Once again it is time for Funeral Director Daily to give our readers a 2nd chance to read articles that they may have missed in the past 30 days.  We’ve highlighted the Top 5 most read from May 15 to June 15 below.

The articles again show the variety of topics that Funeral Director Daily readers enjoy.  There is no “One item” that gets the attention of our readers with a wide variety of topics bringing general interest to the group who we believe are the largest group of “business decision makers” in the Death Care business reading an online Death Care publication.

This month our top read article concerned the Governor of Oklahoma threatening to sunset the Oklahoma Funeral Board if more consumer friendly legislation was not passed.  Our 2nd most read article dealt with the 3-part series titled “The Mortician” that is currently available to watch on streaming channels HBO and Max.  The show documents the unscrupulous dealings in the 1980’s of funeral director David Sconce and his family cremation business which eventually put him in prison.

And, we have guest articles by newly licensed mortician Tiffaney Hill and veteran marketer Glenn Gould that also pushed their way into the Top 5 category.

Finally, the beginning article on the series of Outside-the-Box thoughts on the future of funeral service rounds out the Top 5. . . We present those articles below in easibly link fashion should you want to read them:

1. Oklahoma Governor “okay” with Sunsetting funeral regulations. 
2. “The Mortician” documentary series debuts Sunday on HBO.
3. Bridging the Gap:  A newly licensed Funeral Director’s perspective on tackling the industry’s staffing shortage.  By Tiffaney O. Hill
4. Outside the Box:  4 things I think will eventually come to Death Care  
5. Are there too many funeral homes?  By Glenn Gould

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Oklahoma House Bill #1029 which would have extended the “Sunset of the Oklahoma Funeral Board” for one year, among other issues, was vetoed when it reached Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s desk.

Update — After this article was written the Oklahoma legislature went back to work and passed House Bill 2286 which extends the Oklahoma Funeral Board until 2029.  Governor Stitt did not sign nor veto that bill letting it silently become law.  We are continuing to run this Funeral Director Daily article that was composed before that law passed because the issues of why the Governor vetoed the previous bill are, in my opinion, still relevant.

This article from Oklahoma Public Radio makes this comment about the veto, “The veto cancels a one-year extension of the board’s sunset. State agencies often have sunset dates to ensure they remain necessary and effective.”

That same article also makes this statement, ” (the veto) effectively dissolves the board, and unless other legislation revives it, (Oklahoma Funeral Board executive Tyler) Stiles said it’s unclear who will be in charge of licensing funeral homes, crematories, funeral directors and embalmers.”

Note — New legislation did revive the board as mentioned in the Update.

The following is Governor Stitt’s published reasoning for vetoing the bill:

“Pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 11 of Article VI of the Oklahoma Constitution, I have vetoed Enrolled House Bill 1029. HB 1029 would extend the life of the Oklahoma Funeral Board—a state agency that, by now, should be consolidated under a more appropriate umbrella. For too long, the Funeral Board has shielded the funeral industry from meaningful competition in the sale of caskets, urns, and other funeral related merchandise and services. These barriers keep prices artificially high for grieving families. Instead of modernizing, the Board has preserved outdated regulations and entangled businesses in unnecessary red tape. Before granting another sunset extension, the Legislature should seriously evaluate where this Board belongs and what its core duties should be. Until the Funeral Board becomes more accountable and responsive to legislative oversight, its continuation should not be rubber-stamped. For these reasons, I have vetoed Enrolled House Bill 1029.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Living in Minnesota I don’t know the full actions behind this bill and the veto.  However, it appears to me that Governor Stitt’s published reasoning portrays a sense that he believes that funeral directors are too protective of their businesses and that that protectionism is interfering with the public consumer’s ability to purchase Death Care choices in a free and open market.

What is great about the freedom in America is that any right or guarantee not expressed, or added to by legislation, in our  country’s founding documents becomes an issue of the individual states. . . . that’s why most funeral home rules and regulations are state regulations.

It’s why in some states you cannot own a cemetery and a funeral home. . . .Or in some states why you cannot serve food in your funeral business. . . . .Or in some states why you need a college degree to practice mortuary science and other states you don’t need that degree. . .  And, I think how those rulings come to be state regulations is important — the decisions are made closer to the people who must abide by them . . . . instead of in Washington, DC.

In my opinion, in today’s day and age when you can purchase almost anything online a regulatory barrier of having to be a licensed funeral home to sell a casket or urn to a consumer would certainly be looked at as a regulation that stifles competition.  It’s probably a rule or regulation that has out-grown its purpose.

If that is one of the issues causing the non-renewal of the funeral licensing board I would suggest that Oklahoma’s funeral homes have a visit with the governor.  Without some type of compromise it looks like Oklahoma may be on its way to non-regulation of the funeral profession and that is certainly not a good look for the profession nor a way to look out for the funeral consumers of Oklahoma.

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Americans have moved into a realization that when it comes to grief, memorialization, and remembrance that not one size fits all.  That’s apparent by the growing number of options chosen for human disposition and remembrance.

This article and news video story from the Central Oregon Daily News brings up the relatively new memorialization process of “Cremation Tattoos”.  “Cremation Tattoos” are a memorialization option that many have chosen which is carried out by applying tattoos to survivors in which the ink applied has had cremation ash of the deceased mixed into the solution.

However, according to the linked article and according to the Oregon Health Authority “tattoo inks, dyes, or pigments must be purchased from a commercial supplier or manufacturer and must include an expiration date. The use of expired products or those banned or restricted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is prohibited”.  In addition, the article states, “Any alteration of the inks, including adding substances not intended by the manufacturer (such as cremated remains), would likely be prohibited”.

While many tattoo professionals will mix ashes with ink in order to satisfy clients not all tattoo artists are comfortable with the process.  One artist named in the article, Edward Kehoe, made these comments, “Nowadays, tattooing is more professional, so we tend to have higher standards as far as what we’re applying. . . . I understand people’s idea of wanting to get the memorial with the ashes and it’s a very sweet idea. But I just don’t think that it’s sanitary per se”.

Another side of the issue is apparent when reading what Joshua Lohnes, a father of an deceased unborn child who has had a cremation tattoo in remembrance of that daughter applied to his arm.  Lohnes states his reasoning this way, “. . .we lost the child, and it was a really heavy grieving process for me, and I didn’t really know how to get out of it.. . . . I just wanted something.  I wanted her to be with me. I wanted to have something physical that was beautiful, that I could look at and carry with me.” 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  While the basis for this article is taken from an article based in Oregon and deals exclusively with the State of Oregon’s regulations, it is imperative to know that the school of regulations for the art of cremation tattoos is still in the processing stages.  There are 50 different states and it is likely that those differing states have differing regulations.

Funeral directors who may be asked by clientele thinking about this option just need to let those who are asking know that their state may or may not be regulated and they need to proceed at that level.  If you know the regulations in your state it might be smart to have those regulations copied off and given to the client for their perusal.  And, until we know more about the process and health of the process, it is probably unwise for funeral directors to endorse this process.

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

Well-intentioned rules and regulations are put into place by organizations.  Sometimes, however, like America has found out with the disastrous “de-fund the police” movement, the results are not what the organizers intended them to be.

I think it is a little like that with the new dictate that the Veterans Adminsitration has previewed that entails giving an urn and memorial plaque to the family of each deceased veteran that wishes to receive one.  With the fact that only about 3 in 10 cremations are memorialized with an earth burial of the cremated remains, I believe that the VA has offered these urns as places of final rest for the veterans who they believe will be memorialized, at least for the time being, in a home, rather than placed in a cemetery.

However, the National Funeral Directors Association and the Minnesota Department of Veteran’s Affairs have voiced opposition to this new proposal.  It is their contention that there is a “clause” in the wording of the urn/plaque choice that would then limit a veteran’s family of further memorialization choices.

That clause, according to those groups and as mentioned in this article from The Vets Portal is this,  “. . .the veteran’s remains cannot be placed in a national cemetery if a family member chooses to receive an urn or plaque. Furthermore, no additional grave monument will be provided by the VA for any cemetery. “

Those groups then argue that “Veterans should not (be denied) the substantial advantage of burial in a national cemetery, which also offers permanent care, because of the comparatively modest cost of these goods.”

Funeral Director Daily take:  I haven’t been on top of this issue, but offering an urn and plaque as a benefit to families of deceased veterans is a nice gesture. . . especially for those who have no intention of burying the cremated remains in a national or other cemetery.  I think the VA understands that there are people who choose to live with an urn in their living room as their accepted form of memorialization. . . .especially for that period of time when the spouse of a veteran is still alive.

However, I agree with the NFDA and the group from Minnesota when they say that acceptance of this benefit should not preclude the future interment of the cremated remains and memorialization in a national cemetery at a later date. . . quite possibly at the time when the veteran’s spouse dies.

I also agree that there will be surviving spouses who choose the urn/plaque benefit that don’t realize they are signing away the future interment in a national cemetery when they make this choice.  And, I’m guessing that over time, if this is the case, those people will be disappointed at the VA for taking away the privilige of being buried in a national cemetery simply because they chose to take an urn and plaque at the time of death.

The rules of this benefit should be reviewed before it is implemented.

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