Category: BLOG-The Daily Dirge
By Nastassia Strackbein
Husband and wife cemetery owners, Ted and Arminda Martin, owners of Grandview Memorial Park in Ravenna, OH and Fairview Memorial Park in Delaware, OH, face a grand jury on August 8, 2017. The Record-Courier newspaper in Ohio reported that the Martin’s are charged with, “Crimes related to the operation of the cemetery, including multiple counts of tampering with records, failure to establish a cemetery trust fund, failure to deposit sales proceeds into a cemetery trust, failure to appoint cemetery trustees, failure to file annual reports and affidavits and misdemeanor charges of failure to register a cemetery”. Read more
By Nastassia Strackbein
The state of Colorado has shut down Heritage Cremation Provider for misleading consumers and acting as a middle-man to generate business for funeral homes. But Heritage Cremation’s website implied to consumers that the business is locally owned and services were provided by the consumer’s “friends and neighbors. Read more
By John Lantz
At the time of “at need” funeral planning, we often refer to the funeral consumers as “uniquely vulnerable.” There are several reasons why those shopping for a funeral are vulnerable in a way they are not in any other retail transaction. Read more
By Karen Smith, Ph.D.
“What we do to the earth we do to ourselves” is an adage many people have come to believe. How we connect to nature matters and can have benefits for our health, according to New York Times journalist David Suziki.
Do you believe your living and dying are part of a larger natural procss in which we all play a role? Read more
We thought you might “Digg” this historical excursion, courtesy writer and historian, Amy Elliott Bragg. While this true story is set in Detroit, racially discriminatory practices in the funeral industry that continued well into the 1960s, were widespread. Read more
Death With Dignity?
Nation’s Largest Funeral Home Company Charges High Prices and Refuses to Disclose These Prices On Their Websites
Read FCA’s full report on how SCI-owned corporate funeral homes charge up to 72 percent higher prices than independently owned funeral homes. Read more
by Alison Rector, FCA of Maine
“What’s the biggest challenge at your FCA right now?” This is the question I use to get to know colleagues at our national conference. I really enjoy the encounters with fellow volunteers at national conferences, meeting new friends from around the USA and Canada. Read more