Everstory Partners, who may be the nation’s 2nd largest Death Care provider by serving over 65,000 families per year, recently announced completed renovations at their Cedar Hill Funeral Home just outside Washington, DC.  This press release from Everstory will give you more information on the recent transformation at the funeral home that serves about 1,400 families per year.

According to the press release, “Everstory Partners is transforming its funeral homes to emphasize hospitality and comfort for families.”

Again, according to the press release, “Everstory Partners’ mission is to create supportive spaces where individuals and families can find solace, meaning, and hope in the midst of loss. Since 1999, the company has grown to include 463 cemetery, funeral, and crematory locations serving more than 65,000 families a year across the United States (including Puerto Rico) on both a pre-need and at-need basis.”

Here is the website for Cedar Hills Funeral Home and Cemetery.

Here is the website for Everstory Partners.

LIlly Donohue
Everstory CEO

A Little History — You may recall that Everstory Partners grew out of the public company funeral home and cemetery operator StoneMor Partners that was taken private by Axar Capital Management in November 2022.  About a year later, the company re-branded as Everstory Partners.  Andrew Axelrod was the principal behind Axar Capital Management and today serves as the Chairman of the Board of Everstory Partners.  The day-to-day operations have been led by President and Chief Executive Officer Lilly Donohue since the take private movement in 2022.

The “Quiet Company” — If you Google “the quiet company” you will come up with at least one result that mentions Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company who branded that way at one time.  Google’s definition of “the quiet company” said this, “formerly Northwestern Mutual, a financial giant noted for its understated, trust-focused approach.”

Northwestern Mutual has re-branded with a bolder approach than being the “quiet company” but I remember that moniker because I used Northwestern Mutual as the cornerstone of my financial holdings when I started in business over 40 years ago.  There is no doubt that they were understated, but financially strong with great ideas and avenues for their clients.

I bring this up because when I checked up on Everstory Partners I was very impressed with what I have seen in the past three years as to the development of the company . . . .and I had not heard much about what they were doing.  Here’s a brief video of Everstory Partners being featured on Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid that will give you some insight on how they have been rebuilding the company since the take private moment.

Like Northwestern Mutual, I could not help but think that Everstory Partners is restoring an “understated and trust-focused” approach to what they are doing. . . . and, that should bode well for them moving into the future.

More news from the world of Death Care:

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,201 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily

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

In this very brief press release issued out of Toronto, Ontario, last weekend funeral home and cemetery operator Park Lawn Corporation announced that they had acquired two free-standing funeral homes in Colorado’s Western Slope.  The press release announced that they had purchased substantially all of the assets of Hood Mortuary located in Durango, Colorado and in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

When you look at the website of Hood Mortuary, which you can access here, it appears that these two funeral homes were under common ownership.

Jennifer Hay
Park Lawn CEO

Jennifer W. Hay, Chief Executive Officer of Park Lawn Corporation made these prepared comments in the press release, “We are pleased to deepen our Colorado presence through the strategic acquisition of the Hood businesses.  These outstanding businesses will allow us to better serve the communities of the Western Slope and will be an excellent addition to our existing portfolio of high-quality businesses in Colorado.” 

According to the press release, Park Lawn Corporation operates businesses in two Canadian provinces and 17 of the United States.

Park Lawn Leadership Changes —  This is the first press release we have seen from Park Lawn Corporation that lists Ms. Hay as the Chief Executive Officer.  For the last several years Mr. J. Bradley Green had been in that position.

I first learned in late April that Mr. Green was no longer with Park Lawn Corporation.  To date, at least that I can find on their website, the company has issued no public press release on Mr. Green’s departure nor Ms. Hay’s ascension to the top position at Park Lawn Corporation.  The last notice that we had on leadership changes at Park Lawn Corporation was a press release on September 10, 2024, about one month after the company was taken private.  Funeral Director Daily published this article on those personnel moves on September 12, 2024.

The Female Leaders — Jennifer Hay joins Lilly Donohue as CEO’s of two of the largest four funeral home and cemetery consolidators in North America.  Lilly Donohue has been, for the past couple of years, the CEO of Everstory Partners, a private company operating over 450 funeral home and cemetery locations in North America and Puerto Rico.

LIlly Donohue
Everstory CEO

While Everstory Partners and Park Lawn Corporation are now private companies and revenue numbers are somewhat hard to come by, I don’t think it is a stretch to suggest that Service Corporation International, Everstory Partners, Carriage Services, and Park Lawn Corporation are the four largest funeral home/cemetery businesses (by revenue) in North America.

On the topic of female leadership, here’s an article on the Lisa Baue led movement for women’s leadership in funeral service.  There is no doubt that the number of women in funeral service is greatly increasing and Hay, Donohue, and Baue have the opportunity with their positions to promote and increase female leadership in the profession.

More news from the world of Death Care:

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,164 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily:

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