January 2021

Page A18 JANUARY 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A Bay Memorials 321 S. 15 th St. • Escanaba, MI 49829 • (906) 786-2609 • Fax (906) 786-2692 Zerbel’s www.baymemorialsbabycaskets.com infant Cremation containers Available in 10”, 20”, 30” Flannel Lined Unisex Juvenile Pattern White Corrugated Cardboard Beginning at $20.00 Appropriate For Viewing Funeral Directors Research,Inc. AMRA INSTRUMENT, LLC 623 N. Tower (P.O. Box 359) Centralia, WA 98531 “the shorter the supply line the better off you are” WEB DIRECT GIFT & PRICING TM ® www.amrainstruments.com www.preproomdirect.com By Mark Bowser There is nothing like a good story. We all enjoy them. We enjoy them in books, movies, and even in the occasional conversation in the lunch room. This year, this column is going to be focused on stories. Stories that will touch our hearts and inspire our steps to success and service. This first story is amazing. If not for this story … the American story would read much different. It is amazing how our lives are connected together. A ferocious storm battered the tiny ship. Those on board weren’t confident that the wooden sides could hold up to this type of punishment. But the Mayflower continued on its journey and what a journey it turned out to be. Particu- larly, for young John Howland. During the storm, John came up from the lower deck and onto the exposed top deck. Why he came up in the middle of the storm, we may never know. John wasn’t on the top deck very long before the violent storm swept him overboard. Those who saw it, thought he was dead for sure. For John sunk below the waves and they thought that was the last time they would ever see him. But, a few seconds later, John appeared from beneath the waves and he had hold of a rope that was attached to the ship. It is a miracle in and of itself that a rope attached to the ship was dangling in the water ... and an even greater miracle that John’s outstretched hand was able to grasp it as his body hit the cold sea. The men on board the Mayflower quickly came to John’s rescue. They pulled and heaved at the rope and were able to pull John alongside the ship. They then lowered a boathook and scooped John up like ice cream being put in a cone. Watching the scene play out in front of her as if it was a modern-day horror movie, twelve-year-old ElizabethTilley stood on the deck as her emotions convulsed with anguish. What a relief when they pulled John on board. In the not-too-distant future, Elizabeth and John devel- oped a budding romance. A romance for the ages. They eventually married and had ten children, eighty-two The Foundations of Success for Funeral Directors grandchildren, and their descendants sprinkled the American countryside like lilies on the prairie. Some of their descendants included the actors Humphrey Bogart and Alec Baldwin. Their most famous and influential descendants include three United States presidents: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. What would’ve happened if John Howland had died that day? Just what would have happened to America dur- ing World War II if FDR wasn’t in the White House? What would’ve happened if Saddam Hussein was able to continue his rampage against tiny oil rich Kuwait? And, what would’ve happened if we had not had the strong leadership of George W. Bush after September 11, 2001? We will never know. The Bush family faced a second miracle saving in the 1940’s. During World War II, the senior Bush was the pilot of a three-man torpedo bomber in the Pacific. This was an ex- tremely dangerous job during the war. Bush flew fifty-eight combat missions during World War II. One of the more stressful missions happened in June 1944. Bush and his crew took on anti-aircraft fire which forced them to make an emergency landing – in water. An emergency landing is harrowing at any time, but in water under those cir- cumstances it is nearly impossible. Little did they know, that experience was a cakewalk compared to what was to come. On September 2, 1944, they were again hit by anti-aircraft fire during a bombing run on a Japanese island. It was as if a giant boxer had hit the underside of the plane. Bush described it this way, “Suddenly there was a jolt as if a massive fist had crunched into the belly of the plane. Smoke poured into the cockpit, and I could see flames rippling across the crease of the wing, edging toward the fuel tanks.” His plane was on fire, but Bushmanaged to finish his bomb- ing run. He then made his way out to sea. His two compan- ions, already dead, may have been the lucky ones. His plane was crippled and not flyable. Bush’s only choice was to bail out of the plane. As he disembarked, his body hit the tail before finding clear air. The impact ripped a gash into his forehead and his parachute. Somehow, Bush made it to the ocean surface still con- scious of his surroundings. He was losing a lot of blood and being stung by incessant jellyfish which caused nox- ious vomiting. Despite all of this, Bush managed to swim to his inflatable lifeboat. The hours felt like days as he floated there on the ocean surface. The Japanese were searching for him and torture was in his future. If not for the American fighter planes which drove off the Japanese boats looking for Bush, his name would be just a footnote in history books. Bush was finally rescued by an American submarine, the USS Fin- back, and the future 41st president of the United States lived to see another day. Every day, we face certain doom if not for a miracle from God. How many times have we crossed over death with- out even an inkling of its existence?We will never know on this side of heaven. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to take this day for granted. I hope you will do the same. Thanks for reading today. To view a video on this topic from one of Mark Bowser’s live seminars then go to https://youtu.be/NXRBFB8cLvM Excerpted and adapted from Mark Bowser’s Seminar, The Foundation of Success for Funeral Directors . To schedule Mark Bowser as a speaker for your next event or conference then email mark@BrightCorporation.com or visit www.MarkBowser.com Mark Bowser is the Vice President at one of the funeral indus - tries premier stationary publishers, the Bright Corporation, and one of the top Professional Business Speakers in the United States. He is the author of several books including The 3 Pillars of Success for Funeral Directors and Sales Success with Zig Ziglar. He can be reached at 1-800-428-6424 or email mark@BrightCorporation.com. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at The Miracle That Saved Three Presidents New Study Sheds Light on Succession Planning and the Impact of COVID-19 on Funeral Profession O R L A N D O , F L — Foundation Partners Group has unveiled re- sults of the 2020 Funeral Business Planning Survey. The study, conducted by an outside research firm in partnership with the National Funeral Direc- tors Association (NFDA), presents an independent look at the current state of succession planning and the impact of COV- ID-19 on funeral services. “The fact that the average age of a funeral home owner in the United States is now 55, means a large number of the country’s more than 17,000 independent and family-owned funeral homes will be bought, sold or passed on to the next generation in the next 7 to 10 years,” said Kent Robertson, presi- dent and COO of Foundation Partners Group. Chief among the study’s findings are that nearly three out of four respondents (73 percent) do not currently have an exit strategy or succession plan, in spite of the fact that more than one-third plan to retire within the next five years. In addition, COV- ID-19 has had a profound and, in many cases, lasting impact on funeral services. The Power of Planning Of respondents looking to retire in six-to-twelve months, half are still developing plans, one-third have a plan in place and nearly 10 percent have no plan at all. “The power of long-range planning to positively impact the sale price of a funeral home, transition to new own- ership and a family’s legacy in the community is unde- niable,” said Foundation Partners Chief financial officer Thomas Kominsky. “That’s why it is surprising that so many funeral home owners, close to retirement, have not formulated a plan for the successful transition of their business to new owners. Funeral directors help fami- lies pre-plan memorial services all the time, yet when it comes to planning their own futures, this study indicates that many funeral business owners are unprepared.” When asked how they plan to exit their businesses, the majority (54 percent) of funeral service profession- al surveyed said they plan to sell or transition the busi- ness to family members. More than 10 percent said they will use a broker to market their business, while eight percent plan to partner directly with a buyer with whom they already have a working relationship. When addressing the importance of eight retire- ment/succession plan objectives, survey respondents overwhelmingly rated “Continued high-quality ser- vice to our community” as their most important goal. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said maintaining service was “very” or “highly important.” The second most highly rated objective (83 percent) was “secure a financially stable retirement,” while “preserving a family legacy of community service” and “grow and develop the business” tied for third, each cited by 69 percent of survey participants. Continued on Page A19 www.nomispublications.com News Funeral Home & Cemetery online