and contractual duties” for vulnerable, mourning relatives who expected their loved ones to be interred with dignity, according to an Associated Press story that ran Sept. 3 in the Chillicothe Gazette.

The news story said investigations revealed that Galilee’s owners, the Lambert family, misplaced hundreds of bodies, buried multiple cadavers in the same grave, and crushed caskets to fit them into single plots for years.

The funeral homes deny allegations of breach of contract, negligence and infliction of emotional distress. They claim they did not violate customers’ contracts and did not have a contractual relationship with Galilee. The funeral homes argue they had no duty to monitor Galilee’s licensing and are not liable for the cemetery’s actions.

Jemar Lambert, who took over the cemetery’s operations after his father died, received 10 years’ probation in a plea deal with state prosecutors for his role in the mishandling of burials. He left behind disorganized records and many families who don’t know where their loved ones are buried. Galilee is also a defendant in the lawsuit.

UPDATED 2019: A jury found Galilee 99% responsible and awarded $7,500 for each body – roughly $9 million.  However, last August a class-action lawsuit was filed against the lead attorney representing the 1,200 plaintiffs in the case, alleging legal malpractice. The lawsuit claims the lead attorney “refused to entertain, respond to, and accept over $25 million in settlement offers made by the Funeral Home Defendants during the trial…” The defendants deny the allegations,

More information on the plaintiffs’ complaints and court filings is here: http://galileememorialabuse.com/