In 2013, scientists shared a discovery they’d made at a burial site of Natufians, the earliest prehistoric people believed to systematically bury their dead. In these graves, found on Mount Carmel in Israel and dating from between the 13,700 and 11,700, scientists found that a number of the dead had been buried on a literal bed of flowers. This discovery answered a longstanding question of when humans started connecting flowers with the ritual of burial: from the beginning: turns out, we’ve been doing it from the beginning.  

Thumbies’ New Viper and Deception Cigar Cutters add personality to utility with engraved prints from pets and loved ones.

Of all our guests this season, Charles Castiglia may have had the most varied list of "edges" that he's worked to develop over the years, from veterans and their families, to crafting stories, and even founding an entire business to negotiate better credit card service charges for not just his own funeral home, but others as well.

Kelley Romanowski knew she wanted to work in a helping profession. She started on the path toward nursing but realized that wasn't for her, and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer at a family owned and operated funeral home instead.

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (Sept. 7, 2021) – Express Funeral Funding (EFF), the industry's largest privately held at-need insurance assignment funding company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of We Fund Funerals (WFF).

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 2, 2021) – The Order of the Golden Rule is excited to announce one of its members was recognized by the National Funeral Directors Association as the "Best of the Best" for 2021 as part of their annual Pursuit of Excellence Awards.

KINGSTON, Ontario (Sept. 1, 2021) - Mike Hepburn and his team at YourSocialStrategy.com are proud to introduce their new funeral home digital marketing program, FuneralClicks.com.

Joe E. Pray is one of four Joes you may find around Pray Funeral Home in Charlotte, Michigan. They may have strikingly similar names in this family operation, but they pride themselves on the unique, customized service they offer the families who come through their doors.

Mike Hepburn started out working for his family's funeral home with his sister and brother-in-law, even renting out a room above the funeral home, but felt that marketing was more his calling.

Andrew Loos didn’t intend to become a funeral director, but when you marry a 4th generation funeral director, it may not be a shock when you slide into the profession. A few years after joining the family business, they converted it into what is now the Heartland Burial & Cremation & Burial Society, an OGR member firm in the Kansas City area.

What’s a hula hoop got to do with change? Whenever I speak on resilience and responding to change, I invite the audience to go on an adventure with me. We stand up. We imagine ourselves running across the shire. Together, we shout, “I’m going on an adventure!”

What's Your Excuse?

Regardless of the size of your firm, if you do not have a dedicated pre-need program, you are doing your funeral home a disservice and only kidding yourself. Throughout the year, we hear a multitude of reasons/excuses as to why a particular firm does not need a dedicated pre-need person, writing agent or even a set plan. The smaller funeral homes are quick to report that the families they serve do not like to prepay or that they do not have time for pre-need
because they are simply too busy. They then will round out the conversation with the fact that they do not believe in time pay. If you relate to any of these excuses, I urge you to change your mindset a little or I believe that your entire business will flounder.

Why 2021 is the year to buy a new funeral home or sell yours

Big changes? Small changes? Whether you’re facing a process change or a total reorganization, upheaval at work can zap your energy and dampen your spirit. I’ve been there! Here are some self-care tips for managing the stress of change.

Arianna Rule is a 27-year-old funeral director at Brunswick Memorial Home in East Brunswick, New Jersey. She is also the new chair of OGR’s Young Professionals Council.

The world has gone digital. There is no denying that we are living in a digital world, and with that comes new risks and responsibilities. In 2019, there were an estimated 4.4 billion active internet users. With the upcoming emergence of 5G wireless technology, telecoms giant Ericsson projects more than 65% of the world population will have access to the internet by the end of 2025.

Starbucks, which recently filed a trademark application for its popular “puppaccino,” is not the only one to have noticed the way we feel about our dogs.

Kevin Opsahl is the owner of Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory in Yankton, South Dakota. He shared his experiences with running a successful funeral home that has been around for more than a century.

Independent funeral homes are always working to show how they are different than conglomerate competitors. Are you especially involved in your community? Do you have a specialized knowledge base, like issues specific to veteran funerals?

When was the last time you had press walk into your funeral home? Have you been interviewed on drive time radio lately? Other than the obituary page, where is your funeral home mentioned in your local newspaper? If your answer is “never” or “rarely,” then you need to make a marketing plan…and that plan starts now.