June 2019

Page A30 JUNE 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A ICCFA Elects New Officers, Directors during the 2019 Annual Convention ICCFA Annual Convention Crosses the Finish Line in Charlotte, North Carolina April 2–6, 2019 Charlotte Convention Center Charlotte, NC 2019 Convention HIGHLIGHTS Jay Dodds STERLING,VA— The International Cem- etery, Cremation and Funeral Associa- tion elected new leadership during its 2019 Annual Convention and Exposi- tion, April 2–6 in Charlotte, NC. ICCFA officers for 2019- 2020 are: President: Jay Dodds, CFSP, Park Lawn Corporation, Houston, TX; President-Elect: Gary M. Freytag, CCFE, Spring Grove Cemetery & Arbo- retum, Cincinnati, OH; Vice President, Educa- tion: Mitch Rose, CCFE, CCrE, Woodlawn Ceme- tery, Bronx, NY; Vice Pres- ident, Membership and Marketing: Shawna de la Cruz, Forest Lawn Memo- rial-Parks & Mortuaries, Glendale, CA; Vice President, Internal Af- fairs: Andrés Aguilar, Los Parques, Gua- temala City, Guatemala; Vice President, External Affairs: Lee Longino, Service Corporation International, Houston, TX; Treasurer: Christopher Keller, Sunset Memorial Park & French Funerals and Cremations, Albuquerque, NM; and Sec- retary: Robbie L. Pape, Service Corpora- tion International, Houston, TX. Members elected to serve three-year terms on the IC- CFA Board of Directors are: Stacy Adams, Memo- rial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, St. Peters- burg, FL; Stephen Bassett, Elmwood Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Abilene, TX; Shawna de la Cruz, Forest Lawn Memorial- Parks & Mortuaries, Glen- dale, CA; Buddy Ewing, Tharp-Sontheimer Tharp Funeral Home, Metairie, LA; Robert Gordon Jr., CCE, Cypress Lawn, Colma, CA; Caressa Hughes, Service Corporation Internation- al, Houston, TX; Andy Lopez, StoneMor Partners LP, Trevose, PA; and Jennifer Ol- STERLING,VA— The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral As- sociation (ICCFA) Annual Convention drew in 1,850 total attendees and 504 supplier booths. There were 383 first-time attendees who experienced the 2019 Con- vention. Of the total attendees, 602 took part in the Tuesday Welcome Reception at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The breakdown for the 2019 attendance numbers is as follows: • Total cemetery, funeral home, crematory and allied business representatives: 902 o 25 percent representing cemeteries o 41 percent representing funeral homes o 3 percent representing pet loss providers o 11 percent representing crematory operations o 20 percent “other,” including insur- ance agents, mortuary school facul- ty, representatives of industry asso- ciations and others • Exhibitor and supplier registrations: 948 Attendees classified their positions as follows: • Owners: 39 percent • Managers: 46 percent • Staff: 15 percent • Final purchasing authority: 53 percent • Make purchasing recommendations: 40 percent • No purchasing authority: 7 percent As in past years, the event was highly rated by attendees, with 73% percent in- dicating their overall convention experi- ence was “excellent” or “very good,” and 92% percent indicating they “definitely” or “probably” will attend the ICCFA 2020 Annual Convention & Expo when we re- turn to San Antonio, Texas. Among the comments: “As a first time attendee to the IC- CFA Convention, I rated it an A++. The amount of knowledge and material pre- Continued on Page B11 Continued on Page A31 ICCFA has named its 2018 Keeping It Personal (KIP) Award winners, recognizing the best in personalization in the cemetery and funeral service profession. Created by the ICCFA Personalization Committee, the KIP program honors recipients in four categories: Most Personalized Service/Memorial; Events; Innovative Personal- ized Product (suppliers only); and Most Personalized Pet Service/Memorial. This year’s contest attracted 40 entries from El Salvador, Canada and the United States. Communications and marketing professionals from outside the cemetery and funeral service profession performed the judging. MOST PERSONALIZED SERVICE OR MEMORIAL First Place and Grand Prize Winner Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery: Butterfly Blankets, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Honorable Mention Loyless Funeral Homes: Memorial Service for Les Brown, Tampa, Florida EVENTS First Place A Good Goodbye: Second Annual Before I Die New Mexico Festival, Albuquerque, New Mexico Honorable Mention Jackson Lytle & Lewis Life Celebration Center: Honor Field, Springfield, Ohio INNOVATIVE/PERSONALIZED PRODUCT (SUPPLIERS) First Place The Domani Group: Domanicare, Orem, Utah Honorable Mention UPD Urns: Totem of Life and Death, Manassas, Virginia MOST PERSONALIZED PET SERVICE OR MEMORIAL First Place Clock Timeless Pets: Helping a Community Heal, Muskegon, Michigan Honorable Mention Rolling Acres Memorial Gardens for Pets: Memorial Service for Buddy, Kansas City, Missouri The grand prize winner, Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, received a free registration to the 2019 ICCFA Convention. All first place and honorable men- tion winners were recognized at the convention and will be featured in the May issue of the ICCFA Magazine . ICCFA congratulates this year’s winners for their commitment to honoring the life stories of the families they serve. More information on the winners is available on the ICCFA website at www.iccfa.com/kip. KEEPING IT PERSONAL AWARD WINNERS HIGHLIGHTS continued ON page A31 Photos Courtesy Cressy Memorial, Mishawaka, Indiana