American monument dealers have become accustomed to dealing with the rising cremation rates in the country and the dwindling sales opportunities for cemetery monuments that fact brings.

But now, according to this recent article from CNBC titled “An industry focused on death faces an existential crisis”, family-owned monument dealers have seen United States tariffs on certain imported products and countries cause havoc with their supply chain prices and choices.  Monument dealer John Dioguardi is quoted in the article saying, “I hope this all works out.  I have no idea if it will.”

A chart you can see in the article also poses the issue of how uncertainty reigns in much of the situation.  For instance, the chart shows that since January 25,2023, and up until October 27, 2025, family-owned and Cleveland-based Milano Monument’s custom duty and taxes on imported raw materials from China have fluctuated between 21% and 59% and rates in-between those two extremes.  Those duty or tariff percentages are added on to the wholesale cost of the imported material and then have to be figured into the price to charge consumers.

As you can well understand, the resulting higher retail cost of monuments then becomes a major decision for the consumer on what, or even if, they should buy a monument.  According to the article Milano Monuments’ Jim Milano states that “he and many peers are covering tariffs out of pocket” meaning that they have not passed on that cost to consumers in order to make sales.  He’s taken a pay cut as a result.

Furthermore, Milano makes this point, as quoted in the article, “If monument builders need to raise prices to account for tariffs, Milano worries it could push more consumers to opt for cremations.”

And while cremations and tariffs are a headwind for monument dealers at this time, monument company owner John Dioguardi, who we quoted earlier in this article, says the long-term fate of the business “is married in part to whether people want their loved ones to have any sort of memorialization”. 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  While this article appears to be about tariffs and duties and the costs that they impart onto the retail sale of a monument for memorialization, I think there is a whole lot more to this article than that.

In the last few years I’ve taken the tact that “Death Care” really provides three distinct purchasable choices to the consumer for each death.  Those purchase choices are (1)Disposition, (2)Ceremony (or Celebration), and (3) Memorialization.

For the last 100 years or longer the vast majority of consumer spending on Death Care came from the “Disposition” category.  Because, if you chose “Burial” as the Disposition choice then the consumer purchased a traditional funeral the which included the professional services of the funeral director and merchandise such as a casket and vault.  The “Ceremony’ included the process to get the deceased, and purchased merchandise such as the casket and vault, from the funeral home into the ground, and in essence, was a part of the “Disposition” choice purchase.

Memorialization basically consisted of some type of monument marking the grave in the cemetery.  Some were elaborate, but most were purchased after death without much thought by the individual whose grave it marked.

Contrast that to today’s world where traditional funerals are minority of the dispositions.  Cremations are the vast majority of dispositions and, from my point of view, most consumers believe the process of cremation is a commodity.  Meaning. . that there loved one’s body goes to the crematory, they see none of the process, and they are handed a box of cremated remains.  The resulting “box of cremated remains” are the same (commodity) whether a direct cremation provider was selected or a high-priced luxury funeral home was used.

Most consumers do not expect to pay a high amount for this (cremation) disposition.

It’s also my opinion that today’s Death Care consumers will spend on the Ceremony (Celebration or Event) and a certain amount of Death Care clientele will make “Large sale” purchases of Memorialization products.  If you follow industry leader Service Corporation International (SCI) you will notice that for the past couple of years they have been much more aggressive going after what they call “Large sale cemetery sales”.  In their vernacular “Large Sales” means $80,000 or over.

And Global Growth Insights says this about “Large sale or Premium” Death Care sales:

The high-end and specialty funeral homes and services segment caters to a premium clientele that seeks exclusivity, personalization, and luxury in memorial arrangements. This niche but rapidly expanding category combines emotional value, heritage preservation, and sophisticated service design. In 2025, the luxury funeral segment accounts for nearly 7.5% of the total global funeral services market, valued at approximately USD $5.9 billion, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2025–2033 — outpacing the broader market’s average growth of 3.39%.

High-end providers focus on creating unique, culturally tailored, and experience-driven memorials. These include private mausoleums, personalized life celebration ceremonies, high-end floral artistry, premium casket materials, and digital heritage archives. Many also integrate smart technology and sustainability — such as QR-enabled memorial stones, carbon-neutral cremations, and virtual remembrance spaces — blending tradition with innovation.

So, yes — I think consumers and what they want is going to change funeral service.  And, I can sympathisize with these monument dealers at this time with the uncertainty and cost of tariffs.  However, I also see an incredible opportunity for the high-end memorialization products.  I think that there is a void to be filled with those consumers who have the assets to spend on celebration and memorialization.

The trends show dispositions of cremation as more-than-likely without the purchase of caskets or vaults.  If that money is going to stay in “Death Care” it will probably find itself going into more elaborate “ceremonies or celebrations” and “permanent memorialization”.

Tom Ryan
SCI CEO

I think by being able to partner with cemeteries monument and columbarium suppliers may find a smaller number but more profitable clientele in those that are looking for luxury or psuedo-luxury memorialization products.  It might take some up-front investment and risk, but one might also find a “Build it and they will come” attitude for cremation memorialization in cemeteries.  Here’s what SCI CEO Thomas Ryan said as recently as October 30, 2025, during the company’s 3rd Quarter Earnings Call:

“We have a lot of products that I’d tell you, consumers really don’t have familiarity with. I think a lot of cremation consumers come in and don’t really understand what we have available. So we’re really focused this year with some consumer research that we’ve done about trying to tie that consumer in a better way to educate them about what we have because we found in the focus groups that almost 0 out of 10 knew what we had and about 8 out of 10 once they saw it said, I’m interested in looking.”

So, if I was a monument dealer, yes , I’d be a little discouraged about the cost of my product at this time. . . .and try to make the best of the situation.  But, I’d also find encouragement by what seems to be a growing “luxury” monument movement and the results SCI is having with their “Large sales” of cemetery products.

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

There’s a little of everything in Funeral Director Daily’s list of “Top Read” articles of the past 30 days.  There is information on caskets, services, memorialization, value of businesses, and even some thoughts on what Death Care personnel do that the general public just doesn’t understand. . . .

And, we will throw a little history and nostalgia in the mix too.  The top read story of the past 30 days brings a little nostalgia as it has to do with a company that is not even involved in the Death Care business anymore but has its founding principles embedded in the casket business — Hillenbrand Industries, former parent company of Batesville (Casket).

Here’s the Top Read Funeral Director Daily articles from October 16 to November 15:

1. Hillenbrand Industries sold
2. Are we in the midst of a paradigm shift, from “Services selection” to “Memorialization selection”, by the consumer?
3. Casket companies make some news. . . .and what is the future demand?
4. Small volume firms need to know their potential value
5. Most people just don’t understand. . . . . 

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

As things seem to do in my life, circumstances came together this week to have me reflect on changes in the Death Care profession/industry.  First of all, here’s three items that came together to make me think about changes in our businesses.

1. I attended the funeral of a long-time member of my Bible Study.
2. I researched and produced an article that appeared in Tuesday’s Funeral Director Daily about the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and their “Premium Product” offerings.  You can access that article here.
3. I recalled and then revisited the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) recent press release about Americans choosing cremation at record rates.  You can access that article here.

What it all got me to wondering is if the American consumer is in the midst of, or will soon be “Selecting Death Care” by their “Memorialization” choice rather than their “Service” (such as cremation, burial, church service, etc) choice.

Here’s part of my thought process  —  for almost all of my career as a funeral director, consumers at-need or pre-need would come into the funeral home and tell us of their Death Care ideas.  If that choice included the use of a cemetery, such as in earth burial, entombment, or urn placement, they usually asked us about our thoughts on the different cemeteries.

In that format I would suggest that the consumer “selected” Death Care via the funeral home provider they chose.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

However, in today’s world, especially when a cemetery like Hollywood Forever offers “free cremation” to those who purchase “premium” cemetery memorialization I think a different process may be in place.  In cases like that, the cremation, or direct cremation,  seems to me to simply be a “means to the end” and the consumer is not concerned about who handles the physical means of turning the dead human body into the cremated remains.  They are more concerned about their purchase for “Memorialization”.

In this situation I would suggest that the consumer “selected” Death Care via the memorialization provider they chose.

This thought further deepened in my mind at the funeral of my friend.  While he was buried with a traditional service through my old funeral home I found myself at the reception luncheon visiting with another local couple about who happened to be about my age. As any retired funeral director knows, sitting in this position we become open game for all kinds of Death Care questions.

Well, this couple let me know that they are going to be cremated but more importantly, and what is most on their mind, is where they will be permanently memorialized.  As I listened, it dawned on me that their main concern is not about their funeral, the service, or who will cremate them, but where will they be permanently memorialized.  And, for one like me who believes in “permanent memorialization” I don’t think that is an uncommon thought.

So, getting back to Hollywood Forever’s offer of “Free Cremations”. . . . . my guess is if this couple bought a “premium” niche or columbarium from someone who offered “Free Cremation” with that purchase, they very well would take them up on that offer.  My guess is that with this couple, and many others, if the permanent Memorialization purchase is what they want, they would be happy to accept the “Free Cremation” and, if they wanted a memorial service, would do so at their church without a funeral home participating.

Finally, in looking at the aforementioned NFDA press release it predicts by 2045 an 82.3% cremation rate as opposed to today’s 63.4% rate.  It predicts a burial rate of only 13.0% in that same year as compared to today’s 31.6%.  Probably even more ominous in today’s “Service” selection vs. “Memorial” selection article it shows that the “Religiously Unaffiliated” has almost doubled in recent years with no signs of that stopping.

And, if we are not affiliated with a church or somewhere else with a history of “Services” will “Services” be less common and the idea of picking one’s Death Care providers by the who or where they pick their Memorialization option be more common?

I don’t have that answer but I think it is a situation that needs looking into.  While funeral homes have always been “Businesses” they have not always been “Consumer” friendly or “subtly aggressive” in customer acquisition. . . . . many times simply sitting back and making an income out of the consumer’s necessity when the time arrived.

In a world of new “Customer Acquisition” techniques by others in the greater Death Care world are funeral homes vulnerable to be left behind, or not even thought of, in some consumer choice instances?

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New Video Resource Available for Cemeteries and Funeral Homes to Promote the Importance of Permanent Memorialization  

STERLING, Va. (October 13, 2025) – The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral  Association’s Educational Foundation and Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) have partnered to  produce a powerful new video segment, now available for cemeteries and funeral homes to use in their community outreach and education efforts.  

The project began when Jay Dodds, Chief Strategy Officer at Park Lawn Corporation, was approached about the opportunity. Recognizing its value, he brought it to the attention of the ICCFA Educational Foundation, which quickly saw the importance of the topic and joined the  initiative. Together, the two organizations funded the project and brought the vision to life.  

Premiering in April 2025 on Advancements with Ted Danson, the segment highlights the essential role of permanent memorialization in the 21st century. It explores one of the most pressing challenges facing the profession today: ensuring that cremated remains are brought back to cemeteries and honored with a meaningful, lasting tribute.  

Through expert insights and real-world perspectives, the program emphasizes how the profession can work together to support families in making thoughtful, permanent placement decisions. Even as direct cremation rates rise, the segment underscores the importance of presenting every family with dignified options for memorialization that provide enduring comfort and a place of remembrance for generations to come.  

“We are honored to have helped make this project possible,” said Gino Merendino, President of the ICCFA Educational Foundation. “Our hope is that this video spreads an important message— that memorialization and remembrance are not only about honoring a life, but also about offering healing and connection for those left behind.”  

“Permanent memorialization is not just a professional responsibility—it’s a gift we give to families and future generations,” said Jay Dodds. “This segment is a valuable resource that cemeteries and funeral homes can use to inspire meaningful conversations in their communities and to reaffirm the lasting role our profession plays in guiding families through loss.”  

The segment is now available for deathcare professionals to share with their communities as part  of outreach, education, and engagement initiatives. It can be viewed from the ICCFA YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/TheICCFA. The full episode of Advancements with Ted Danson is also available to stream on Amazon Prime, Season 9, Episode 4.  

About ICCFA Educational Foundation 

The ICCFA Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) entity, established to make education accessible to future leaders in the deathcare profession and thereby raise the standards of professionalism within the industry. To learn more about the work of the Foundation and upcoming educational opportunities, please visit https://iccfa.com/educational-foundation/ 

A few days ago The Pittsburgh Business Times published a feature story on hometown company Matthews International.  It’s a very interesting article that goes back into the history of the company and how it has now expanded into a diversified business that casts a shadow in a lot of industries. . . .including Death Care.

The article, which you can access here, also points out that from the company’s pre-Civil War beginnings to today that “virtually all” the businesses the company is involved in today stem from the same three businesses that they were involved in in the early 1900’s.

Like Death Care, the article states “Pittsburgh knows Matthews primarily for its memorialization business, which contributed $830 million of the $1.8 billion in annual sales in fiscal year 2024, which ended on Sept. 30. This segment includes cast bronze and granite memorials, businesses Matthews has been in since the early 1900s, and also caskets, cremation equipment and, most recently, embalming fluid and other funeral and cemetery supplies. It’s a big producer of cash flow for the company.”

The article also pointed out that “Matthews also continues to move forward in that legacy, especially since the company went public in 1994. Seeing changes in trends around its memorialization business — primarily the increase of cremation over traditional funerals — it moved into the cremation industry in 1996 and, two years later, acquired York to create a position in casket manufacturing. It did the same thing with granite markers when it acquired United Memorial Products Inc. in 2009, Aurora Casket Co. in 2015 and Star Granite & Bronze in 2018. Matthews is now the largest or second-largest in market share in each of these major categories. . . . . It expanded even more recently with May’s acquisition of The Dodge Co., a Massachusetts-based provider of embalming fluids and supplies, for $57 million.”

The complete article also delves into Matthews’ dry electrode battery business in which they have had a disagreement and lawsuit with EV auto maker Tesla.  CEO Joseph Bartolacci makes the point that the Tesla disagreement was less about who holds the patents for the technology (according to the article Matthews does) and more about how long Matthews could be kept from selling the process and equipment to others.

Liam Burke, a managing director of B. Riley Securities is para-phrased in the article with the following “While he doesn’t know the ins and outs of the battery business, Burke said he thinks Tesla’s intense interest in it — as well as the interest shown by competitors in the EV industry — says a lot.”

Another point brought up in the feature article is some dissatisfaction of certain shareholders who “would like to see better performance in the stock”.  That brings about some points on the new businesses that Matthews is trying to develop to compliment the solid earnings of their Memorialization unit.

CEO Bartolacci sums up the process at the end of the article when he says “Matthews strategy over the last two decades has been conscious, not random, and with the evolution of the next 175 years in mind”.

All in all, a really good, in-depth article touching on Matthews success, failures, and aspirations.

Related Article — This article was published July 1, 2025, by Reuters.  “Activist Barrington asks casket maker Matthews for board seats, warns of second battle”.  Reuters

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  One of the slogans that pops into my head when I read this article is “Jack of all trades, master of none”.  If you read the article you will probably agree with me that Matthews International has a lot of “irons in the fire”.  . . . And, that is great if your company is returning value to your shareholders.

However, when your company stock sold for $54.24 on July 6, 2015, and sells for less than half of that amount a decade later (Matthews sells for $25.44 as of Sunday) it might cause shareholders to pause and wonder if having so many different companies might not allow for a laser-focus on profitability and growth.  In essence, a $1000 investment in Matthews in 2015 is now worth approximately $470.  That may be why some shareholders are unhappy.

I see certain parallels in this story and the Hillenbrand Industry/Batesville situation.  From my (as a stockholder) point of view with Hillenbrand it always seemed like they wanted to diversify into businesses outside of Death Care even as Death Care brought them solid profits and earnings year after year.  They announced the sale of their Batesville unit on December 15, 2022, and now, not quite three years later, Hillenbrand Industry stock has sank almost 50% since that time. . . . .I find myself questioning if Hillenbrand sold the wrong parts of their company. . . .

One other perspective I have on the Matthews situation is that of the potential in their dry battery business that may be a big help in developing the EV auto industry.  If it is going to become a huge difference maker in that industry, what is keeping Tesla (and their majority owner Elon Musk) from putting in a bid to buy Matthews International and “own” the process?  Matthews has a market capitalization (shares of stock x price of stock) of about $780 million.  That price is more than likely within the reach of the man who once paid $44 billion for Twitter if he sees the value in the battery technology of Matthews going forward.

And, the purchase could be financed by spinning off the Memorial business of Matthews for a simple 1x of Memorialization segment sales. . . about $840 million.  For the record, Batesville had a reported 2022 fiscal year revenue of $625.6 million making its purchase by LongRange Capital for $761 million a multiple of about 1.2 times revenue.

In any regard, that is a “simplistic’ viewpoint that I have on the situation.

Again, a great article on Matthews International and a little tie-in with the historic and generational family-owned funeral homes in that even with longevity, in Matthews case 175 years of operation. . . . “The story is still being written”.

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

Better Place Forests is one of those ideas whose time has come.  As a 33-year funeral director who has seen the social mores of Death Care move away from the traditional options during that time, I see where there is a place for ideas like Better Place Forest to catch on with a segment of the population and embrace their idea of memorialization.

However, new ideas and businesses sometimes don’t happen as fast or as linear as the founders may anticipate.  While I don’t know what is behind the move, Better Place Forests has announced that their business system will become a Non-Profit business.  You can read about the company’s evolution to Non-Profit status here.

The company will still be an operating business but will operate as a Non-Profit.  Non-profit businesses still operate with sound business principles in the economic sphere of commerce.  I know something about them as I have been associated with a company in the Non-Profit Senior Living and Health Care realm for almost 20 years.  I served six years on the Board, and as Chairman of the Board for Vivie for three years, and also served for six years as Chairman of the Board of Vivie spin-off partnership Ethos Home Health.  

Both of those companies are Non-profit but work at building business, gaining market share, providing employment opportunities, and grinding out financial success as we compete with profit-oriented businesses every day.  The only difference being instead of rewarding shareholders with profits, those profits are put back into the communities that we serve.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

So, my guess is that Better Place Forests will somehow transfer shareholder stock into a current non-profit status.  There is probably a tax advantage for shareholders to do so, however, I’m guessing that the foundation of the company will stay intact and move forward with a slightly altered business plan that will still be focused on preserved forests as a memorialization destination for many people.

And, I’m also guessing that there is still ample opportunity to help foster some of your clients needs and wishes about being memorialized in a natural preserve.  Partnering with Better Place Forests can help your funeral home or cemetery do just that.  You can learn how to do that here.

Related Article — “Why I started Better Place Forests – Brad Milne”

Related Article —  “Better Place Forests becomes both “High Touch” and “High Tech”.  Funeral Director Daily October 8, 2024.

For what it is worth — Better Place Forests has been a sponsor of Funeral Director Daily and for that I am grateful.  Their sponsorship, along with the other sponsors, has allowed subscribers to receive Funeral Director Daily free of charge five days per week in their e-mail inbox.  I don’t know if the non-profit status will change that relationship but I do know from my affiliation with BPF that they have a great group of people working there and have ideals of conservation of the environment coupled with memorialization of society in a sustainable environment as the precipice of their existence and that is commendable.

There has been no better people to work with than Better Place Forest CEO Adam Tibbs and Strategic Partnerships executive Tim Rogers in building our relationship and whatever path their lives take I wish them much success.

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

Suffice it to say that if you are in a C-Suite office at Matthews International you probably have a lot on your plate right now.  Amidst other items that we will report on later including a large shareholder’s discontent leading to Board member nominations, the sale process of the SGK Brand segment, and an on-going dispute with Tesla in the company’s Industrial Technologoy segment the company reported their Fiscal Year 2025 1st Quarter report last Thursday.

In general, total sales for Matthews International dropped 10.7% in comparison to the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2024.  According to the press release of the company’s 1st Quarter, which you can access here, total sales for 1Q2025 came in at $401.8 million as compared $450.0 million in 1Q2024 — that’s a dollar volume drop of $48.2 million.

The company’s Memorialization segment registered sales of $190.5 million for the 1st Quarter of 2025 as compared to recorded sales of $208.1 million for the same period of FY2024 — a drop of about 8.5% for the segment.  It should also be noted that Matthews International operates on a Fiscal Year calendar in which their first quarter reports results of October thru December 2024.

The company was able to hold up their Memorialization segment EBITDA for 1Q25 as they registered an EBITDA of $36.6 million on those sales of $190.5 million which is a better percentage (19.2%) than that of 1Q2024 where they recorded an EBITDA of $36.7 million (17.6%) on Memorialization segment sales of $208.1 million.

In prepared statements in the press release about the Memorialization segment Matthews International CEO Joseph Bartolacci made these comments, “Adjusted EBITDA for the Memorialization segment was relatively unchanged compared to the first quarter last year. The segment reported lower sales compared to last year primarily reflecting the impact of lower U.S. deaths and the prior year included sales in connection with a reduction in backlog of granite memorials. However, the impact of these declines on adjusted EBITDA for the current quarter was mitigated by the benefits from ongoing productivity and cost reduction initiatives and improved price realization.”

Other company news from Matthews International:

February 6 — “Matthews International announces positive ruling in arbitration with Tesla”.  Press Release

February 3 — “Matthews highlights significant shareholder support and underscores Board’s commitment to Long-term value creation.”  Press Release

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

Over the last couple of decades there arises every once in a while the idea that the Walt Disney Company should get into some of the businesses that funeral home operators and cemetery operators specialize in.  That’s recently been in the news again.

I first really thought about Disney and Death Care about a decade ago when a small funeral home and cemetery operating company with about 50 locations at the time hired an ex-hospitality industry executive as President and CEO.  It probably didn’t hurt the Disney thought process that the company, Foundation Partners Group (FPG), was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, — the home of DisneyWorld.

That executive, Brad Rex, had the belief that funeral directors “need to focus on storytelling and creating unique, meaningful experiences to celebrate those who have passed” according to this dated press release from FPG.  I don’t think Rex was wrong with that philosophy, but I think it has taken much more than that thought to move the needle on who and why consumers choose as providers for the services that they purchase.

Quite frankly, I think a lot of Rex’s philosophy has been adopted by the American funeral home operators but we have also learned that death care choices and decisions are much more complicated than just learning how to “tell the story”.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Recently Funeral Director Daily has written stories about permanent memorialization and the options for such.  We’ve actually taken the tact that there are a lot of options for permanent memorialization that include cemeteries, but also include other options as well.  One of the facts that has came to light about memorialization “place” is that many people would like to be memorialized in a place that brings them happiness or good memories.  To that end we wrote this story about a University of Nebraska board member who proposed putting a columbarium within the University of Nebraska football stadium.

That leads us to tell you about the Disney-oriented publication “All Ears” and a this recent article that asks why doesn’t Disney offer columbarium space and “The Disney Magic” for celebration services.  One funeral director makes this statement in the All Ears article, “People would pay probably a large sum of money if they put a private niche somewhere on the property, whether it’s Cinderella Castle wall or something. That could be a real moneymaker for them.”

According to this article a lot of people think Disney World is the “Best Place on Earth”. . . . . so some people are asking, “Why not let us spend eternity at the Best Place on Earth”?

I could be wrong, but I don’t think that funeral services and memorial space options will be on the agenda at Disney Corporation board meetings anytime soon. . . .

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

While we cannot guarantee success with every idea, one of the reasons for reading Funeral Director Daily is that we endeavor to give ideas to Death Care professionals that can have a positive impact on the financial results of your funeral home, crematory, or cemetery.

And, with the continuing choice of cremation as a disposition option we all know that many families choose to permanently memorialize their loved one, if they do it at all, in a way other than a monument in a cemetery. . . . which has lead to less monument sales and less profits for funeral homes and cemeteries via those sales channels.

So, seemingly any way in which one can get someone’s remains, whole casketed body or cremated, to be buried in a cemetery would provide an opportunity for ancillary income through the sale of a monument.

That’s where our story comes in today where in this article from the Minnesota Tribune Two Rivers Monuments owner Julia Gusafson states, ““I tell people, ‘This is your story. We’re not all going to be written about in history books, but we can write your story in stone.’”

Gustafson goes on to tell potential customers that inscribing words like “Beloved”, “Devoted”, and the like are “only a small part of a person’s contributions to society, their interests, or the way they held a family together.”   Today, with improved engraving technology, much more can be put on a memorial marker. . . . . and Gustafson, and others inquire about potential clients life interests.  That’s led, believe it or not, to a small but growing movement that “a life story will inevitably reveal a favorite food.”

“Recipes” happen to be one of the growing individual choices that are being engraved on the monuments.  Candi L. Cann, a professor of Religion at Texas’ Baylor University has actually published a book on the subject titled “Dying to Eat“.  Cann states in the article, “It’s the best recipes, the signature dish that everyone brings to the community potluck or always to the family’s feasting. The ones everyone’s been waiting their whole lifetime to make.”

The article also says this of Cann and what she has witnessed,  “Cann has noticed gravestone recipes at cemeteries near her in Texas — and she’s not surprised. The tradition of honoring the deceased through food is ancient, from Roman times to Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Mexico to the Protestant communal repast.”

The article also points out that another book is in the works. . . by Rosie Grant and titled, “To Die For“.   According to the article Grant has “found 45 of them (Recipe monuments) worldwide, mostly in North America. Grant is writing a cookbook featuring headstone recipes which will be released in the fall of 2025.”

Here is the website for Two Rivers Monuments

And, here is the website for a national provider of monuments, Memorial Monuments

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:   This is seemingly unusual and certainly a small niche market for monuments.  However, I think that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

I think this type of story points out that most people do want to be remembered. . . . and funeral homes have not always spent the time to figure out what the deceased person wants to be remembered for.   That remembrance thought can probably be drawn out most easily during a pre-arrangement conference.  However, if there is no pre-arrangement conference it may be something that can be drawn out and made sense of by the family at the time of arrangements.

And, in the world of online pre-arrangements and arrangements, the growing technology of artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to help.  As a matter of fact, I saw a demonstration of a currently in use product from Prelude that is starting to use AI in pre-arrangements to allow for suggested ideas to the consumer. . . . and, I was impressed.

In a world that continues to move to simpler (and less revenue producing) human dispositions of the body such as direct cremation, I think the ability to be able to offer more products through a memorialization thought process can only be good for traditional funeral homes.

It may be a recipe for some while for others it may be college logo or Rotary Club membership logo.  Whatever it is, if you can get one to believe in permanent memorialization, the chance is there for a bevy of products to be sold.

Finally, I think that this illustration of what could happen points out that the “skill set” of your pre-arrangement counselors may make an incredible difference on sales going forward.  Visionary thinking and creativity may be much more important in the future than “sales closing” skills in raising revenue in this service that is of growing importance for death care providers.

That “skill set” of vision and creativity may make the difference between pre-arranged cremations with no services and pre-arranged cremation dispositions followed by an ever increasing spend on celebrations and memorializations.

And I think that is one area where Artificial Intelligence in pre-arrangement conferences, especially online, may make a big difference in the revenues and profits of funeral homes as we move into the next generation of death care sales culture.

More news from the world of Death Care:

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

It’s the middle of the month and with that comes our publishing of Funeral Director Daily’s “Top Read Articles” of the past 30 days.  This month’s leading articles are no surprises because they are subjects that seem to be on the minds of Death Care business leaders and funeral home owners more and more.

When I attended the NFDA Convention in New Orleans in October I heard, and saw from exhibitors, these topics more than others. . . . . and I’m talking about private equity, the 60-year old funeral home owner looking at succession plans, and answers for families concering what to do with cremated remains. .  .

So, here are the Top Read articles from November 15 to December 15 that were published by Funeral Director Daily:

1. More “Private Money” is entering the Death Care business.
2. “Come Together”:  Mergers, bolt-ons, work for family firms too.
3. Survey indicates the Top Location in each state for dispersal of cremated remains.
4. 60 years ago today . . . . and the story of the Kennedy casket.
5. Park Lawn keeps acquisition train rolling along.  
6. Titan introduces the “Mystery Casket”.

It’s somewhat of an interesting phenomena, and the proof of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with Google, that the story “60 years ago today. . .and the story of the Kennedy Casket” continues each November to be one of our Top Read stories.  Funeral Director Daily first brought that story to light in 2021 before reprising it in 2023.  It’s my belief that the Kennedy assasination that happened in November 1963 is still searched at great lengths every November. . . .and our story pops up . . . bringing with it outside readers to Funeral Director Daily.

So, because that is an “old story” we gave you a bonus story this month. . . the #6 read story of the month.

On a personal note:  Thanks for reading Funeral Director Daily.  I hope you enjoy reading the articles as much as I enjoy researching and putting them together. . . . and, in this Holiday Season I remind you to continue working to bring “Light” to a world full of “Darkness”.

May God Bless you all and continue to give you the ability to help those families in search of counsel and assistance as they deal with the emotions and financial practicality of losing a loved one to death.  May God Bless you for your work in this calling.

Monday’s Down Time —  Many of our readers woke up on Monday morning and could not access their daily dose of Funeral Director Daily.  I was in the same boat and by 6:15 am had our internet host, Go Daddy, looking into the issue.  I’m incredibly ingrained with a “Customer Satisfaction” bent, so when something like this happens I’m always in a hurry to figure it out.

And, since I’m not the greatest technology wizard I always assume the worst. . . like some nefarious characters have taken hold of the website.  I’m happy to report that was not the issue and Go Daddy had us back up in about 2 hours.  Here’s what Go Daddy told us of the problem:

There is a high number of requests being sent to the server, exhausting all the available resources.. . . 

Furthermore, here are the results of our findings:   Reviewing the cPanel Hosting server, we did find that resources were exhausted within the previous 24 hours. . . . 

When these resources are exhausted, it results in timeouts like this, as well as a slow and sluggish experience for the site users.   It is recommended to have the site content reviewed for optimization and/or upgrade the hosting resources if deemed necessary. 

Turns out, like other times something like this has happened. . . . that it is usually growth that has caused the issue as the numbers we are bringing to Funeral Director Daily exceed our ability to serve them technologically.  I have my technology vendor looking at what does need to be expanded to make sure this situation doesn’t happen again.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and angst this caused you on Monday morning.  I plan to offer the article from Monday morning in an Afternoon edition in the near future.

And once again, thanks for being one of our expanding number of readers at Funeral Director Daily.

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