Frigid Fluid Awarded U.S. Patent for New Embalming Machine Port System

Northlake, Ill. — October 20, 2025 — Frigid Fluid, a family-owned company serving funeral professionals since 1892, has been granted a U.S. Patent (US 12,214,937 B2) for its Port System and Method for an Embalming Machine. The new design reflects Frigid Fluid’s long-standing commitment to advancing embalming technology in practical, meaningful ways.

The patented port system’s Mix Mode ensures a uniform blend of the selected formula, preventing fluid separation and improving overall consistency when blending fluids. With the Self Clean mode, the hydraulic system can be thoroughly flushed in minutes, simplifying routine maintenance while extending the life and performance of the machine.

“This patent represents another step forward in our effort to make embalming equipment smarter and easier to use,” said Brian Yeazel, President and CEO of Frigid Fluid. “Our engineering team has put real thought into how people use this equipment every day—and this design grew directly from those insights.”

The Port System and Method patent joins a growing portfolio of Frigid Fluid innovations that support funeral directors and embalmers around the world. It underscores the company’s continued investment in practical design improvements that enhance insight, reliability, and long-term performance in the prep room.

About Frigid Fluid
Founded in 1892, Frigid Fluid supports funeral professionals with dependable products, hands-on service, and technical expertise. The company is headquartered in Northlake, Illinois, and serves customers throughout North America and internationally. Learn more at www.frigidfluid.com.

PlotBox Acquires MIS, Strengthening U.S. Market Position and Expanding Access to Modern Deathcare Solutions

BOSTON, MA & BATESVILLE, IN – October 15, 2025 – PlotBox, a leading cloud-native platform for cemetery and funeral home management, announced it has acquired HMIS (also known as MIS) from Batesville.

MIS was acquired by Batesville in 2012. This acquisition expands PlotBox’s presence in the United States and gives MIS customers a partner focused on modern solutions for deathcare operators.

MIS is a management platform serving funeral and cemetery operators across North America, streamlining operations from first call through aftercare. The software unifies case management, scheduling, arrangements, billing, and reporting, with integrations for accounting, payments, and partner tools.

The announcement follows a year of strategic growth for PlotBox, including a new investment from Serent Capital, the launch of enhanced e-commerce and operational automation capabilities, and a much-anticipated entry into the funeral home segment. 

The addition of MIS customers aligns with PlotBox’s broader mission to help deathcare providers simplify workflows, improve transparency, and deliver better experiences for the families they serve.

“At PlotBox, we believe funeral and cemetery professionals deserve technology that meets the complexity of their work and supports their commitment to service,” said Sean McAllister, CEO of PlotBox. “We are excited to welcome MIS customers and provide them with the innovation, reliability, and partnership they need to operate with confidence.”

PlotBox is committed to providing exceptional service and support to the MIS customer base while also giving customers access to PlotBox’s full software suite, which integrates mapping, records, sales, finance, inventory, and reporting into a single cloud-based system. The platform is used by a growing number of cemeteries, crematories, and funeral homes to streamline daily operations and scale with evolving business needs.

PlotBox will feature its expanded funeral offering at the 2025 NFDA International Convention & Expo in Chicago, October 26-29, 2025, where attendees can engage with the team, explore product capabilities, and hear from operators using PlotBox to modernize their operations.

About PlotBox

PlotBox is a leading cloud-native software solution for cemeteries, funeral homes, and crematories. It’s an all-in-one platform that combines mapping, records, sales, inventory, finance, and analytics in one intuitive system. PlotBox helps deathcare organizations simplify operations, improve performance, and better serve their communities. The company supports customers across North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Learn more at www.plotbox.com

About Serent Capital

Serent Capital is a growth-focused private equity firm that invests in founder-led, technology and tech-enabled service businesses. With deep expertise in software, Serent partners with high-potential companies to drive growth through strategic and operational support. Founded in 2008, Serent has supported more than 60 companies across sectors including healthcare, education, government, and business services. Learn more at www.serentcapital.com 

Tribute Technology and Chptr Launch Nation’s Largest Broadcast Memorial Platform Across U.S. TV Markets

Waunakee, Wis. — August 19, 2025 — Tribute Technology and Chptr have announced a major expansion of their successful Tribute Spotlights partnership, bringing modern video memorials and obituaries to more families and communities than ever before. Starting today, the nation’s largest broadcast memorial platform will deliver these dynamic tributes across TV stations and local news websites in markets nationwide, uniting the timeless act of remembrance with the powerful reach of local media.

Through expanded partnerships with leading broadcast groups — including Hearst, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Paramount, and others — funeral homes can now offer families professionally produced video death notices and tributes that air on local television and appear on station websites. 

Aired TV tributes are produced, distributed, and broadcast daily, with every tribute linking directly back to the funeral home’s website, driving valuable traffic, strengthening community connections, and extending the legacy of loved ones far beyond the service. A new integration with Tribute Technology websites allows funeral homes to send information for aired tributes with just a click of a button on their website admin panel, reducing duplicate entry.

Additionally, obituaries on the Tribute Technology website platform will soon automatically publish to the local television website and link back to the funeral home at no additional cost. This drives awareness among community members and increases traffic and SEO value for each obituary, which is a big step in helping funeral homes get ahead of obituary scrapers.  

Reaching Families and Communities at Scale

Over the next several months, the new digital companion features to the Tribute Spotlights broadcast memorial experience will roll out to hundreds of local news websites and will include obituaries automatically posted to the news site. This rollout provides a radically new way to ensure sustained visibility of memorials for families and consistent awareness for participating funeral homes.

“Obituaries are no longer just words on a page — they’re gateways to connection,” said Courtney Gould Miller, President of Commercial Markets at Tribute Technology. “Tribute Spotlights amplifies the memorial experience and empowers families to foster those vital relationships, reaching more people in the community, especially with loose ties. And with our exclusive feature of auto-publishing obits on TV news sites, families’ stories extend further than ever before.”

Built for Funeral Directors

Tribute Spotlights will be fully integrated in all Tribute Technology-powered funeral home websites, fitting seamlessly into existing workflows without requiring new systems or additional staff effort by partner funeral homes. Tribute’s extensive obituary syndication network powers the scale of this initiative, enabling Chptr to bring video memorials to hundreds of media markets nationwide and making the service immediately available to Tribute Technology’s network of more than 9,000 funeral homes.

“We’re helping funeral homes reestablish themselves as the center of remembrance in their communities, where stories are honored and shared far beyond the service itself,” said Rehan Choudhry, CEO of Chptr.

From Obituary to Community Connection

Tribute Spotlights, powered by Chptr, transforms traditional obituaries into compelling video death notices that broadcast on local television and appear prominently on station websites, ensuring every life story reaches the people who need to hear it. Beyond broadcast reach, Tribute Spotlights serves as a comprehensive memorial platform: automatically generating social-ready visuals for seamless family sharing, preserving memories through lasting digital tributes, and offering white-glove tribute video production that captures the essence of a life through personalized storytelling and professional filmmaking.

About Chptr

Chptr is a storytelling platform for the modern age, dedicated to preserving and sharing stories in ways that transcend traditional memorialization. By transforming memories into beautifully crafted narratives, Chptr helps families and communities honor the past, connect in the present, and ensure stories live on forever. Through broadcast video technology and immersive storytelling, Chptr bridges the gap between personal history and public remembrance. Learn more at www.chptr.com.

About Tribute Technology

Tribute Technology is dedicated to empowering funeral professionals with best-in-class technology solutions. Serving over 9,000 end-of-life providers worldwide, Tribute Technology’s innovative software and services — including website platforms, marketing solutions, management software, online planning, memorial keepsakes, and payment processing — help funeral professionals save time and focus on supporting families. To learn more, visit: https://www.tributetech.com/tribute-spotlights.

Security National Financial Corporation (SNFC), the Utah-based company that has interests in the pre-planning, insurance assignment, mortuary, and cemetery business reported their 2nd Quarter results of 2025 last week.

To sum up the company’s results, both of the 2nd Quarter 2025 and 6-month 2025 financials show an “overall” increase in revenue but a decrease in Earnings before taxes.  Scott M. Quist, President of the company made this comment in prepared remarks from the company press release which you can access here, “Annualizing our first half results we achieved an 8% Return On Equity (ROE) and while that is below our 13.3% 10 year average ROE, I believe that to be a credible performance given that roughly 1/3 of our revenue and equity is in the still very troubled mortgage industry. It demonstrates the financial balance and resiliency of our combined businesses.”

SNFC operates in three divisions — the above mentioned Mortgage Segment is one of those divisions.  They also operate a Life Insurance Segment which includes Security National Preneed and C&J Financial, and Cemeteries/Mortuaries Segment which consists of retail Death Care services.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I want to concentrate my take today on SNFC’s Cemetery/Mortuary Segment.  That portion of the company is pretty concentrated in the state of Utah but also has entities in New Mexico and California.  As far as for a public company segment it is fairly small and will probably do under $40 million in annual revenue.

While I mention that that number is small for a public company Death Care operation it is probably more relatable to family funeral homes and cemeteries across the United States than public companies like Service Corporation International (SCI) and Carriage Services.  While we can learn from SCI and Carriage Services and compare our funeral home financial operations to those companies they are much larger than the average funeral home in total scope.  That probably gives them discounts from suppliers and other advantages to create larger margins than most family-run Death Care operations.

Because of that reality I think a closer look at what has happened to SNFC’s Cemetery and Mortuary Segment in 2025 is relevant.  The 2Q25 report shows that SFNC’s Cemetery/Funeral Segment is lagging 2024 numbers in both Revenue and Earnings before Taxes — both for the quarter and half-year.

For the half-year ended June 30, Cemetery and Mortuary Revenue is down from $17.0 Million in 2024 to $16.2 million in 2025 and for the same time period Earnings before Taxes are down from $5.14 million in 2024 to $4.03 million in 2025.

For Revenue that is a 4.7% decline and for Earnings before Taxes it is a 21.6% decline.

I think those numbers show a staple of Death Care business where there are high “Fixed-Costs” to business and once you reach a certain amount of Revenue you can multiply profits.  It appears that is what SNFC did in 2024 but not yet in 2025.

Here is a prepared statement from SNFC President Quist on those numbers, “Analyzing the activity beneath the numbers we know that while our total service count is modestly up, our traditional service count is down and cremations are up (although we should note the percentage of cremations with services is up). Nationwide the cremation rate is now above 50%, so some of our results are market influenced since cremation services simply don’t have the same revenue as traditional services.”

I think that there are two factors at play for SNFC’s decline in Cemetery/Mortuary Revenue and Earnings numbers.  The first is that as a predominantly Utah-based Death Care operator, cremations and direct cremations are starting to catch up to the national averages as for percentage of disposition choice.  While we have seen the national providers such as SCI and Carriage Services report cremation dispositions at or near 60% of cases, the Cremation Association of North America showed Utah’s percentage of cremation in 2023 as 43%.  As that number moves toward the U.S. average it is bound to lower revenues per service for Utah providers.

The other number in the equation that would help explain a lowering of Earnings would be the great inflationary increases in the cost of doing business.  I think that may be something that is probably under-estimated in the operations of businesses today.  It is imperative that prices reflect your cost of doing business or you will lose profitability margin.

And, I think that situation is very representative of the situation of traditional funeral homes in the United States today.  Costs have gone up and prices have not kept up.  That equation would lead to less margin and less profits and I think that may be a common situation among funeral homes in North America today.

President Quist gives another explanation of the reduction in Revenues and Earnings directly related to SNFC’s Cemetery/Mortuary operations.  That is the “lag” of cemetery land sales for 2025.  He makes a comment in his prepared statements to that situation, “Our preneed land sales lag 2024, and land sales are arguably the greatest driver of profitability”.

I would opine that that situation may be a reflection of more cremation as most cemeteries have found that when cremation has grown in popularity there is less need by consumers to purchase burial lots.  While I have not seen SNFC’s cemeteries, the “lag” in cemetery land sales may be an indication that the company needs to be more aggressive in options for the cremation consumer — such as columbariums and scattering gardens.

Related — Here is the website for Security National Financial Corporations Cemetery/Mortuary Segment

Disclosure — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Security National Financial Corporation.

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

The Independent Funeral Group Expands Nationally, Uniting Family-Owned Funeral Homes Across the U.S.

MARYVILLE, TN – August 4, 2025— The Independent Funeral Group is proud to announce its national expansion, opening membership to family-owned and operated funeral homes across the United States. This bold step reflects a shared recognition: no matter the zip code, family-owned firms are facing the same challenges—rising costs, corporate pressure, staffing shortages, and burnout.

What began as a local alliance of like-minded funeral professionals has grown into a strong network built on mutual respect, shared values, and the belief that independent firms thrive when they stand together. This expansion is not about growth for growth’s sake — it’s about listening to directors and funeral home owners from Maine to California who have the same concerns and shoulder the same burdens, and recognizing the experiences they share.

“We’re not trying to be the biggest. We’re trying to be the most meaningful,” said Dr. Brad Kuchnicki, Executive Director of The Independent Funeral Group and a Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer for nearly 30 years. “What unites us is a deep commitment to family, to service, and to supporting our community—and for us, that community is made up of our fellow practitioners.”

The national rollout is accompanied by recently-expanded member benefits, including access to strategic partnerships, free continuing education, and The Group’s collaborative network of fellow firms and industry contacts.

At its core, The Independent Funeral Group believes that community-based funeral homes are vital to the emotional and cultural fabric of America. As the landscape of funeral service evolves, The Group is committed to protecting what matters most: local ownership, personal service, and the sacred trust placed in family firms by the families they serve. “Our purpose,” said Dr. Brad Kuchnicki, “Is to keep the heart of funeral care in the hands of those who built it.”

About The Independent Funeral Group
Since 1995, The Independent Funeral Group has worked to support family-owned and operated funeral homes, and now serves as a buying, education, and resource group, committed to preserving independent ownership and strengthening the profession through shared resources and collaboration. Founded by funeral practitioners, for funeral practitioners, The Group champions dignity, service, and community.
To learn more about The Independent Funeral Group’s mission, membership criteria, and benefits, visit www.tifg.net, email info@tifg.net, or call (865) 405-7085.

Last week, as you can read in this article, credit rating company Moody’s downgraded the status of the United States Government debt from Aaa to Aa1 – which is a downgrade of one notch.  In making the recent downgrade, the article states:

“The US has lost its last perfect credit rating, as influential ratings firm Moody’s expressed concern over the government’s ability to pay back its debt.

In lowering the US rating from ‘Aaa’ to ‘Aa1’, Moody’s noted that successive US administrations had failed to reverse ballooning deficits and interest costs.

A triple-A rating signifies a country’s highest possible credit reliability, and indicates it is considered to be in very good financial health with a strong capacity to repay its debts. . .  . . . .

The downgrade “reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns. . . . “

 

From my point of view it is a sobering thought on the ratings of U.S. Government debt.  And, I also believe that there may be some consequences to business because of this decrease in ratings.

In my opinion there is somewhat of a “comparable” nature to debt and interest rates companies may receive from their lenders.  And, I believe those rates start at two points — one point is the rating of the United States Government and the second point is the Federal Reserve’s “Federal Funds Rate”.  That is the base interest rate that we hear the “Fed” talk about raising and lowering to maintain the economy without inflation.  Currently, the Fed has a target rate of 4.25-4.50%.

What might this mean for your funeral home?  —  It’s my opinion that when you go in to see your lender they think first about your ability to pay back the loan.  It’s a risk/reward system so they will give you a lower rate if they believe you have a very good chance at paying the loan back. . . conversely, if they believe your cash-flow might be restricted for some reason or another they may still offer you a loan, but at a higher interest rate.

And, they cannot help but think about defaults.  The U.S. Government rating just being downgraded will weigh on their decision simply because it is a psychological negative on credit in general.  I also believe this current rating drop will have a psychological effect on the position of the Federal Reserve Board and their thought process about lowering the targeted Federal Funds Rate — which may keep interest rates “higher for longer”.

Quite frankly, again in my opinion, a United States Government credit rating drop is simply a negative in the universal sphere of credit, one’s thought on creditworthiness, and the ability to move to lower interest rates.  There is nothing I see about this ratings drop that will help any of us, individually or as a business, gain credit or gain a more favorable rate.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

My time on a credit board —  When I served on the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents I was tasked with being the Chairman of the Debt Management Committee for four years.  I learned in some depth about the ratings systems and learned that it was a very big positive to have a great credit rating from the likes of Moody’s.  Our high ratings led to extremely low interest rates as we used credit for everything from building our own power plant to a new athletic complex – selling bonds at the extremely low rate of approximately 2-3%.  The University of Minnesota maintains an Aa1 rating from Moody’s — the same as the new rating on the U.S. Government.  Here’s a short note on that from Google:

“The University of Minnesota currently holds an Aa1 credit rating from Moody’s, with a stable outlook. This rating reflects the University’s strong financial position, brand reputation, and favorable student demand and research trends. The University’s Budget and Finance office indicates that Moody’s last action was in April 2022, and they have continued to affirm the Aa1 rating.” 

What about Death Care credit ratings? —  It is extremely difficult to acquire and maintain the highest ratings in a credit rating . . .such as Aaa from Moody’s or AAA from Standard & Poor’s.  However, in a quick search on ETrade I found five entities with either an Aaa rating from Moody’s or a AAA rating from Standard & Poors.  Realize now, that with the current downgrade of the United States Government, the following five entities have a better credit rating than the U.S. Government rating that is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the taxpayers of the United States.  The five I found were:  Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Yale University.

Comparatively, I found credit ratings for Service Corporation International  (SCI), the company most would say is the strongest in the Death Care world to be BA3 from Moody’s and BB from Standard & Poor’s.  I think that shows the difficulty in becoming “A” rated by the ratings companies.  Most people who understand and follow Death Care do not see SCI being a company that will default on debt anytime soon. . . . Yet, they are not “A” or higher rated.

As an investor I buy bonds from time to time.  Generally, I do stick to “A” rated or better bonds. . . . .However, as a Death Care professional I also look at the realities of SCI and have two bonds that I have purchased from that company.  One has a yield of 5.125% and matures in 2029 and the other has a yield of 5.75% and matures in 2032.  At the time I bought them bank certificates of deposit were paying about 4% so it was a case where I believed the increased yield was worth the risk involved.

Why Moody’s cut America’s credit ratings.  Direct from Moody’s

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Australian Video and Stationery Platform Eulogize Commits to Long-Term U.S. Vision

Sydney, NSW – The founders of Eulogize Memorials, an all-in-one cloud-based platform that helps funeral teams and families create one-of-a-kind, personalized print and digital tributes with ease, have committed to a long-term vision of innovation and implementation in the U.S. after an incredibly successful 2024 launch and convention run.

Following an immensely successful initial launch of a direct-to-family platform in the Australian market in 2019, Eulogize co-founders Ben Sutton and Nick Kelly worked alongside several funeral directors to create a professional version of the platform to meet the specific needs of funeral service providers. 

They introduced Eulogize to the U.S. deathcare community in April 2024 at the International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association (ICCFA) Convention & Expo in Tampa, Florida.

“There is a lot of overlap between the U.S. and Australia, but it is always a risk taking your business to a new country. We decided to come over for one convention first and see what the local reaction was,” explains Eulogize co-founder Ben Sutton. “It was better than we could have hoped for.”

The overwhelming success at this event encouraged Kelly and Sutton to commit to sharing Eulogize with as many U.S. deathcare professionals as possible by participating in the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) Convention in Chicago, the New Jersey Funeral Directors Association (NJFDA) Convention in Atlantic City, and the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) International Convention & Expo in New Orleans. 

In just over 10 months, this targeted focus has resulted in Eulogize securing active professional users in 13 states, including traditional funeral homes, direct cremation businesses, and even memorial parks. Additionally, Eulogize is now fully integrated with three leading deathcare case management platforms, with more partnerships and integrations in the pipeline.

“It’s our ability to customize Eulogize to suit each business’s needs that appears to be really connecting with American funeral professionals,” Kelly explains. “Some people are looking for a self-service option; others want a more integrated video solution or modern print platform that doesn’t require storing expensive paper inventories; we can offer a tailored solution for everyone”.  

Deathcare professionals will have the opportunity to meet Kelly and Sutton and get a first-hand look at the game-changing Eulogize platform at the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association state conference in Norman on April 6-8, in Las Vegas at the ICCFA Experience on May 1-3 and at the Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska Tri-State Expo in Kansas City May 4-7. 

About Eulogize Memorials

Eulogize Memorials is an all-in-one, cloud-based platform that simplifies stationery and video tribute creation for funeral professionals. With a focus on quality and personalization, Eulogize has a suite of unique features, including the option for families to engage in the online creation of their loved ones’ memorials. Eulogize is a game-changing, time-saving, revenue-producing solution for the deathcare community.

Media Contact: Nick Kelly
Nick@eulogizememorials.com