October 2019

Page A6 OCTOBER 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A In their BOOK..... Our Life Undertaking The Path We Chose the Holts share stories.... of Life and Humor, going from Farm Kids to City Undertaker; of leaving their Prairie farm home to work in West Coast Mortuaries. Read a few pages... Look it up Today on Amazon Books Cast Iron Horse Drawn Hearse Perfect for Your Funeral Home! Scaled model, new (not an antique) 17" long, 7" tall, & 4" wide. $60.00 +shipping pridne01@yahoo.com http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cast-Iron-Horse-Drawn-Funeral-Hearse- /290893662456?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43ba9d08f8 By Christopher Kuhnen There’s More To It... Advance Funeral Planning www.nomispublications.com Funeral Home & Cemetery News Contributors share insights and exchange ideas. B logs Christopher Kuhnen has been actively engaged in funeral service for over 32 years. He is best known as an industry go-getter, a cap- tivating professional and progressive leader. As an insider into excel- lence, he is a trusty advisor to numerous funeral home and industry professionals. Kuhnen provides regular comprehensive consultation and support and additionally trains and bolsters leading death care professionals concerning profitability, management, pre-need sales and marketing, family service follow-up, and much more. Over the course of his celebrated career, he has directly con- tributed to the success of many award-winning funeral homes, pre-need sales and marketing organizations, as well as an ac- claimed pre-need insurance company. Kuhnen is a Kentucky Licensed Funeral Director, Life Insurance Agent, and member in good standing with the Funeral Directors Association of Kentucky. Additionally, he is a Certified Marketing Specialist, as bestowed by the National Marketing Academy and a Certified Funeral Celebrant as bestowed by the distinguished Insight Institute. Chris can be reached at (859) 307-7223 or cpkuhnen@gmail.com. Survey Indicates Changing Consumer Attitudes The importance of traditional funeral service among the Millennial Generation continues to deteriorate. A recent survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC News re- vealed millennials do not value patriotism, family and reli- gion as passionately as previous generations.* This change means that traditional funeral service (as we have histori- cally known) will continue to take a beating. The survey was conducted using a sample of 1,000 adults from August 10-14, 2019. This type of survey began 21 years ago; Americans were asked which values were most important to them and the majority responded that “prin- ciples of hard work, patriotism, commitment to religion, and the goal of having children” were critical. Today, hard work remains a priority, but the percent of Americans listing the other three values have fallen sub- stantially. Patriotism being “very important” fell 9 per- cent, religion dropped 12 percent and having children fell a whopping 16 percent. Despite the fact that older partici- pants still feel patriotism, religion, and children are impor- tant, the younger populations are not as enthusiastic. In assessing the outcome of the survey; if having children becomes less and less important, just how many people will populate your community in the years ahead? Declining population rates eventually translate into declining death calls. Cremation rates have been steadily on the rise since the 1950s. Traditional funeral services, with caskets and buri- als, have given way to direct cremations and memorial services. Don’t look for this trend to decline anytime soon. To add insult to injury, let us now consider these survey findings: the declining number of Americans who consid- er themselves religious or patriotic. Religion and patriotism have been the stalwarts of our profession. Religious funeral services have carried the day for generations. Now the impor- tance of incorporating religious elements and ceremony into loved one’s funeral services may be in decline. Know any good Funeral Celebrants you can call? The decline in American patriotism can somewhat be ex- plained by the rising number of Millennials who view demo- cratic socialism as the wave of the future. If the government is going to pay for your healthcare costs and college tuition, why shouldn’t they also pay your funeral costs? When the Millennial Generation gains stronger politi- cal clout, eventually one of their proposals will be lobbying for the Social Security one-time death benefit of $255 to be raised to $1,500 or more. This amount (paid for by the U.S. Government of course!) will make it affordable for them to purchase the cremation services they desire. Who needs a Go- Fund-Me page? If the government can pay for us to come into this world, (through government paid and controlled healthcare) surely, they can pay to take us out of this world. This line of belief is not that implausible. I don’t know about your house of worship, but my mainline denominational church has less and less young families attend- ing any of our services. If you take away young families, with children, the future of your church congregation looks bleak. Young families are not only the future of our churches, but re- ligious based funeral services as well. If religious faith declines, why do we need a traditional funeral home or mortuary to serve us? Just call the local memorial or cremation society to handle everything. Easy, quick and affordable, right? Millennial attitudes regarding the declining importance of faith, family and religion will have a destructive impact on our profession. This is yet another good reason we all need to get out there, every day, and passionately impart the value of traditional funeral service. Running a pro-active pre-need program is one impor- tant way we can affect shifting attitudes. If your pre-need program needs help becoming more proactive, send me an e-mail. I might be able to offer a suggestion or two or three that can put you on the right track. People don’t know what they don’t know. It’s up to funeral directors and pre-need representatives to better educate all genera- tions, concerning the value of quality crafted, affordable and professionally executed final remembrance services. I can be reached at cpkuhnen@gmail.com. * Day, Chad. (2019, August 25) Americans Have Shifted Dramatically onWhatValuesMatterMost.Wall Street Journal/ NBC https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-have-shifted- dramatically-on-what-values-matter-most-11566738001 B o o t h 4 2 3 National Mortuary Shipping and SEPIO Guard Partner to Provide a Superior Travel Plan Product CLEVELAND,OH— National Mortuary Shipping and Cremation and SEPIO Guard have developed a relation- ship that will allow them to offer a travel plan product to funeral homes. Diane Smith, CEO of NMS stated, “We are very excited about this relationship and product. The re- lationship between NMS and SEPIO Guard is a natural fit. NMS has been helping hometown funeral directors with out of town deaths for over 35 years and this is our core mission.” SEPIO Guard focuses on the travel plan product and has the experience in selling products like this to funeral homes. Smith states “We have been approached many times by other companies to assist with a travel plan program but SEPIO is the first company that matched our core values and has the same commitment to customer ser- vice that NMS has been known for. By working together, we can each fo- cus on what we do best and together offer funeral directors and their fami- lies a product that exceeds industry expectations.” For more information or to receive a free family brochure, call NMS at 800-321-0185 or email info@natlmortuaryship- ping.com. To reach SEPIOGuard, call 877-625-2726 or visit www.sepioguard.com . Learn more at NFDA Booth 423. Third Annual Before I Die New Mexico Festival Kicks Off with Dia de los Muertos Event ALBUQUERQUE ,NM— The third annual Before I Die New Mexico Festival, seven days of death pos- itive experiences to dis- cuss mortality and encour- age planning ahead for end-of-life issues will take place November 3 to 10, 2019. Events will be held throughout the state, in Albuquerque, November 3 and November 7-10; Santa Fe, November 6; Taos, No- vember 4; and Espanola, November 5. The two previous Before I Die New Mexico festivals drew 600 participants in 2017 and 685 in 2018. The International Cemetery, Cre- mation and Funeral Associ- ation (ICCFA) recognized the 2018 NM Festival with their KIP Award for Best Event. The event is coordi- nated by pioneering death educator Gail Rubin, Cer- tified Thanatologist. The festival will start in Albuquerque with a Dia de los Muertos celebration at Fairview Memorial Park on Sunday, November 3, 2019 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The free fami- ly-friendly celebration in- cludes a traditional proces- sion to welcome deceased loved ones, mariachi mu- sic, a procession of vintage cars and low riders, tradi- tional Mexican fare, face painting, an offrenda/altar, flowers, healers, artists, and a host of Dia de los Muer- tos activities. Additional Before I Die New Mexico Festival ele- ments include: Death Café conversations and the panel discussion “Millennial Mor- ticians with ABQ Brews”; a Mortuary Mall and “Be- fore I Die” wall; speakers, panel discussions and work- shops on estate planning is- sues, advance healthcare di- festivals are part of a grow- ing social movement that fosters reflection about how we as individuals and as a society manage death and dying. One-day Before I Die events have been held in Bakersfield, CA by Green- lawn Funeral Homes, Cremations and Cem- eteries and in El Paso, TX by Perches Funeral Homes. A multi-day Be- fore I Die Arizona event will take place in Scotts- dale, October 29 to No- vember 3, 2019. The Before I Die New Mexico Festival is made pos- sible by: A Good Good- bye, Daniels Family Funer- als &Cremations, DeVargas Funeral Home & Crema- tory , Fairview Memori- al Park, Gabaldon Mortu- ary , FRENCH Funerals and Cremations, Sunset Me- morial Park, Morris Hall PLLC, MyFinalChecklist. com and Everdays. Partners include the Os- her Lifelong Learning In- stitute at the University of New Mexico, The Guild Cinema, Berardinelli Fam- ily Funeral Service, Com- passion and Choices NM Action Team, TheBucket. com, and LifeIZShort.com. Part of the sponsorship proceeds from Before I Die NM are donated to charitable partner Fathers Building Futures, www.Fa- thersBuildingFutures.org. Most Before I Die New Mexico Festival events are free, to encourage as much participation by the pub- lic as possible. Learn more about all activities and reg- ister online for events at www.BeforeIDieNM.com or call Gail Rubin at 505- 265-7215. rectives, life after death, death doulas, pet loss, and other end- of-life topics; Behind-the- scenes tours of funeral homes, c r ema t o r i e s and cemeter- ies; and a pan- el discussion of green buri- al and eco- friendly funer- al options. Before I Die