Batesville Launches Webinar Series on the Future of the Funeral Home Experience 

Batesville, Ind – January 18, 2025 – Batesville, a leading provider of burial, cremation, and technology solutions in North America, announced a three-part educational webinar series designed to help funeral professionals adapt to changing consumer expectations, enhance the in-person experience, and expand family choice through personalization and merchandising solutions. 

The live webinar series, taking place in January, February, and March 2026, will focus on how funeral homes can align their experiences, offerings, and tools with the needs of today’s families. 

January – Meeting Modern Expectations: Redefining the Consumer Experience Wednesday, January 14, 2026 | 1:00-1:45 PM ET | Q&A to follow 

This session explores how funeral homes can apply retail science principles to evolve the consumer experience. Attendees will gain insight into how technology, product presentation, and physical environments can work together to help families feel more informed, confident, and supported throughout the arrangement process.  

Presented by: Jen Parvin, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Batesville and Devine Dardanes, Executive Vice President of Business Development, B+N Industries Moderator: Ryan Thogmartin, Founder and CEO of Disrupt Media. 

Registration is available now on Batesville.com. 

February – What’s Next in Family Choices®: Personalization That Tells  Every Story  

Tuesday, February 17, 2026 

This webinar will explore how personalization continues to shape the future of funeral service. The session will examine evolving consumer expectations and how personalization offerings have expanded over time, enabling funeral professionals to help families create meaningful, individualized tributes. 

Presented by: Jeremy Raver, Product Marketing Manager, Batesville

March – Maximizing Cremation Options: Tools and Solutions to Elevate  Your Offerings 

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 

Focused on the growing demand for cremation, this session will examine how modern merchandising tools and solutions can help funeral homes better serve cremation families while creating new opportunities for their business. 

Presented by: Batesville Cremation Team 

Registration 

Registration for the February and March webinars will be available in January of 2026. For a complete listing and descriptions of all education events, visit  

Bastesville.com/Resources/Webinars/ for more information. 

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About Batesville Services, LLC  

Batesville is a recognized leader in the deathcare industry in North America, offering a comprehensive portfolio of burial and cremation products, memorialization options and innovative technology solutions. For more than 140 years, Batesville has supported licensed funeral professionals in helping families honor the lives of those they love®. A history of manufacturing excellence, product innovation, superior customer service, and reliable delivery helped Batesville become – and remain – a trusted leader in the deathcare  industry. 

There has been an explosion of streaming channels available to the public in the past couple of years.  And, with that growth of channels comes the need for programming.  So, it is probably not a surprise that we are finding more programming available in all types of genres  — including a genre that seems to be “Death Care documentary”.

On Wednesday, November 26, HBO Max will premier a three-part documentary from the Investigation Discovery Channel.  The title of the series is “The Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder” and you can access information on the program, including a trailer preview, here.

And, here is short article from Deadline titled “Investigation Discovery Explores Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder” that may give you more insight as to the basis for this production.

Here is the “Find a Grave” site, including the obituary, of Colorado funeral director Byron Paul Griffy, whose 2012 death is part of the subject of the series.

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Here’s what a press release from Warner Brothers/Discovery says about the new series titled “The Mortician” that is scheduled to be premiered on Sunday on HBO:

“THE MORTICIAN chronicles a trusted family-owned funeral home that hid behind a façade of decency and propriety to take advantage of loved ones at their most vulnerable moments. In the early 1980s, David Sconce, scion of the Lamb family, took over the family business and sought to exploit the deceased in numerous ways to expand their earnings. Driven by profit, the Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena, California engaged in years of morally questionable and inhumane practices.”

Even though I was in business in Minnesota at the time I do not remember this case that happened in Southern California.  I guess you could chalk that up to the actions occuring in the pre-internet days and news, if chronicled on the network television stations did not last there long as news broadcasters had to make room for the next news of the day.  It makes one realize what a different world we live in today when events can be archived for immediate access online.

In any regard, according to the Warner Brothers/Discovery press release that you can read here, the three-part series will be broadcast on three consecutive Sundays — June 1, June 8, and June 15.

Here’s another exerpt from the press release, “The scandal shook Southern California and as members of the Lamb family stood trial, the funeral industry took heed, bringing about tighter regulations and allowing for greater transparency into the business of death.”

David Sconce was originally sentenced to five years in prison for his part in the dealings of the Lamb Funeral Home.

One of the articles that I read about the Lamb Funeral Home is that it documented 194 death calls and only a couple of years later it documented 8,173 death calls.

Related Article — A Mortuary tangled in the macabre.  Los Angeles Times – publish date – 1988

Related Article — Convicted mortician David Sconce defends his criminal mass cremations, “doesn’t put any value” in the deceased.  People Magazine publish date – May 19, 2025

Related — Book about the case.  “A Family Business” available from Amazon.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  In one of the articles I read a lady makes this comment, “Trust is foundational for funeral directors.  The unfortunate reality is, like any other occupation, there are some bad apples.”

That comment is true. . . and unfortunate.  I know hundreds, maybe thousands, of great compassionate funeral directors who do everything they can to make a family’s circumstances easier.  They give of themselves, take time away from their own families, make financial sacrifices for those they serve and yet. . . the bad apples make giving the profession a great name difficult.

There is no doubt, as hard as we work to uplift the profession. . .the “hits” just keep on coming to us by those we originally know as colleagues.  I’m guessing that if this series gets any traction at all we will once again hear negative things about our chosen profession.

On watching the series:  Angie and I are in the process of weaning ourselves from cable tv to full streaming options.  However, because of the bandwidth issues that sometimes occur in rural America we continue to have Spectrum cable tv at our Minnesota home, along with some streaming options.

We don’t purchase HBO streaming but in a search found out the series will run concurrently on Max.  As a perk of our Spectrum cable Max is one of the free streaming channels that we receive.  I’m not sure what other streaming services will carry the programming, but you can click here to see the information and a trailer from the Max website.

More news from the world of Death Care:

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NFDA Expands Gold-Standard Arranger Training With Interactive Virtual Series

New interactive study group format builds on the success of NFDA’s Arranger Training to help funeral professionals better serve today’s families. 

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is expanding its popular Arranger Training program with a new virtual offering designed to meet the evolving needs of funeral professionals. The Arrangement Solutions Academy is a four-week, live instructor-led course that brings real-world solutions, peer learning and expert guidance to your screen. 

Participants will join a 90-minute Zoom session each week with a small cohort of colleagues and NFDA’s expert trainer Lanae Strovers, CFSP. This interactive series will help funeral directors make their business stand out while building relationships with families, conveying value through leadership and delivering memorial experiences that foster healing. 

The inaugural cohorts of the Arrangement Solutions Academy begin in July:

• Wednesday Morning Cohort: July 9, 16, 23, and 30, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. CT
• Thursday Evening Cohort: July 10, 17, 24, and 31, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. CT 

“Arranging a funeral or memorial service isn’t just about logistics; it’s about building a connection with a grieving family,” said Strovers. “This new virtual format for NFDA’s Arranger Training program gives us the chance to dig into the real challenges funeral directors face when working with families and share practical solutions that actually work. Whether you’re new to the profession or have been doing this for years, there’s something powerful about stepping back, hearing how others approach things, and picking up ideas you can use right away.” 

Whether attending virtually or in person, NFDA’s Arranger Training helps both new and seasoned professionals better connect with today’s families by equipping them with tools to:

• Understand family needs: Discover what truly matters to families based on NFDA’s exclusive consumer research.
• Speak their language: Learn how to communicate in ways that resonate and build trust.
• Ask the right questions: Guide meaningful conversations that lead to memorable services. 

NFDA’s Arranger Training offerings include:

• Arrangement Solutions Academy – Four 90-minute live Zoom sessions over four weeks
• Arrangement Skills Masterclass – A day-long, in-person experience with collaborative discussions
• Student Arranger Training Experience – A half-day interactive session tailored for mortuary science students 

No matter the format, every session includes access to NFDA’s highly regarded Arranger Training Workbook, filled with legal guidance, grief resources, communication tools, service design ideas and more. 

“NFDA’s Arranger Training is a must-do for any funeral professional,” said Gene Andrus, CFSP, CCO, of Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors in Clawson, Michigan. “The interactive training along with the workbook, that you get to keep, will assist you with the tools and ideas to continually build relationships with families and convey the value of what we do each and every day to celebrate life.” 

As the world’s leading funeral service association, NFDA has long been recognized for setting the standard in continuing education. From groundbreaking research to practical skills development, NFDA provides funeral professionals with the tools, insights and training they need to adapt and grow with confidence.

The launch of the Arrangement Solutions Academy is another example of how NFDA is innovating to meet the evolving needs of its members, anytime, anywhere. 

To register for the Arrangement Solutions Academy or any Arranger Training experience, visit NFDA.org/ArrangerTraining or call 800-228-6332 (262-789-1880). 

About NFDA

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.

Join the Conversation: NFDA’s Digging In Discussion Series Kicks Off in April

 Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is pleased to announce the launch of Digging In, a new live, monthly virtual discussion series designed to foster networking and meaningful conversations among funeral service professionals. The inaugural discussion will take place April 23 from 6-7 p.m. CT. 

“Education is the foundation of professional growth, and Digging In offers a fresh way for funeral service professionals to continue learning outside of traditional settings,” said Sara Moss, a licensed funeral director and one of the Digging In moderators. “Through open discussions and shared experiences, attendees will gain practical knowledge that can enhance their work and deepen their connection to the profession.” 

This free series, open to both NFDA members and nonmembers, will, generally, take place on the fourth Wednesday of every month via Zoom. Each session will center around topics inspired by episodes of NFDA’s podcast, A Brush With Death, as well as other timely topics, providing participants with an opportunity to explore key industry insights, share experiences and engage in thought-provoking discussions. 

Moss is a Wisconsin licensed funeral director and NFDA’s associate director of education; she takes the lead on managing a variety of education programs including Meet the Mentors and National Emerging Leaders Program. Joining Moss as Digging In moderators are:

• Gabe Schauf, a Wisconsin licensed funeral director who hosts NFDA’s podcast, A Brush With Death. Schauf is also the Program Director and an Instructor for the Milwaukee Area Technical College Funeral Service Program.
• Lanae Strovers, an Iowa licensed funeral director and NFDA Trainer who travels the country leading the Arranger Training program and presenting other educational programs. 

“Every day, funeral directors face unique challenges, and having a strong professional network can make all the difference,” said Strovers. “Digging In is about creating a space where professionals can openly share insights, ask tough questions and support one another as we navigate this rewarding but demanding field.” 

“The best conversations in funeral service happen when people come together to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions and learn from each other,” said Schauf. “Digging In takes that energy and brings it into a live format where professionals can engage in meaningful discussions that spark new ways of thinking.” 

Funeral professionals should mark their calendars for the first Digging In discussion on April 23, 2025, from 6-7 p.m. CT, featuring all three moderators as they introduce themselves and the vision for Digging In. The trio will engage Digging In attendees in a discussion of the March episode of A Brush With Death, “So You Hired an Apprentice – Now What?,” which explored common challenges and practical advice to help both mentors and apprentices have a successful relationship. Registration is now open for the first Digging In session. Funeral service professionals interested in participating can click here to join the chat. 

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.

Back in April 2024 Tukios and its founder CEO Curtis Funk announced that they would be producing a podcast series titled “Podcasket”.  According to this press release on the series, it would feature “. . . . all things deathcare, feature special guests, and will be available on any streaming device. 

I was humbled when CEO Funk reached out to me and wanted to produce a podcast about my life in funeral service.  After answering some pre-interview questions for him and sending him a history of my work experiences, we got down to cutting the interview almost two weeks ago.

Last Thursday the episode dropped for the public and I present it here for you today just in case you want to know more about me and what I think of the future of funeral service . . .as well as more subjects.  You can also access five other Podcasket episodes of people in funeral service from this link.

You can follow this link to the episodes I mention and can easily find the episode that I’m featured on. . . . .If you navigate to the bottom (scroll it down) of the link you can access the episodes in YouTube format where it is not only sound but sound and video.

Here is the Podcasket link and following is the “teaser” put out by Podcasket for this episode:

“Tune into this PodCakset episode, where Curtis Funk interviews Thomas Anderson, a fourth-generation funeral director and entrepreneur with a remarkable background in both the funeral and sports industries. Thomas shares his journey from growing up in rural Minnesota, where he unexpectedly took over the family funeral home, to later founding a professional basketball league and sports business. His insights reflect a deep understanding of the funeral profession, and his experience in running Funeral Director Daily, a well-known industry publication, showcases his ongoing influence in the field.

Thomas discusses the evolution of funeral services, from traditional practices to modern consumer choices, including the rise of cremation and the need for funeral directors to adapt to new trends like natural organic reduction and the “cremation aftermarket.” He emphasizes the importance of offering families a variety of memorialization options, especially as more consumers seek personalized and environmentally conscious alternatives. His business acumen shines through as he explains how he leveraged creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset to navigate the challenges of funeral service and beyond.

Throughout the conversation, Thomas reflects on the lessons he’s learned from his diverse ventures, offering advice for current and future funeral professionals. He advocates for honesty, fairness, and a commitment to helping others, whether through providing quality funeral care or innovating new business opportunities. Tune in to hear about his unique path, how he successfully balanced multiple ventures, and the wisdom he imparts from his decades of experience.”

I truly enjoyed my discussion with Curtis Funk and hope you enjoy the discussion also.

Tom Anderson

Funeral Director Daily

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AI and Grieving Series, Part 4: HereAfter.AI

AI-powered “companions” that are essentially chatbots based on the deceased (the moniker “deathbots” is catching on) are becoming thick on the ground, with more emerging all the time. A few incipient models not quite fully established are plugging right along in available (if limited) formats; one such service is HereAfter.AI (iOS and Android app reviews indicate development is ongoing, but the service is apparently up and running online from the website). 

As the final “deathbot” service we’ll take a look at for the time being, HereAfter shares a lot of features in common with StoryFile and Eternos.Life. Like the others, HereAfter maintains a repository of data in various formats accessible on demand in the form of photographs and audio or video recordings of a lost loved one. 

For the archive, files must be recorded using HereAfter technology, either from the website or via the apps (through which purchases are available). And paid customization of pre-existing, high-quality video and audio files is purportedly available, or will be. 

No Test Drive

I tried to create an account for the advertised 14 day free trial but for reasons inscrutable, HereAfter disapprove of my business email address. I was denied access, unless I opted to pay. I did not opt to pay. Perhaps you will have better luck. The website’s FAQ list is here. The homepage is likewise sparse, offering little of substance: no sample video, no demonstrations or tutorials, no additional educational content were accessible from the site. There was, however, the following:

What happens if your company goes out of business?

HereAfter plans to be around for a long time. But in the event that the company is forced to shut down, we will give every customer the opportunity to download their life story recordings.

Deathbots Unite

As far as I could discern, HereAfter.AI differentiates itself in the expanding deathbot genre by providing access to both “friendly virtual interviewers”, with an option to hire an “expert life story interviewer” (for an undisclosed fee). 

The legacy service itself, however, does seem reasonably priced: monthly tiered options include a “Starter” level (up to 20 stories and 20 photos, $3.99/monthly), a “Storyteller” tier (up to 50 of each, $5.99/month), as well as an “Unlimited” option (exactly what it sounds like at $7.99/month, but it also includes the option to download any of the files in mp3 format). 

And there’s a “pay once & done“ option for each level at $99, $159, and $199 respectively, which allows access in perpetuity to whomever has a link.

It will be interesting to see how HereAfter.AI, as well as any more such services still in the offing, may shape up in time. Hopefully, more unique and unexpected facets are on the way, perhaps to “flesh out,” as it were, both the human interviewer and the lost loved one angles. When things are better established I’d like to revisit this service, hopefully in a more hands-on way. 

Have we seen the full range of such legacy SaaS subscription options? Hard to imagine. Maybe somebody new will come along and shake up the paradigm. It’s awfully young to become stale.