Lead with Purpose: Apply for NFDA’s National Emerging Leaders Program Today

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has begun accepting applications for the 2025-26 National Emerging Leaders Program. Since its inception, this transformative program has nurtured 58 funeral service professionals, equipping them with the skills, knowledge and confidence to excel as leaders in their funeral homes, communities, and the funeral service profession at state and national levels. 

This comprehensive year-long leadership experience will empowers 20 select participants to lead with vision, integrity and influence, providing them with tools and strategies to inspire and guide others. Additionally, participants will benefit from mentorship opportunities and high-level networking with leaders in the funeral service profession. 

The 2025-25 program will begin with a retreat at NFDA headquarters in Brookfield, Wisconsin, June 22-24, and conclude during the 2026 NFDA Leadership Conference. Participants will engage in approximately seven virtual learning sessions throughout the year, featuring insights from both funeral service experts and distinguished leaders from outside the profession. 

The NFDA National Emerging Leaders Program is open to all licensed funeral professionals in the United States and Canada – regardless of NFDA membership status – who are in the early stages of their careers (first-career funeral directors licensed at least three years or second-career funeral directors licensed at least one year). 

“Being part of something bigger than myself – a program dedicated to advancing the future of funeral service – has been an inspiring and humbling experience,” said Sarah Ziesmer, a 2024-25 National Emerging Leaders Program participant with Heritage Funeral Home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “Sharing space with like-minded, passionate individuals from across the country has been one of the most impactful aspects of the program. The knowledge and tools I’ve gained are invaluable, and I’m eager to bring what I’ve learned back to my team. My goal is to empower my staff, strengthen our services and contribute to the evolution of funeral service.” 

“As a participant in the National Funeral Directors Association’s Emerging Leaders Program, I found the experience to be invaluable for both my professional and personal growth,” said 2024-25 National Emerging Leaders Program participant Marshall Loring of Messinger Indian School Mortuary in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The program is thoughtfully designed to engage, support and develop future leaders in our profession. The mentorship from seasoned professionals was a cornerstone of the experience as well, providing guidance and encouragement every step of the way.”

The National Emerging Leaders Program requires an investment of $1,500, covering retreat fees, registration for the 2026 NFDA Leadership Conference, approximately seven virtual learning sessions led by expert speakers and facilitators, printed educational materials, continuing education hours, and extensive networking opportunities. To help offset costs, participants will receive a travel reimbursement of up to $500 for the retreat and up to $500 for the 2026 Leadership Conference.    

For more information and to apply, visit NFDA.org/EmergingLeaders. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. CST on April 15. Selected participants will be announced in early May. NFDA extends its gratitude to the Funeral Service Foundation for its generous support of the National Emerging Leaders Program. 

“Investing in leadership development ensures a stronger, more resilient future for the funeral service profession and the families we serve,” said John Heald, chair of the Funeral Service Foundation Board of Trustees. “The Funeral Service Foundation is proud to support NFDA’s National Emerging Leaders Program, which empowers professionals to grow, connect and lead with purpose.” 

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. 

As the calendar turned to Nov. 11

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today, almost every adult American realized it was a special day of remembering. It’s the day we honor the men and women who have served our country whether in wartime or in peace. History reminds us that the setting aside this day, once known as Armistice Day, occurred in a document

at 11:11 am on Nov. 11, the 11

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day of the 11

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month.

Callaway-Jones continues to thank our community citizens who have served our country valiantly in their lifetimes. We also honor our newest recruits and enlistees. From boot camp to retirement, those who offer themselves to serve our country deserve our highest and best praise and appreciation.

If you’d like to take part in today’s community observance of Veteran’s Day ceremony, it will begin at 5:30pm at the Louis L. Adam Memorial Plaza of Veterans Park and Athletic Complex, 3101 Harvey Rd., in College Station. The address is 3101 Harvey Road. The Corps of Cadets will offer a rifle salute and playing of “Taps.” Beloved former basketball coach Gary Blair, a Marine by service branch, is guest speaker. Although the latest marble engravings of the newest names added to the Wall of Honor could not be completed by today’s service, their names will be read aloud.

To add the name of your loved one to honor their military service to the Wall, or for more information, visit the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial

. To all Veterans, we salute you!

Cody D. Jones ‘02

Wreaths Across America, the non-profit organization that works with volunteers and over 4,800 cemetery locations to place wreaths on our honored veterans graves has its matching donation program in place through today where your donation can be matched by corporate companies Jersey Mike’s Subs and Norfolk Southern.  For each $17 wreath donated, Jersey Mike’s will match the donation up to a maximum of $500,000 total and Norfolk Southern will match the donation up to a maximum of $100,000 total.  The matching program ends at the end of the day today (December 3, 2024).

What started out as an act of honor to place 5,000 wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery 30 years ago will find the organization this year placing over 3 million wreaths in honor of American military participants.

Jersey Mike’s Subs has donated over $4 million to the program over the past several years.  Here’s what Peter Cancro, founder and CEO of Jersey Mike’s says of their efforts in a news release, “Jersey Mike’s franchisees across the country support the year-long mission to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom.  I invite you to join this important Wreaths Across America initiative and make a difference.”

And, here’s what Ed Elkins, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer of Norfolk Southern said in this press release, “At Norfolk Southern, Veterans Day is about honoring those who have sacrificed so much, and it’s also about active support, partnership, and gratitude for their sacrifices. To us, that means continuous, year-round support through meaningful contributions and partnerships that make a difference.  For several years, Norfolk Southern has been deeply involved in supporting the mission of Wreaths Across America, and we’re proud to provide this additional assistance to champion their mission in 2024.” 

The placing of the wreaths in cemeteries will take place on Saturday, December 14.  To learn how you can find a cemetery near you and volunteer for that effort click here.

Arlington National Cemetery escort begins Saturday, December 7 — The escort from Columbia Falls, Maine, carrying wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery will travel through Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C., before arriving at Arlington National Cemetery on the morning of Saturday, December 14 – National Wreaths Across America Day.

The procession that will consist of at least 14 tractor-trailer loads of wreaths will be escorted by Chevrolet sponsored vehicles to transport participating Gold Star and Blue Star family members and veterans during the week-long trip. Here’s what Dan Adamcheck, Regional Director of Sales, Service, and Marketing for Chevrolet says about their efforts,  “Chevrolet and its dealers are humbled to continue to play a part in the important yearlong mission of Wreaths Across America. This annual tradition, now in its 10^th year for Chevrolet and its dealers in the Northeast Region, is something we all look forward to participating in each year.  To be able to give back to our communities and the men and women who have given so much to our country is truly an honor for Chevrolet and its employees.” 

Click here to learn more about the route and the events along the way from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery.

Click here to learn how you can donate to Wreaths Across America

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

By now, in your households, the gentle quiet, peace, and calm that was yours prior to the start of the winter holiday season has been restored or is almost there today. For those with families, we have potentially shared hours of remembrance of days of our youth with those of other generations in our families. If we have not been together in person, thanks to Skype, Zoom, and Facetime, some virtual gatherings occurred as well. Togetherness is always the theme of our holiday season, and the love of family is something we can count on to make our days better.

For many of us, we have blended families at the holiday season and as a wise grandparent used to say, “There’s more of us to love this year!” Others were missing key family leaders—matriarchs and patriarchs—who were central to the location and timing of our gatherings. A grandparent or their generation is usually the top of the pyramid by which people collect and when they are gone, it’s so easy for individual families to scatter to other directions, or think about where they personally prefer to be, rather than always heading home to grandparents’ destinations.

The losses we have sustained do not escape us, though. It is different, and it is unique for the first year we are without ones we count on so strongly to “make” our holidays just like they always were, are no longer with us. Our reactions vary, from being able to speak out loud of those who are new to the family, just as much as those who are missing this year. A family member will often step up and take a role as a leader for a new generation to gather.

Photographs are taken for all the special occasions, and these are the treasures we preserve to pass on and share with future generations to come. In the “old days” photographs were prints placed carefully in scrapbooks, either the paper pages with the little black triangular corners to anchor them in, or behind individually peeled back pieces of plastic that go across the placed pictures to seal them away from the air that could ultimately cause them to disintegrate, fade, or age with time.

At such family gatherings, it becomes so important to get our senior family to sit with us and identify all the people in the photographs (and then write them on the back of the photos) to explain who the people are and where they fit in to our family and friends like extended family. Stories of how people came into the family, when and where, are another integral part of our family history that will be shared forever for generations to come.

Making sure we have peoples’ best recollections is key, particularly when adult memories are sharpest. As newer, younger adults, we often think we have forever to ask our senior family about the days of their childhood, what it was like growing up, and how it seemed that their hopes and dreams were realized. No matter what generation we’re considering—the Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y, or Z, there are always factors that impact our lives in a particular decade.

Although there are times when we think we have it rough, it is nowhere nearly as challenging as the generations before us. The problems are equal in emotional impact, perhaps, but in reality, we are better prepared with each passing year to accept and accomplish challenges we face, thanks to technology, opportunity, or breakthroughs in medicine.

For example, in the 1970s in Bryan-College Station, any person with a serious heart condition had to drive regularly to Houston for appointments, cardiac care, all operations, and recuperation before coming home. Today we are spoiled by having a vast riches of the most gifted physicians, nurses, and medical personnel here living and working among us. Equipment is readily available to give us superb scans within minutes, far beyond our wildest imagination at the time.

The next decade we face, even the next six years until 2030 will be filled with new inventions, technological breakthroughs, and solutions we haven’t even considered yet. What will become future yesteryears” we cannot even imagine. It is so important to make audio, video, and permanent records of today, now, to have to compare and contrast against for generations we have not even yet given thought to. Tomorrow’s holiday memories have yet to come, but they will all be based on the yesterdays those older than us have left us as their treasures to remember forever.

As you glance around your living room this week, and you hear the gentle echoes of children’s voices raising when they enjoyed cookies, package discovery and unwrapping, you see shadows of their tiptoeing around trying to catch a glimpse of Santa, if they could, hold those memories close in your heart. Journal about them if you will take a few minutes, and 25 years from now, those children will be sitting in your living room, with children of their own, and will be delighted to have a record of what they were like at “that age.”

Thank you for all your faith and confidence in our family in 2023. You honor us with choosing us to care for your family in one of the most important times of your lives.

The best gift you can offer the future is to record the past, today, in great detail, to preserve history for generations to come. It is truly a gift that does keep on giving. As Carly Simon once sang, “Stay right here ‘cause these are the good ol’ days. These are the good ol’ days.” Wishing all of you a blessed, bright 2024 ahead. From my family to yours, Happy New Year!

Cody D. Jones ‘02

Owner & Community Member

If you work in the consumer facing Death Care business it’s pretty likely that you come into contact with Veterans of the United States Armed Forces on a consistent basis.  For me, as a funeral director, most of my time with the older veterans in my community was at funeral services where they were gathered to honor the military service of the deceased.

I’m old enough that when I started working at funeral services in 1980 those veterans who provided the volunteer Honor Guard at funeral services were veterans of World War I.  I still remember many of them including these three, all widowers,  — Harry Gulson, Frank Johnson, and Oscar Bergner.

It’s extremely important for me to continue to remember these people.

They were great guys.  . incredibly modest and they always stayed around to participate in the funeral lunch with the families of the veteran’s they were honoring.  They were all about or over 80 years old and enjoying having me, at the age of about 22, sitting down with them and telling them of my generation’s “world”.  They were sincere and greatly interested.  I learned a lot from their upbeat take on the world and their ability to let tough issues just seem to roll off their backs.

The truth be told, it was those old World War I vets that taught me, simply through their attitudes about life,  about going to work and not complaining. . . .about when you set out to do a task — finish it. . . . . and that America is worth standing up for.

I’ve seen old films of World War I and saw on those films the conditions that these men served in while in Europe.  They never let me know of those conditions. . . . simply saying that they were doing their duty for our country.

I just want to use today to let you know that Veterans Day, as it is now known, stems from what used to be called “Armistice Day”.  It’s observed on November 11 of each year because the fighting of World War I was officially ended at 11 am November 11, 1918.   Many people simply remember the date by saying “It was the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.

According to this article from Wikipedia, “Armistice Day” was renamed “Veterans’ Day” in 1954 and now commemorates the service of all United States Veterans.  That is in contrast to Memorial Day, which according to the same article, “specifically honors those who have died while in military service”.

Regardless of your political pursuasion, I believe that we all owe a great debt of gratitude to these warriors. . . . and all of those men and women who have served in the military of our country from the Revolutionary War all the way up to present day.

May God Bless them for their service.

Related Information —

• Here is the website of the American Battle Monuments Commission which includes information all United States military cemeteries and battle monuments located outside of the United States.

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

While I was researching this morning’s article on the most recent financial performance of Propel Funeral Partners I was made aware that the people of Seeking Alpha had written some opinion pieces on North American Death Care companies within the past month.  Without any opinion or other action I present them to the readers of Funeral Director Daily for your own education.  They are listed by date published.

Service Corporation International  — “Service Corporation International:  Covid-19 Pull-forward over”.  Published on February 25, 2024.

Matthews International —  “Matthews International:  Industrial turnaround and margins”.  Published on February 27, 2024

Park Lawn Corporation —  “Park Lawn Q4:  Reiterating Buy Rating after shares drop”.  Published on March 11, 2024

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

Direct cremation is becoming an increasingly popular choice among individuals planning for themselves or their loved ones, as it offers a simplicity and affordability that eases the emotional and financial stresses often associated with traditional funeral services. One of the most significant advantages is the freedom it provides families to honor their loved ones in a personalized way, on their timeline. When you opt for a cremation service in St. Charles, MO, providers such as St. Louis Cremation pave the way for a no-fuss approach that focuses on dignity and care, without the pressures of immediate, elaborate ceremonies.

Apart from being cost-effective, direct cremation also allows for a more environmentally conscious choice, reducing the need for land usage and preserving natural resources. The process is straightforward, with the professional team at St. Louis Cremation handling all necessary details with utmost compassion and respect. This modern approach to after-life services not only accommodates personal wishes and financial concerns but also provides a tranquil space for loved ones to eventually come together and celebrate the departed’s life in a way that’s most meaningful to them.

Streamlined and Stress-Free Planning

One of the top benefits of direct cremation is the streamlined and virtually stress-free planning process. Without the need for immediate decisions on funeral details, families can take their time to mourn and consider how they wish to memorialize their loved one. Direct cremation bypasses the complexity and urgency of traditional funeral planning, offering a simplified alternative that respects both the wishes of the deceased and the needs of the bereaved.

Financial Considerations and Savings

Cost savings are a significant advantage that comes with choosing direct cremation. Traditional funerals can pose considerable financial burdens, but direct cremation requires less expenditure for services and merchandise. This option eliminates many of the costs typically associated with funerals, such as embalming, elaborate caskets, and extensive visitation services. Hence, direct cremation emerges as an economical solution that eases the financial impact on families during a challenging time.

Flexibility in Memorialization

Direct cremation provides flexibility in memorialization, allowing families and friends to create a personalized memorial at their convenience. This could mean holding a private gathering, a celebratory life event, or even a digital memorial that can be attended by loved ones from any location. The freedom to choose how and when to commemorate the deceased empowers families to honor their loved ones in a more personal and meaningful manner that truly reflects the individual’s life and legacy.

In conclusion, the advantages of direct cremation offer peace of mind, providing simplification of the process, financial relief, and the flexibility to honor loved ones in a personalized way. With cremation service in St. Charles, MO, families receive the compassionate support of St. Louis Cremation, allowing them to focus on what truly matters—celebrating the life and memory of the departed. This modern approach lets families say their goodbyes in a manner that is both meaningful and respectful, all the while ensuring that the process aligns with their personal values and financial considerations. We encourage you to connect with us today for efficient service.