Mustache Causes Embalming Disaster | FFFW 257

Y’all, we have reached one of the greatest months of the year! November has it all: great weather, great food, and a top 5 holiday! What more can you ask for?

So, we have plenty of reasons to celebrate, and we’re going to get going on that.

Introducing The Memo by MemoryShare

New monthly newsletter!

“The Memo” is for funeral directors to stay updated on the latest tools, pro-tips, video tricks, and technology op-eds in the funeral profession. Subscribers will get exclusive access to early offers, discounts, and feature releases.

To subscribe to The Memo, click the button below.

[Subscribe Now]

Ask the Funeral Dude!

Question:
“We said ‘casual attire.’ Half the chapel heard ‘NFL tailgate.’ Is there a nice way to steer dress code after invites go out?” — Paula, IL

Answer:
Here’s the deal: you have to realize that you live in an area where “dressing up” probably means wearing an American Eagle polo and khaki shorts. Honestly, you’re lucky they didn’t pull up in sweatpants and heydudes. I would say count yourself as lucky and just require ties at any event you don’t want to be a redneck spectacle.

Trivia

Choose the correct answer and you’ll see a puppy. Get it wrong and you’ll see someone hurting themselves.

The Civil War’s most famous embalmer, Dr. Thomas Holmes, claimed he embalmed about how many bodies?

A) 400
B) 4,000
C) 40,000

You Otter Be Proud

Here’s some good news going on in the profession.

1. This Milford nonprofit helps families with high funeral costs
2. People Magazine Covers Funeral Profession Story
3. Fifth-generation funeral director Jeff Monreal helps families grieve, celebrate loved ones

ICCFA Experience Might Be a Disaster or It Could Be the Best Convention Ever

Let’s be real – funeral conferences have been like reruns of the same boring sitcom since the early 2000s. Same topics, different faces. Leadership pep talks, managing millennials (newsflash: they’re already halfway to middle age now), and some tech chatter that barely scratches the surface of what’s actually needed to make a meaningful impact. It’s like eating oatmeal every morning without the cinnamon or brown sugar – bland and borderline painful.

And honestly, the word “experience” is not something we’ve ever associated with a funeral conference. More like a sleep-inducing lecture marathon interrupted by the occasional awkward coffee break. But hey, it’s 2025, and ICCFA President Lee Longino says we can do better. Like, way better.

So, what’s happening? The ICCFA Convention and Expo is now called the ICCFA Experience. Yeah, “experience.” As in, a festival-style, circus-themed, let’s-actually-make-this-fun-for-once experience. They’re basically giving a big ol’ middle finger to the ‘boring conference’ model and replacing it with something that sounds like an immersive funeral-themed Coachella. And here’s the kicker – it’s happening at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Because if you’re going to try something wild, might as well go full Vegas, right?

But with this much ambition, it’s either going to be pure magic or a glorious disaster. So, what’s the deal? Why is ICCFA shaking up the funeral conference scene?

The Big Problem – And Why You Should Care

Let’s face it: Cremation rates are skyrocketing, and most funeral homes are clinging to the past like their lives depend on it. It’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. According to Lee Longino, the industry has been throwing the cremation customer into a burial box and then wondering why they’re going elsewhere to celebrate their loved ones.

The average cremation rate is pushing 60%, with some areas hitting even higher numbers. And of those, roughly 75% are direct cremations. Let’s do some quick math: If you’re trading in $12,000 burial averages for $2,000 direct cremations, you’re financially digging your own grave. No pun intended.

But Lee isn’t about whining over lost revenue. He’s about changing the entire game. And to do that, you have to make the funeral experience about – you guessed it – the experience. Funeral homes that aren’t willing to cater to what the cremation customer actually wants are getting left in the dust. And ICCFA’s new conference model is meant to give the industry the tools to fix that.

So, What’s Actually Different?

Lee and the ICCFA crew are scrapping the old model. Gone are the days of rigid, “three-topic-special” conferences where attendees sit in rooms, pretending to be interested in cookie-cutter seminars. Instead, you’ve got a festival-style setup with three stages inside the expo hall. One big stage for keynotes, two smaller ones for hands-on, practical sessions. It’s like a TED Talk meets South by Southwest meets, well, funerals.

But that’s not all. They’ve moved the President’s Banquet to the opening night to kick things off with a bang. Also, rather than shoving food and drinks into random hallways, they’re bringing in a food truck village and strategically placing bars throughout the space. Because networking is better with tacos and cocktails.

Oh, and attendees will be rocking QR-coded name tags for seamless lead generation. Vendors no longer have to pray to the gods of “conference lists” – they can scan and connect with real leads on the spot.

The Circus Is in Town – And That’s A Good Thing

The whole event is circus-themed. Yes, you read that right. Complete with all the chaos, creativity, and thrill of a big-top event. But with actual strategy and substance packed into it. Think festival grounds with multiple stages, interactive sessions, and experts ready to drop knowledge bombs on everything from revenue generation to how to convert direct cremation families.

If that doesn’t at least pique your curiosity, you might need to check your pulse.

But Let’s Be Real – Could This Be A Disaster?

This entire shift is a risk. Any time you try to overhaul an established system, there’s a good chance things go sideways. But you know what’s worse than taking a risk and failing? Taking no risk at all.

Funeral directors who sit back and hope things magically get better are going to be left behind. The ICCFA Experience is designed to force you to level up. They’re providing the environment, the experts, and the resources. The only thing they can’t do is walk into your business and make changes for you.

Why You Need To Be There

This isn’t just about another conference. It’s about taking action. As Lee Longino himself said, “No one can celebrate life better than we can.” And if you’re not part of the conversation, you’re going to get left out of the future of death care.

And here’s the wild part: Pre-registration numbers have already doubled last year’s attendance. Clearly, people are paying attention. So, are you going to be part of it or not?

Register at https://iccfa.com/annual/ and make sure you’re in Vegas from April 30th to May 3rd. Worst case? You walk away with a handful of ideas that won’t make your business worse. Best case? You walk away with strategies that transform how you do business.

Do you want to be on the frontlines of the new era of death care? Or do you want to keep pretending the oatmeal is good just the way it is?

Dealing with Cemetery Disinterment and Displacement after a Natural Disaster

In the weeks since Hurricane Helene dumped a deluge of rain on the already-saturated Southeast, thousands of heartbreaking videos of the aftermath have hit YouTube. One of these videos, which focused on search and rescue/recovery efforts in Avery County, North Carolina, illustrated a problem that often accompanies disastrous flooding: Casket displacement, retrieval, and identification.

In that video, which was posted on October 8, a reporter from Queen City News of Charlotte traveled along with deputies from a search and rescue team along the Elk River as they looked for a casket that drone footage had picked up days earlier.

“That’s somebody’s loved one out there that we need to bring home,” one deputy said. “They’re not garbage. We don’t need to leave them out on the riverbank. We need to bring everyone home.”

Deputies couldn’t get to the casket because the area’s roads had been obliterated by Helene. The National Guard was brought in to hike the miles of terrain in search of the casket, which was coffin-shaped and appeared to be quite old. The reporter ended the video saying that the Guard members’ efforts were unsuccessful that day, but they’d be back to continue the search. 

A common problem

Videos showing caskets racing down a raging river or images of caskets and gaping vaults poking awkwardly out of graves aren’t at all uncommon after natural disasters that dump torrential amounts of rain on a community. But it’s not just flooding that can displace a gravesite; mudslides, high water tables, and storm surges can also wreak havoc. 

The following incidents of unearthed caskets — and the problems that accompany them — were reported just within the last 10 months:

Hurricane Ida, mentioned in the last item above, unearthed 282 caskets when it pummeled southeast Louisiana in 2021. More than 1,500 gravesites were destroyed, displaced, or dislocated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And the totals from Hurricane Helene could take months or longer to tally.

Many believe the problem is only going to get worse as the ecological effects of climate change escalate. In addition to water-related tragedies, climate change is sparking wildfires that obliterate gravestones, turning cemeteries into swamps as permafrost melts in Alaska, and storm surges and rising sea leaves are steadily eroding coastal land, including cemeteries where the long-dead rest.

Why it happens

The science behind the disinterment-by-water phenomenon is pretty basic. Modern airtight caskets and vaults simply build up pressure when surrounded by water. Sealed vault tops pop open, and caskets become so buoyant that they float up and out of the grave. Once displaced, the incredible force of rushing water (weighing about 1,700 pounds per cubic yard, one foot of flood water can displace 1,500 pounds) can send caskets, vaults, and remains on a journey that lands them miles away from their original location.

Cities in low-lying areas (like New Orleans, for example) mitigate potential disinterment by burying their dead above-ground. This doesn’t prevent displacement, though, as Hurricane Katrina proved in 2005. In the end, Mother Nature can always find a way to conquer cemeteries.

The conundrum of recovery

The aforementioned situation in Avery County, North Carolina brings up a polarizing issue: how should authorities prioritize recovery efforts for the long-dead when so many of the recently presumed dead are still missing? There’s truly no right or good answer.

However and whenever a casket is recovered, though, there are certain protocols that are followed to try to identify and hopefully re-inter the deceased. Many can be identified by the casket’s serial number or the scrolls in the casket’s memory tube. If that’s not an option, the casket’s contents will be searched for items deposited with the body or personalized details like embroidered pillows or lid panels. Jewelry and clothing can also help with identification. If those efforts aren’t successful, DNA, dental records, or serial numbers on replacement body parts are usually last-ditch options. Often these duties are performed by the government’s DMORT teams, which are made up of deathcare professionals and other specialists.

After identification, families, cemetery workers, volunteer organizations, and government units work together to rebury the remains. In 2016, Louisiana formed a Cemetery Response Task Force to coordinate the multifaceted work of restoring cemeteries and their inhabitants to their original state after a natural disaster. After Hurricanes Laura and Delta, the task force solicited “Good Samaritan” volunteers and encouraged families and cemetery owners/managers to apply for an $8,000-per-grave award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for cemetery repairs.

Sadly, some of the deceased are never located, while some of those that are located are never identified. Three years after 2021’s Hurricane Ida, Louisiana’s task force is still working to identify 40 bodies in the Ironton area; the remains are temporarily stored in two semi trailers as families patiently waited for word on their loved ones.

Mitigation and preparation

For inactive or abandoned cemeteries, little can be done to prepare for natural disasters or mitigate potential disinterment or displacement. Some families have covered graves with sandbags ahead of a storm or created heavy-duty bolted-together concrete contraptions as a long-term solution. 

However, most emergency response authorities encourage active cemeteries to create mitigation plans to better prepare for the possibility of a catastrophe. In 2016, the Natural Hazards Center published Preserving the Dead: Cemetery Preservation and Disaster Planning, a document that detailed the potential impact to cemeteries from weather-related tragedies and offered recommendations on how to prepare. These steps included evaluating high-risk topography like low-lying flood-prone areas, ensuring cemetery records are complete and secure, and the entire property is thoroughly and accurately surveyed and mapped. The document also recommends maintaining proper insurance coverage and remaining aware of government resources.

While no one can always predict how or when a natural disaster will impact a cemetery, families will appreciate the fact that the property is prepared for recovery when and if it becomes necessary.