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JULY 2014
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
– For Professional Embalmers –
Fountain NaƟonal Academy of Professional Embalming Skills 3rd Biennial
InternaƟonal Embalming and ReconstrucƟve Surgery Conference
Double Tree Hotel
July 31 – August 3, 2014
•
Springfield, Missouri, USA
Conference begins Thursday, July 31 at 5:30 p.m. – Ends Sunday, August 2 at 12:00 noon
At our 2010-2012 Conferences we had 10 countries and 25 states in aƩendance.
AƩendance is accepted on a first-come-first-served basis and is limited to the first 150 registraƟons.
Open to all licensed or qualified embalmers and apprenƟce embalmers and Mortuary Science Students.
Mortuary Science Students are accepted based on space availability
Save on fees and insure space availability by registering early!
All registraƟon fees are 100% refundable if you can’t aƩend.
The enƟre conference is focused on Embalming and Specialized ReconstrucƟve Surgery Techniques
The Conference Theme is: “Dedicated to The Value of Open Casket Viewing”
In addiƟon to Mr. Fountain’s presentaƟons he has hand- picked 11 addiƟonal speakers
from across the United States and abroad.
For more informaƟon contact:
Vernie R. Fountain, Founder, Embalmer, ReconstrucƟve Surgery Specialist,
CFSP E-Mail: vrfountain@earthlink.net – Phone: 417-833-5130
the FTC,” said
Larry Mill-
er
, President and CEO of
StoneMor. “Now that this
critical milestone has been
reached, we can look for-
ward to closing the trans-
action and integrating
the properties into the
StoneMor system.”
The company has also an-
nounced that it has closed
the long-term lease and
outsourced management
agreement with the
Arch-
diocese of Philadelphia
for 13 Catholic cemeter-
ies located throughout the
Philadelphia five-county
region. With this strategic
arrangement, StoneMor
will operate and manage
the cemeteries, which will
continue to be owned by
the Archdiocese of Phila-
delphia, throughout the
60-year term of the ar-
rangement.
The cemeteries included
in the outsourced manage-
ment and lease arrangement
are:
All Souls Cemetery
,
Coatesville (Chester Coun-
ty);
Calvary Cemetery
,
West
Conshohocken
(Montgomery
County);
Cathedral Cemetery
, Phil-
adelphia;
New Cathedral
Cemetery
,
Philadelphia;
Holy Cross Cemetery
,
Yeadon (Delaware County);
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
,
Cheltenham (Montgom-
ery County);
Immaculate
Heart of Mary Cemetery
,
Linwood (Delaware Coun-
ty);
Resurrection Cem-
etery
, Bensalem (Bucks
County);
Saint John Neu-
mann Cemetery
, Chalfont
(Bucks County);
Saint Mi-
chael Cemetery
, Chester
(Delaware County);
Saints
Peter and Paul Ceme-
tery
, Springfield (Delaware
County);
All Saints Cem-
etery
, Newtown (Bucks
County); and
Holy Savior
Cemetery
, Penn Township
(Chester County).
In a release Miller stat-
ed, “We are pleased to have
been selected by the Arch-
diocese of Philadelphia for
this important work. Our
team lives and works here
in the Philadelphia region,
and we are part of the very
communities these Catho-
lic cemeteries serve.”
He added that the 13
cemeteries
have
per-
formed a combined aver-
age of about 7,000 buri-
als per year. “In terms of
providing services to so
many families per year, this
transaction marks the sec-
ond largest enterprise we
have taken on since be-
coming public in 2004. As
with previous transactions,
we will be bringing to each
property our unique ex-
pertise in offering and
managing pre-need plan-
ning for families. We have
a successful track record
of effectively transitioning
management and opera-
tions of properties that are
new to our portfolio, and
we anticipate a continua-
tion of that trend here,” he
said.
StoneMor Partners L.P.,
headquartered in Levit-
town, PA, owns and op-
erates 278 cemeteries and
90 funeral homes in 28
states and Puerto Rico.
StoneMor is the only pub-
licly traded deathcare com-
pany structured as a part-
nership. For additional
Stonemor receives approval on SCI Acquisitions;
finalizes Agreement with Archdiocese
L E V I T T O W N , P A —
StoneMor Partners L.P
.
(NYSE:STON) announced
that the Federal Trade Com-
mission (FTC) has voted to
approve its previously an-
nounced purchase of 9 fu-
neral homes, 12 cemeteries
and 2 crematories from
SCI
(NYSE:SCI). The unani-
mous vote in favor of the
transaction concluded the
regulatory process initiated
when SCI, in connection
with its recently completed
acquisition of
Stewart En-
terprises
, made a number
of its properties available.
According to the FTC
the firms approved are:
Ar-
lington Park Cemetery
and Funeral Home
, Jack-
sonville, FL:
Roberts Fu-
neral Home
, Ocala, FL;
Roberts Funeral Home –
Bruce Chapel East
, Oc-
ala, FL;
Roberts Funer-
al Home, Bruce Chapel
West
, Ocala, FL;
Good
Shepherd Memorial Gar-
dens
, Ocala, FL;
Forest
Hills Palm City Chapel
& Forest Hills Memo-
rial Park
, Palm City, FL;
Pollack-Best Funerals &
Cremations
, New Bern,
NC;
Floral Garden Me-
morial Park
, High Point,
NC;
Montlawn Memori-
al Park, Funerals & Cre-
mations
, Raleigh, NC;
George Washington Me-
morial/Kirk & Nice Fu-
neral Home
, Plymouth
Meeting, PA;
Sunset Me-
morial Park/Kirk & Nice
Suburban Chapel, Inc
.,
Feasterville, PA;
Green-
wood Memorial Gardens
,
Richmond, VA; and
Sun-
set Memorial Park
, Ches-
ter, VA.
“We’re delighted to have
obtained approval from
By Sherry L. Williams
The Gift of
Aftercare
About this time of year, I start to get questions about new af-
tercare or community service ideas. I must say that even after
27 years, I still hear about and am able to come up with new
projects, programs and ideas for aftercare. When it comes right
down to it, you are only limited by your creativity, budget and
willingness to try new things. In fact, many ideas can be relative-
ly inexpensive and give you great exposure in your market area.
Here are a few things you might consider trying:
1. A “Pay it Forward Campaign”
–
This is a real simple way
to pass on goodwill and create community awareness of the
need to be good neighbors. All you need to do is print up
tickets or cards about the size of a business card that say –
Pay it Forward
(week of ______)
You have just received a small act of kindness.
We now encourage you to “Pay it forward” to two other
people.
Be sure your business name and logo are on the card both
front and back. Now all you have to do is get your staff in-
volved in “Paying it forward.” Give them several cards so
they can pass on small acts of kindness, nothing big, maybe
buying coffee for the car behind them in the drive through
and have the cashier give them your card when they come
through to pay. You might pay for gum for a child in the
check out and give the card to their mother, cut someone’s
grass, pick up their newspaper and deliver it with a donut
ditions and Emergency contacts. The cost of designing and
printing these cards are minimal and they could be carried
by nearly everyone in your community if you and your en-
tire staff are passing them out.
These three simple ideas are very affordable and easy to im-
plement. Don’t let the sluggish economy keep you from pro-
moting your business. This above all times is the time that you
need to keep your firm visible. When money is tight, people
shop around and you need to be visible now more than ever.
Good luck. Keep the creative juices flowing and think of
ways to use your advertising and marketing dollars to give you
maximum exposure at the lowest cost.
and hot coffee, take some cookies to the nursing home for the
nursing staff and leave cards for them so they can “pay it for-
ward,” pick up the tab for a military person having dinner at a
local restaurant, or take water to a little league team. The ideas
are endless, but always be sure to leave cards so everyone can par-
ticipate in the “Pay it Forward” week. This could even become
an annual week of “acts of kindness.”
You might want to do this on the Fourth of July to celebrate
the birth of our country and run a patriotic ad about paying it
forward as a way to celebrate our freedom.
2. Another easy thing to do is to reconsider your print advertising.
Since you already have it planned in your budget, just change
your ads to ads with helpful safety tips for the elderly such as:
Do not run extension cords or any kind of cord for that matter
under carpet or rugs; limit the number of things plugged into
extension cords to two and check to make sure that the cords
are not warm, if so, they may be overloaded; do not leave food
cooking on the stove; don’t leave a candle burning if your aren’t
in the room; if you live alone, leave a whistle by your bedside to
frighten an intruder. You can think of thousands of other things
that might be helpful tips for elderly people living alone.
3. You might run ads about swimming safety or firework safety.
You could even sponsor a special safety campaign with the local
YMCA or fire department.
4. Create special cards for recording current medications, aller-
gies, and emergency numbers and pass them out at the funeral
home and when pre-arrangements are made. They would even
be good for health fairs or whenever you are speaking. This is
very simple and affordable. This card is the size of a business card
but it folds over on itself three times. On the front of the card: it
reads; Personal Medication Record. There is a place for the name
of the person and of course, your firm’s logo, phone number and
website. On the inside of the card across the top it reads: Medi-
cations & Supplements – Strength – Directions. Under those
headings are lines to write in the names of the medications. On
the back three panels, there is space for Allergies – Medical Con-
Sherry L. Williams-White, RN, BA, GMS, GRS, is an independent con-
sultant on grief, loss and stress management with The Quail Group, a
consulting firmbased in Louisville, KY. She has an extensive background
in the in the area of grief and loss management and has worked with
thousands of firms assessing their internal systems, communities and
resources to develop and manage good bereavement outreach pro-
grams. Out of her personal loss experiences and need for information
when she was grieving, Sherry founded ACCORD®Grief Management
Services in 1984. In 2004 she founded Sherry Williams Enterprises and
New Leaf Resources which specialized in grief resources materials and
informational/educational services. Sherry is a nationally certified grief
management specialist, has received advanced certification as a be-
reavement facilitator from the American Academy of Bereavement and
is certified by the Grief Recovery Institute as a Grief Recovery Specialist.
She is the publisher of New Leaf Magazine, formerly Grief
Magazine™, a quarterly publication for the bereaved. She is the au-
thor of Holiday Help®: A Guide for Holidays and Special Days, Beyond
Goodbye: A Guide for your Journey through Grief, and is a contribut-
ing author to Every Woman’s Guide to Financial Security, When All the
Friends Have Gone (A Manual for Aftercare) and What To Do When
Someone Dies. She is listed in 2000 American Notable Women for out-
standing service to community, state and nation.
She has been a featured speaker for numerous organizations, in-
cluding the National Funeral Directors Association, The Association for
Death Education and Counseling, The National Catholic Ministry to
the Bereaved, churches, support groups and state funeral associations
across the United States. Sherry is a guest lecturer at Bellarmine College
School of Psychology, Kent School of Social Work and Expressive
Therapies Department at the University of Louisville.