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JULY 2014
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
Iowa Funeral Directors Learn Lessons from Newtown at State Convention
NEWS
Association
CONTINUED
Mid-Atlantic Conference to be held in
Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY,NJ—
The largest gathering
of cemetery and funeral professionals on the
east coast, the Mid-Atlantic States Cemetery
& Funeral Conference will be held Novem-
ber 5-6, 2014 at the Golden Nugget in At-
lantic City.
Sponsored by the
Delaware First State
Cemetery Association
,
Maryland Cemetery,
Funeral and Cremation Association
,
New Jer-
sey Cemetery Association
,
Pennsylvania Cem-
etery, Cremation and Funeral Association
and
the
Virginia Cemetery Association
, attendees
can plan on two days filled with experts, ex-
hibits and excitement.
Registration includes the opening cocktail
receptions with the exhibitors Wednesday
evening and continental breakfast, lunch
and dinner reception with exhibitors on
Thursday. The educational lineup will fol-
low the Remembrance Service Thursday
morning beginning with
Robert Fells
, IC-
CFA Executive Director and General Coun-
sel and
Fred Lappin
, President of ICCFA.
Gino Merendino
will present Cemetery
Maintenance;
Paul Seyler
will talk about
Funeral Home and Cemetery Relationships;
David Yearsley
will outline the Mausoleum
Checklist: Smarter Planning and Care; and
Ron Salvatore
will discuss Cremation Lia-
bility-How Vulnerable Are You?
Todd Van
Beck
will present No Magic Bullets: Learn-
ing All Over Again in the morning and will
then close the educational sessions with The
Worthy Ideal: A Motivational Journey.
For more information on registration or
exhibiting, contact any of the sponsoring as-
sociations or
David Michener
, PCCFA, at
412-682-1624.
Connecticut Funeral Directors
Association leaders Pasquale
Folino, Laura Soll, and John
Cascio offer Iowa funeral di-
rectors lessons from the Sandy
Hook tragedy.
The Premier Midwest Funeral Service Expo in Hilton Coliseum.
WEST DES MOINES,IA—
The 2014 Annual
Iowa Funeral
Directors Association
Convention in May featured speakers
from around the country this year at the Iowa State Center and
Gateway Hotel in Ames, IA. In a moving session on Wednes-
day, May 14, attendees learned how the leaders of the
Connect-
icut Funeral Directors Association
(CFDA) rapidly mobilized to
respond to the tragedy at Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary
in December 2012. CFDA’s President (
Pasquale Folino
), Ex-
ecutive Director (
John Cascio
), and Communications Direc-
tor (
Laura Soll
) recounted how more than 160 Connecticut
funeral directors stepped forward to work together and support
each other during that unimaginable week.
Other speakers at the 134th Annual Convention presented
current information on bereavement education, business and
management practices, regulatory updates, technical skills
and training and additional topics related to the funeral ser-
vice profession. The IFDA Convention provides funeral di-
rectors with a forum to receive and exchange information so
they may return home with new ideas that will allow them to
better serve the families in their communities.
Funeral directors arrived in Ames on Monday, May 12,
for the 10th Annual IFDA Golf Outing at Coldwater Golf
Links. Golfers enjoyed the
only four hours of sunshine
on Monday to play 18 holes
of golf with colleagues and
friends. IFDA and other
sponsors provided door priz-
es for attendees and awarded
cash to the top three teams.
Tuesday morning’s opening
ceremonies featured Gover-
nor
Terry Branstad’s
Iowa Fu-
neral Directors Week proc-
lamation. In honor of the
compassion that Iowa fu-
neral directors show to their
communities, the proclama-
tion designated May 11-17,
2014 as Iowa Funeral Direc-
tors Week. Keynote Speak-
er
Mary Byers
, author and
business coach, followed
with “ToughTalking: Initiat-
ing and Managing Difficult
Conversations”.
Following the keynote pre-
sentation, Byers instructed
funeral directors on devel-
oping a one page strategic
smartphones.
Tuesday evening started with the Celebration of Life honor-
ing IFDA members and their family who passed away within
the last year. Representatives of the deceased were presented
with a memorial candle and ornament and enjoyed and video
memorial. Following that was the Presidential Banquet and
Awards Ceremony, which highlighted the “Driving for Ex-
cellence” golf theme and honored the achievements of IFDA
members throughout 2013. Those honored included scholar-
ship recipients, 40- and 50-year licensees, and Award of Ex-
cellence recipients. New officers and governors for the 2013-
2014 term were inducted as well.
IFDA Officers are: President –
Jayme E. Lentz
,
Lentz Fu-
neral Homes
, Algona; President-Elect –
Martin A. Rieken
,
Rieken Vieth Funeral Home
, Oakland; Secretary-Treasur-
er –
Patrick A. Leonard
,
Leonard Funeral Home & Cre-
matory
, Dubuque; Policy Board Representative –
Lynn E.
Ochiltree
,
Ochiltree Funeral Service & Aftercare
, Winter-
set; and Immediate Past President –
Michael P. Jones
,
Pauley
Jones Funeral Home
, Harlan.
IFDA Board of Governors are: District 1 – Vacant; District
2 –
David M. Fry
,
Fry Funeral Home
, Tipton; District 3
–
Charles J. Yoder
,
Yoder-Powell Funeral Home
, Kalona;
District 4 –
William J. Armstrong
,
Watson-Armstrong Fu-
neral Homes, Inc
., Mount Ayr; District 5 –
Paul A. Fouts
,
Fouts Funeral Home
, Woodbine; District 6 –
Justin P. Hill-
man
,
Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home
, Pella; District 7 –
Chad Schuchert
,
Schuchert Funeral Home
, Spirit Lake;
and District 8 –
James M. Fullerton
,
Fullerton Funeral
Home
, Mason City.
Wednesday started in Hilton with the second day of the
Premier Midwest Funeral Service Expo. Continuing educa-
tion took place in the Expo Hall and Hilton’s Pete Taylor
Media Room.
Harold Ivan Smith
, author and bereavement
specialist, trained attendees in helping dysfunctional families
through the loss of a loved one. The seminars moved to Gate-
way for the evening, and funeral directors discussed ways to
make the funeral profession more inclusive at “Women in Fu-
neral Service: A Panel Discussion for MEN (and Women)”.
Thursday’s “Embalming the Difficult Case” seminar from
4th generation funeral director
Jack Adams
brought the
2014 IFDA Convention and 15 hours of continuing educa-
tion opportunities to a close.
The IFDA staff has already received a lot of good feedback
and is glad to have completed another successful convention.
The Iowa Funeral Directors Association “promotes and sup-
ports funeral service excellence” by representing over 700
Iowa licensed funeral directors and promotes high standards
within the field of funeral service through continuing educa-
tion programs, legislative representation and service to Iowa
communities. For consumer information regarding funeral
service, please log on IFDA’s websit
plan for their businesses.
The annual IFDA Business
Meeting was the last morn-
ing session at the Scheman
Building before the
Wilbert
Luncheon, which was dur-
ing the Premier Midwest Fu-
neral Service Expo in Hilton
Coliseum.
The Expo opened with a
welcoming luncheon fol-
lowed by an afternoon of
cocktails and networking.
Over 60 exhibitors present-
ed everything new and im-
proved in funeral service
while funeral directors re-
searched the exhibitors and
navigated the hall with the
Guidebook app on their