Who Will Lead NFDA? Meet the 2025 NFDA Election Candidates 

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Leadership Development Committee has announced the slate of qualified candidates for open positions on the NFDA Board of Directors. 

Officer Candidates

Qualified NFDA members will elect officers via an electronic ballot from June 12-25, 2025. Those elected will serve a one-year term beginning after the 2025 NFDA International Convention & Expo. The individual elected as president-elect will automatically assume the role of president following the 2026 NFDA Convention. The candidates for officer positions are:

• President-elect:
  • Chris E. Christian, CFSP, CCO – Christian-Sells Funeral Home, Rogersville, Tennessee
• Treasurer:  
  • Steven Spann, CFSP, CCO – Spann Funeral Home, Dickson, Tennessee
• Secretary:  
  • Homer E. Elwood Jr., CFSP, CCO – Gray Funeral Home Inc., Clinton, South Carolina
  • Ellen Wynn McBrayer, CFSP, CPC, CCO – Jones-Wynn Funeral Home & Crematory, Villa Rica, Georgia 

At-Large Representative Candidates 

During the NFDA Leadership Conference, August 3-6 in Napa, California, state association representatives will elect two at-large representatives to the Board of Directors. Each elected representative will serve a two-year term beginning after the 2025 NFDA Convention. State association representatives are the voting representatives from each state who cast the votes on behalf of their state for the at-large representatives on the NFDA Board of Directors. The candidates for at-large representative positions are:  

• Carlos D. Black – Small’s Mortuary and Cremation Services, Mobile, Alabama
• Christopher Costello – Mothe Funeral Homes LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana

Get to Know the Candidates 

NFDA members are encouraged to visit NFDA.org/Elections to view candidate profiles and stay up to date on election details. To ensure all eligible members receive voting credentials and important election communications, NFDA must have accurate contact information for all licensed funeral directors at member firms, including:

• The name and unique email address of the primary contact (must be a licensed funeral director)
• The names and unique email addresses of all licensed funeral directors at the firm

 Members can verify or update their contact details by:

• Calling their NFDA Member Services Representative at 800-228-6332
• Updating their profile at NFDA.org/My-Profile

 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.

Weird Ways That Cemeteries & Caskets Made News on Election Day

As this election season seems to have been one of the oddest in American history, it might not be a surprise that last week, several cemeteries and a former president’s casket shared the news spotlight with pundits and polling places. Because … why not?

Just check out these election day headlines — and what deathcare can learn from them:

Were Kansas-area Republicans being ironic when they picked a “mortuary” as their election night watch party? Whatever their strategy, Cozine Life Events Center probably hosted one of the most celebratory and lively events in its history. The facility is described as “part of the Cozine Memorial Group, ‘conveniently located adjacent to beautiful Kensington Gardens cemetery in thriving northeast Wichita.’” Although the center often plays host to large funerals and receptions, a reporter from The Wichita Eagle found a crowd of “giddy Republicans on cellphones and tablets counting up win after win” last Tuesday.

If you’ve had reservations about opening your event space (or adding one) for community events, the success of this party should reassure you that there will always be occasions and audiences who love to gather in lovely places.

Inspired by Susan B. Anthony’s “defiant act of voting” in the 1872 presidential election, women voters in Rochester, New York covered her gravestone with their “I voted” stickers last week. It’s a tradition that began during the 2016 Clinton vs. Trump election cycle and continued with the 2024 race — both of which offered the potential outcome of electing the country’s first female president. In 2020, officials at Mount Hope Cemetery placed plexiglass around the stones of Anthony and her sister to protect the granite from the expected barrage of stickers. Incidentally, Anthony’s home — and the place where she was arrested two weeks after her crime — is now a museum … as well as an early voting location.

This physical, intentional tribute to someone whom these passionate visitors never met but nonetheless admired shows the enduring value of permanent memorialization. Having a place to go to honor someone who has passed is still important.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the U.S. Army released a “heavily redacted” report detailing an August  incident involving a member of Donald Trump’s staff at Arlington National Cemetery. According to reports, the staffer shoved a cemetery official who was trying to enforce the cemetery’s photography policies. Although Trump was invited to Arlington by family members of service members killed in the 2021 during their withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is assumed that the cemetery official believed photographs of the ceremony would have framed the visit as a campaign-related event. Federal law prohibits campaign and election-related activities within Army national military cemeteries. The investigation is still ongoing.

Rules are rules, and whatever rules you have in place at your funeral home or cemetery have to be enforced — just like this cemetery official was trying to do. At the same time, no one wants a “scene,” an altercation, or a confrontation that has to involve law enforcement. Although no one can prepare for every potential problem during such highly-emotional events as funerals, but sharing the rules, regulations, and expectations ahead of time and having a response plan in place should anything occur could go a long way.

Several pieces of presidential memorabilia will be up for auction on November 22, including the flag that draped Abraham Lincoln’s casket during its 1600-mile, seven-state, and two-week journey on Lincoln’s funeral train. The flag, on the back of which Lincoln’s April 14, 1865 assassination date is inked, is expected to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

Very few funeral directors will conduct services for presidents, dignitaries, or celebrities, and not every flag, program, or trinket will become valuable memorabilia worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But as you know, families will find momentous value in the treasured mementos the keep from their loved ones’ life celebrations or memorial services, whether it’s the flag from the casket of a veteran, a flower from the pall of a beloved mom, or the beautiful register book or order of service you provide for them.

It was a fairly uncommon occurence on October 30 when the two largest public funeral home and cemetery operating companies reported their 3rd Quarter results on the same day.  Both companies, Service Corporation International (SCI) and Carriage Services, reported “after the financial markets closed’ that day.  So, the first trading that could be done post-reports was Thursday, October 31.

It was obvious that shareholders and market watchers liked what they heard from SCI and Carriage Services because both companies stock price began increasing.  It was also interesting that after the Presidential election on Tuesday stocks, in general, had an advance through Friday’s closing.

Funeral Director Daily will not give any commentary on this issue but will provide some links where you may find more information on these companies at the bottom of this article for your use.

Here is how the stock price performed during those eight days between October 30 and November 8 for both SCI and Carriage Services:

Service Corporation International

• Stock Price as of closing on October 30:  $78.50 / share
• Stock Price as of closing on November 8:  $86.99 / share
• Percentage Increase:  +10.8%

Carriage Services

• Stock Price as of closing on October 30:  $32.65
• Stock Price as of closing on November 8:  $39.39
• Percentage Increase:  +20.6%

For comparison purposes, here are the closing prices of the Dow Jones 30 and the NASDAQ 100 for the period since the Presidential election:

Dow Jones 30:

• Stock Index as of closing on Monday, November 4:  41,794
• Stock Index as of closing on Friday, November 8:  43,988
• Stock Index Percentage Increase:  +5.2%

NASDAQ 100

• Stock Index as of closing on Monday, November 4:  19,963
• Stock Index as of closing on Friday, November 8:  21,117
• Stock Index Percentage Increase:  +8.8%

Related Articles:

Disclaimer:  The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily holds stock positions in both Service Corporation International and Carriage Services.

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

Election Day Trivia: Fun Facts About Dead Presidents

Happy Election Day, everyone! Tomorrow our country will have elected the 47th President of the United States … finally. It’s been a long, strange trip of an election year, and no matter how you feel about the results, at least most of us can agree that we will be glad when it’s behind us. 

But while we wait for those electoral votes to be tallied, why not reflect on the more interesting aspects of the POTUSes who have gone before us — the dead ones, at least. We’ll start with perhaps the most popular bit of death-related trivia …

8 presidents have died in office

Four presidents died of natural causes: William Henry Harrison (pneumonia, 31 days into his presidency), Zachary Taylor (gastroenteritis from eating bad cherries), Warren G. Harding (heart attack), and Franklin D. Roosevelt (cerebral hemorrhage) 

Four presidents were assassinated: Abraham Lincoln (gunshot wounds), James A. Garfield (septic shock from infection from gunshot wounds), William McKinley (gangrene from gunshot wounds), and John F. Kennedy (gunshot wounds)

Reagan broke the death curse

For more than 160 years, many people believed that presidents elected in a year ending in zero would die in office, thanks to the so-called Curse of Tippecanoe. Legend has it that Shawnee leader Tecumseh hated William Henry Harrison so fiercely that he placed the curse on not only Harrison, but all future presidents — and year after zero-ending election year, it seemed to come true. Seven of the above-named eight presidents who died in office were elected in a year ending with zero, including Harrison (elected in 1840). Only Zachary Taylor, who was elected in the non-cursed year of 1849 (but died in 1850) was not a supposed victim.

Despite assassination attempts, however, Ronald Reagan (elected in 1980) and George H. W. Bush (elected in 2000) did not die in office, and if Biden (elected in 2020) can make it through the night, he will be the third president to break the Curse of Tippecanoe.

Reagan’s was the most expensive presidential funeral

When Ronald Reagan died in 2004, his seven-day funeral eclipsed John F. Kennedy’s $15 million goodbye with a total price tag of more than $400 million. But that tally wasn’t due to a solid gold casket or an extravagant crypt. Instead, the real cost of the funeral skyrocketed because then-President George W. Bush declared a national day of mourning, closing the stock market and giving all federal employees the day off, racking up those millions in internal expenses. (Fun fact: $13 million of JFK’s total funeral expense was the purchase of his burial plot in Arlington National Cemetery).

Presidents plan their funerals when they take office

According to the White House Historical Association, each president is “asked to attend to the strange task of imagining his own funeral service” shortly after taking the oath of office. They are tasked with selecting “personal touches that can elucidate their character and legacy on a national stage for the last time.”

Four presidents were buried in a Marcellus casket

The Marcellus Casket Company, founded in 1872, produced exquisite “Rolls Royce”-quality caskets until 2003 — including those in which four U.S. presidents are buried. Kennedy, Nixon, Truman, and Reagan were all buried in Marcellus caskets. The last casket to roll off the Marcellus production line was a “The President” model 710 — and that same casket is now on display at the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston. 

JFK’s first casket was sunk to the bottom of the ocean

Although President John F. Kennedy was buried in a hand-rubbed-500-year-old-African-mahogany Marcellus 710, his body first rested in a Handley Britannia casket from the Elgin Casket Company. The Elgin casket suffered so much interior damage during initial transport due to the president’s horrendous wounds that it was not fit for public viewing and was replaced by the 710. After more than one year in the possession of the funeral home that embalmed Kennedy, the Elgin casket was moved to the National Archives to keep it away from the “morbidly curious.” In 1966, at the request of the Kennedy family, the casket was buried at sea by the U.S. Air Force, who drilled 42 holes and placed three 80-pound sandbags in the box, then dropped it into the Atlantic Ocean, adding two parachutes to ensure it wouldn’t break apart.

Presidents are buried in only 18 states (and one district)

The 39 presidents who have died are buried in only 18 different states and the District of Columbia, leaving 32 states with no presidential plots. The state that’s most saturated is Virginia, which is the resting place of seven dead presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Tyler, Taft, and Kennedy. The only presidents who are buried in the same cities are father-son duo John Adams and John Quincy Adams (Quincy, Massachusetts), Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk (Nashville, Tennessee), James Monroe and John Tyler (Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia) and William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy (Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia).

Well, here we are — Election Day 2024!  Tomorrow some will be happy, some will be sad, some will have joy, and some will have angst in their hearts.

I get it — we all want to win and in a divided country it certainly seems like only 50% will.  But you know what, for all of us, we will be back to work and the politics of the moment  — whether we agree or disagree with the outcomes will probably not change the relationships with those we work beside.  With whatever work we do, the goal should be in completing the task.

What about us funeral directors?  The next time our phone rings to go to work, we won’t know if it is a Democrat or a Republican family calling us. . . .and, it shouldn’t matter  — we are called to serve all of those who need our care.

For today’s article I offer a reprint of a Funeral Director Daily article that is over a year old and titled, “Confessions of a Retired Funeral Director”.  I think it captures my point-of-view of where I feel today about the end of the election cycle. . . . and I think it comes to a point of understanding I’ve reached that what we do for others is much more important than what side of the aisle will win today.  —  Moving forward is about recapturing our humanity and trying to create a world in which we care about each other. . . .I hope you enjoy the article. . . The reprint begins here:

Confessions of a Retired Funeral Director” — originally published in June 2023

I had an incident in church on Sunday that both the party I was involved with and myself laughed about at the time.  However, when I returned home I thought about the situation and wondered to myself, “Is it just me in this stage of life or is humanity, in general, losing its focus on what really matters and our respect of it”.

And, I think on a deeper level the answer to that question will have ramifications on Death Care and the businesses that serve it.  Quite frankly, the level of profitability for those in our profession from funeral homes to suppliers may be affected more than we think moving forward on how we answer the question.

So, I was coming back from communion on Sunday up the side aisle of the church.  My friend, Diane, with whom I went to school with years ago was sitting on the end of her pew and I was going to pass right by her.  Her father, Franklin, died in January at age 99, was immediately cremated, and there was a delayed public committal service about ten days ago at a local cemetery.

I leaned over as I walked by and asked, “Did everything go okay at Dad’s committal service?”  She said “Yes, just perfect”.  Over time I’ve learned that honesty is the best policy and then said, “I had planned to come, but Friday is my golf day”.  We both laughed and went on our way following church.

I got home and started thinking.  For 33 years as a funeral director I made an effort to attend “every” service that was conducted by our funeral home.  And, I sometimes drove 5 hours one way to attend a one hour service of a friend’s dad or mom’s funeral service in another community. . . .or even 3 hours one way to attend my Batesville rep’s father’s visitation.  It’s just what I did. . . . I felt good about doing so and I also felt like it was about respecting and acknowledging a life that has been lived. . . .A life our Maker gave on this earth, that should be respected and acknowledged.

Now Franklin was a great guy!  Somebody everybody liked.  He was not unlike so many of the Greatest Generation that I served as a funeral director.  He was a veteran of World War II serving in the Pacific. . . . He came back and raised a family in our community while working in a blue collar employment position. . . . He served as an Honor Guard member at many funerals that I conducted. . . .I grew up with his children. . . and on and on.

I should not have missed his public service to acknowledge and respect those facts.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

The bigger question however, is our society and will its seemingly lack of respect and acknowledgment of human lives lived eventually dismantle the Death Care profession as we know it?  Attendance at funerals is lessening and quite frankly, many families have taken it to the level, through Direct Cremation with No Services, that they don’t even give us a chance to pay that respect. . . . However, let’s not chastise them,  maybe they are just taking the public’s lead, like my absence at Franklin’s service,  and think that nobody is interested or will spend their time in coming to the service anyway.

I could go on and on, but I worry about a society that seems to be more concerned with ourselves than we do with others.  Whether it is me golfing when I should have paid respects to a wonderful human being or it is our politicians that are more concerned with carrying out their party’s extreme wishes, which helps them self-preserve and protect their own positions,  rather than moderating to the wishes of the 70% of moderate non-political Americans in an effort to bring America forward.

In any event, my 30-second exchange in church on Sunday has made me take a new look at my actions.  I know that I will stray again, but I want to re-focus my energy on “helping others” more than I help myself.  I hope, for the good of our profession and the good of our country, others can do the same.

By the way last Sunday, July 16, happened to be my father’s 105th birthday.  As I’ve done on every July 16th since his death in 1977 I went to Kinkead Cemetery to visit. . . . . .but, on this Sunday I also took the time to find Franklin’s grave and pay my respects to his life.

More news from the world of Death Care:

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

Election Week Special | FFFW 211

DISCLAIMER: None of the F’s in FFFW stand for “facts.” Enjoy the jokes and satire.

Y’all- it’s November. And next week, a new president will be voted on. So this is our election week special. That being said- you know how we roll here… we keep it light and fun. Presidents will come and go, but the FFFW is here to stay. So, we’re going to keep focusing on our main policies here:

Our policies include the following:

– A WEEKLY PROVISION OF SATIRE, AND LIGHT-HEARTED FUNERAL CONTENT

– FREE GIFs FOR EVERYONE- THAT’S IT…

Days until Election: 3
Days until Thanksgiving: 27
Days until Christmas: 54
Days we’re promised: 0 – so let’s make the most out of this one!

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Could Funeral Pros Start Their Own Political Party? You’re Not as Far Off as You Think!

That’s right—imagine a world where funeral professionals have their very own political party. You might think that sounds a little far-fetched, but niche political parties have been shaking things up for years! Let’s take a look at a few unusual parties that have paved the way for the kind of unique movement only funeral pros could bring.

We’re in Good Company: Some of America’s Strangest Political Parties

The Rent is Too Damn High Party: Founded by New York icon Jimmy McMillan, this party champions affordable rent as the root cause of many of our social problems. Jimmy’s memorable mustache and rallying cry (“The rent is too damn high!”) made him a viral sensation, proving there’s room in politics for some personality.

The Birthday Party: Founded by Kanye West (yes, that Kanye), this short-lived 2020 party was all about celebrating individuality and spiritual renewal. Kanye’s slogan? “Yes, we will.” Though it fizzled out, The Birthday Party lives on as proof that sometimes politics is just about standing out.

The Guns and Dope Party: Proposed by author Robert Anton Wilson, this “party” promotes the radical concept of freedom for all—guns for those who want them, dope for those who want that, and minding your own business for the rest. It’s an “anything goes” platform in its purest form, and who knew it would resonate so widely?

The Lemonade Freedom Party: Believe it or not, there’s a movement to free the lemonade stand from red tape! The Lemonade Freedom Party advocates for the right of kids everywhere to sell lemonade without interference. It’s a sweet reminder that every issue, big or small, has a voice.

The Pizza Party: A party for pizza lovers everywhere, this movement aims to bring people together through shared love of pizza. While it’s mostly a spoof, The Pizza Party has amassed a cult following as a slice of levity in the political world. If pizza can unite us, anything can!

Naming the Funeral Party

Now, what would we call our hypothetical funeral profession political party? Here are a few names that are up for debate:

• The Final Farewell Party – Prioritizing dignity, tradition, and transparency in all policies.
• The Rest in Peace Party (RIP) – Because who wouldn’t want to vote RIP?
• The Celebration of Life Party – Advocating for personalized services and remembrance.
• The Funeral Freedom Party – Pushing for choice, affordability, and maybe even a little pizza at every service.

Final Thoughts
So there you have it. Maybe a Funeral Freedom Party is just what the world needs to start rethinking funeral service, community, and good old-fashioned humanity. After all, if a Pizza Party can go viral, why not give The Final Farewell Party a shot?

Trivia

Which president had the largest attended funeral?

(Click the correct answer, and you’ll get a video of a puppy. Click the wrong answer, and you’ll see someone hurting themselves.)

Answer Choices:

A) George Washington
B) Abe Lincoln
C) Ronald Reagan

You Otter Be Proud

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

1. North Minneapolis funeral director sees his job as a calling
2. Old Lick Cemetery in Roanoke cleaned, repaired with help of national expert
3. Fifth-generation funeral director Jeff Monreal helps families grieve, celebrate loved ones