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. . . . . 

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”

Funeral Director Daily tries to provide some type of coverage for everybody.  This month’s Top 5 most read articles seem to give credence to that effort.  Our readers chose articles that deal with a diversity of topics — from bankruptcy to consumer groups suggestions to selling your funeral home.

We also bring articles that deal with the growing realization that technology is becoming a bigger and bigger topic among funeral homes and their clientele.  Here are the Top 5 read articles from June 15 through July 15:

1. Catholic Diocese of Fresno, California files for bankruptcy. . .says cemeteries and preneed will not be affected.
2. Consumer group calls for “cutting out the funeral director as “middleman” on direct cremations.
3. So, you’re selling your funeral home . . . . .and moving into retirement.
4. Memoria aims to be the “technology disrupter” of Death Care.
5. Acquisitions, equity funding, new funeral homes . . .The nexus between technology and traditional continues

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,191 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily:

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

It’s already the 3rd Tuesday of the month and with that date comes another Cremation Association of North America (CANA) supported Peer Support meeting for those involved in the Death Care profession/industry.

Here’s what CANA says about this month’s meeting that takes place tonight:

By acknowledging your challenges, you honor your own well-being and enhance your ability to care for others with authenticity and strength. Life for the funeral professional is a delicate balancing act. While taking on the responsibility for supporting your families and community, it’s too easy to push your own emotions aside. However, denying yourself the space to express grief and emotions can bring emotional burnout, compassion fatigue, and even physical exhaustion. On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Jennifer Muldowney facilitates a virtual Funeral Professionals Peer Support Meeting to provide a space that grants permission to share these feelings.

 

Jennifer Muldowney is an acclaimed speaker on grief, host of The Glam Reaper podcast, founder of Muldowney Memorials, and a celebrant who has witnessed many expressions of grief. Throughout her career, she has reassured hundreds of families that their feelings are normal and given them permission to feel without judgment. The March Funeral Professionals Peer Support meeting is an opportunity for funeral professionals to do the same for themselves and each other.

You can connect with Jennifer and others in our profession tonight on the online platform for this meeting.  Learn how to do so by clicking here.

Tonight’s event begins at 7 pm Central Time.

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,120 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily:

“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.

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,124 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily:

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