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In a message dated 4/29/03 5:38:20 PM, Thos Lynch writes:
Dear FSI, MM & FSPA:
I see by the Funeral Service Insider and the Funeral Monitor and the Sunday night blatherfest at FSPA that Ms. Pepper must have truly hit a nerve with her column in the March issue of The Director ("Put on your Consumer Hat") in which she writes, "Consumers should have the peace of mind that their preneed contract is 100-percent portable...that it is 100-percent refundable, and that it is 100 percent trusted. I want this as a consumer and what is good for the consumer is good for funeral service."
Imagine! The money is theirs until we deliver the goods (&services).
It is a sure sign that Ms. Pepper has said a needful and honest thing when such concerted din arises against her.
I say Brava & Bravo to Ms. Pepper and Mr. Raymond and Mr. Spence and Mr. Isard for the wisdom to see things as they are and the courage to say it outloud! (Though in the case of Mr. Isard, I think maybe the numbers just finally convinced him.) The collected good sense of the articles they wrote for the March Director signals a positive change -- better late than never -- but certainly a change in the right direction.
Preneed is killing our profession. Consumers do deserve better than they get in many states. The hardsell of preneed has damaged our public image. And the profit does not accrue to funeral directors or funeral consumers, but to the insurance companies and commissioned sellers. This is the substance of the arguments advanced in the March issue of The Director by its editor in chief, chief executive officer, and volunteer president of the association.
As someone who has been saying so outloud and in print in dozens of forums for decades now, I know exactly how cranky folks can get when you threaten the conventional wisdoms. Tampering with market forces within the DeathSales Industry can incite the noisy gongs and tinkling cymbals in the hinterlands.
But Ms. Pepper ought not mistake all the hubbub for sharks circling. It is carp bellyaching. The Bobs (corporate funeral moguls) and mini-Bobs (independent fd's who never noticed that preneed hasn't done the Bobs much good) around the country, long accustomed to NFDA's consent by silence, are rankled at the notion that a leader, such as Ms. Pepper, would have the gumption to lead on principle. They prefer it otherwise. In the past twenty years they've morphed the rich humanity of funeral service into the dull math of funeral sales, broken trust with the consumer, and turned the funeral into a kind of theatre of the absurd -- vignettes involving gardening gals, sports dads, big mammas, knick-knacks and doodads -- a triumph of accessories over essentials and the ridiculous over the sublime. The complicity of NFDA's management and leadership and much of the trade press in this professional devaluation was and remains abundantly evident.
The outcry and ad hominems (or ad feminas) against Ms. Pepper are a sign of real change and the power of principle -- they can't argue against the message so they go after the messenger.
If NFDA, as that lovely begrudger Ms. Simon suggests, is "in extremis," be assured it is not too many employees but too few real guiding and organizing principles that will do it in. It is not Ms. Pepper's sudden and salutary articulation of those principles that is to blame for the steady attrition of members at NFDA. Rather it is the 15 years of risk-averse, duck and cover, "monitor but take no action" mediocrity that defined the former management in Brookfield, and the good old boy network of volunteer leadership that let it stand for so long that has made NFDA irrelevant to the public, the politicians and so many of its current and alas, now former members. The largest association of funeral directors in this country is the un-associated, who left NFDA in those rudderless years, not because they were bought out but because they were fed up with that mediocrity.
Mr. Hernan's hastily cobbled mini-survey which compares Ms. Pepper's 4.3 to Mr. Harden's 6.2 leads the sensible reader to the conclusion that NFDA could be improved by half again by calling Mr. Harden out of "retirement" and returning him to the helm. (Heaven forfend, God forbid, Godhelpus.) Surely if the survey had any validity no such extrapolation could be made. NFDA Presidents Carmon, Vandenbergh, Spence and leaders for the foreseeable future will be hobbled by the damage that was done before them. Maybe their efforts will not be enough. Maybe Chris Raymond is more right than we know -- preneed is not just "killing" our profession -- maybe its past the point of no return. Maybe Ms. Pepper's raising the bar will be too little too late. It is hard to know.
My guess is that NFDA will lose the carp to ICFA where "Naked Sales" are, after all, the raison d'être; and they will retain those funeral directors (shall we call them trout?) for whom profit on a service well done is preferred to commission on a hard-sale closed. Maybe once the new NFDA has sorted out the difference between sales and service, between a telemarketer and a funeral director, between a commissioned seller and a committed professional, between leadership and sales leads, they'll get back some of the many who left because there was nothing for them in the old NFDA. That is the thing to be hoped for and Ms. Pepper gives us reason to hope. The hue and outcry are certain signs that she and the leadership that hired her are making a difference. How much better they'll do remains to be seen. It is hard to stay the principled course. But it is certain they could do no worse.
Thomas Lynch
Milford, MI
In a message dated 5/7/2003 10:05:19 AM, lacorn@icfa.org writes:
Hi, John!
We've got an interesting article on our Web site on the state of embalming today and the direction it may take in the future. I thought your readers might find it interesting. If you see fit to include a link....
In a message dated 5/23/03 12:31:49 PM, Pete in Florida writes: John this was in the paper the other day.
May 21, 2003
Alan and Robert Alcabes, two grieving sons who went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to say a final farewell to their mother in December, bent over her coffin -- and saw a stranger lying there, with a toe tag bearing the other woman's name.
Irene Cohen was just starting to recover from her husband's unexpected death from heart surgery when, two weeks after his interment in March, one of the funeral home executives unexpectedly called -- to inform her that her husband's tongue accidentally had been mutilated or removed while the body was being prepared.
Both incidents involved companies owned by Service Corporation International, the Houston-based company that includes Menorah Gardens, now under criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Family members have accused Menorah employees of breaking into graves to make room for more burials and, in some cases, tossing bones into nearby woods. SCI has cemeteries and funeral operations in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
SCI spokesman Don Mathis said that while the company regretted what had happened with the Cohens' and the Alcabeses' loved ones, "they were legitimate, human mistakes."
Case watchers anticipate FDLE will complete its investigation soon, as attorneys wait for Broward Circuit Judge J. Leonard Fleet's ruling on whether the Menorah plaintiffs can qualify for class status, allowing the survivors of about 14,000 people buried at its cemeteries to sue as a group. The state Attorney General's Office also is investigating allegations of SCI mismanagement and botched burials.
Both the Alcabeses and the Cohens are Jewish, and Menorah specializes in Jewish burials and cemeteries. Yet the removal of Leonard Cohen's tongue breaks the Jewish tradition requiring bodies to be in their natural state when buried.
And by the time Anne Alcabes' body was tracked down at a Hollywood mausoleum, miles away, funeral operators already had removed the blood and embalmed her, thinking she was someone else.
"As these cases go, it's about as bad as it gets. To embalm a Jew ... is a sacrilege to the body," said Neal Hirschfeld, the Fort Lauderdale attorney representing the Cohen and Alcabese families, as well as other families battling SCI.
In Irene Cohen's case, Menorah Gardens Vice President Jeffrey Froucht called her two weeks after Leonard Cohen's interment on March 16 following failed heart surgery. Froucht said employees had accidentally mutilated her husband's swollen, distended tongue when trying to place it back in his mouth to make the body more presentable.
Mathis said Froucht's disclosure was a "moral and ethical decision to keep the family informed" and had nothing to do with the state investigation
Cohen, however, was stunned -- especially because she said she told Menorah Gardens she wanted a closed casket with no viewing. Then, when her brother-in-law went to identify the body shortly before the service at Menorah Garden's request, Cohen said, employees insisted the casket was "sealed" and would not open it.
Now Cohen, 71, has no idea whether her husband was buried complete, or even whether it's his body on the mausoleum shelf.
"My husband was a proud man. If he knew what was happening, he'd be humiliated," she said.
Alan Alcabes hadn't heard about the SCI investigation or the lawsuits when he came from Rosalyn, N.Y., to bury his 86-year-old mother in December. The family's previous experiences with Menorah Gardens and Riverside-Gordon Memorial Chapels, now also owned by SCI, were positive. "And we all were a little overwrought," Alcabes said from New York on Tuesday. "So we put our faith in them."
An hour before the funeral service began, Riverside-Gordon employees asked the brothers to look into the casket and identify their mother. "At first we didn't recognize who it was, and then we got a sick feeling when we realized it was a complete stranger," Alan Alcabes said.
Opening the casket wider, they found a toe tag on the corpse with the name "Englander."
Alcabes finally was placed in her proper burial plot by the end of the day, but "it was a nightmarish scene," Alan Alcabes said. "It just took all the dignity out of what should have been a poignant time."
MORE
Two families upset over way Menorah Gardens handled relatives
--------------------
May 21, 2003, 6:42 AM EDT
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- A widow has announced plans to sue the Menorah Gardens cemetery and its parent company because the group failed to respect her wishes and violated Jewish law while preparing her husband's body for burial.
Irene Cohen, 71, said Tuesday that her husband's tongue was cut out before burial in an attempt to make his body more presentable for an open coffin viewing. But Cohen, following usual Jewish standard, had requested a closed-casket funeral.
"Why would they cut off his tongue?" Cohen said. "And if they did that, why did they have to tell me? That was cruel."
Leonard M. Cohen, 74, a Philadelphia businessman before retiring to South Florida eight years ago, died March 13 after open-heart surgery. His tongue was "distended" because of treatment he received after the surgery, Irene Cohen said.
She also said Jewish law requires the dead to be buried intact, but her concern "isn't for religious reasons, just for heartfelt reasons."
Cohen's attorney, Neal Hirschfeld of Fort Lauderdale, said he plans to file a lawsuit next week.
Don Mathis, a spokesman for Service Corporation International _ the parent company for Menorah Gardens _ would not confirm Leonard Cohen's tongue was removed. Mathis did acknowledge that an "inappropriate" and "unfortunate" event took place, but would not say specifically what that event was.
About 1,400 families are suing Menorah Gardens cemeteries in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Those families are asking for damages on their claims of burial problems and grave desecrations.
Families claim Palm Beach cemetery crews dug up at least three graves to make room for new burials and dumped the remains in bordering woods after years of ignoring problems caused by crowded rows. Families say state investigators have confirmed two cases with DNA tests.
Irene Cohen learned that her husband's tongue was removed about two weeks after his burial. Menorah Gardens managers sealed her husband's coffin before a family member could view his body and confirm his identity.
Cohen said she was told the news by Jeffrey Frucht, vice president for SCI's Jewish cemeteries in South Florida.
"He wanted to know how I feel and extended his sympathy and explained he was terribly sorry we couldn't view the body," she said. "They had tried everything to make everything presentable for the viewing."
Mathis could not explain why the coffin was closed before the family could confirm Leonard Cohen's identity.
Hirschfeld is also representing Alan and Robert Alcabes of Long Island, N.Y., who made arrangements to bury their mother, Anne, at a Menorah Gardens cemetery last December.
The brothers were asked to identify their mother, but were shown another woman wearing their mother's dress inside a casket. They claim that their mother was mistakenly sent to a mausoleum and embalmed, a violation of Jewish tradition.
"It's frightening. How do you lose a body?" Alan Alcabes said. "It shows a lack of respect for the dead and takes all the dignity from the service."
In a message dated 5/1/2003 3:04:52 PM, staff@ncfda.org writes:
NORTH CAROLINA FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION
919-876-7886 * 800-616-2332 * FAX: 919-876-5382
http://www.ncfda.org
E-LINE DATE: May 1, 2003
Please Read the Attached House Bill 859
This fax contains information on a bill (House Bill 859) that passed the
House last evening. The bill is now referred to the Senate. The intent of
the proposed legislation is to abolish the current system of elections of
members to the NC Board of Mortuary Science. The bill proposes three (3)
State Board members be chosen by NCFDA, two (2) members be chosen by the
Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of NC and two (2) members be
chosen from unaffiliated or at large licensees. Additionally, one public
member would be appointed by the Speaker of the House and one public member
appointed by the Senate.
NCFDA does not support this bill. and has taken a position to oppose the
abolishment of the current election process. You should know that NCFDA
offered to compromise with the Funeral Directors & Morticians Association of
NC (FD&MA) that each association would have one appointment and that all of
the 2700 licensees would elect the remaining four seats for licensees on the
Board. This proposal was rejected. NCFDA then prepared the attached
statement that was presented on the House Floor by Representative Jean
Preston.
Please be advised that you play a vital role in possible legislative
changes. You may expect further information on this matter.
================================================================================
NCFDA Information: If you have a computer and are not receiving the NCFDA
E-Line, you are not deriving full benefit of your membership. Simply give
us your e-mail address and we will get you hooked up immediately. Want to
know about HIPAA, what it says and how it may apply to you and your firm.
Go to the NCFDA web site www.ncfda.org and look under the Section 3FORMS.2
==============================================================================
Election of NCFDA Secretary-Treasurer: Dorman Caudle, of Hayworth-Miller
Funeral Home, Winston Salem was unopposed in his bid for election as the new
Secretary-Treasurer of NCFDA. Due to the fact the office is uncontested,
there will be no mail ballot and Dorman Caudle shall be deemed the new
Secretary Treasurer of NCFDA and shall be installed at the June 18 NCFDA
Convention. We know you wish Dorman well in his continued work with NCFDA.
==============================================================================
NORTH CAROLINA FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION
Floor Statement Prepared by NCFDA Regarding HB859
And Presented by Representative Jean Preston
May 1, 2003
This bill deletes the long-standing elections process for seats on this
Board and provides 6 additional appointments to the Governor, based on
recommendations by the two professional associations.
Under current law, all 2700 licensees of the Board of Mortuary Science are
eligible to elect 6 of the 9 Board members.
The bill provides that the Governor may accept 5 recommendations from the NC
Funeral Directors Association (which represents about 1200 licensees) and
may accept 2 recommendations from the Funeral Directors and Morticians
Association of North Carolina (which represents no more than 400 licensees).
There are about 1,000 licensees that are not members of either association.
Those licensees would have to join either professional association in order
to be considered for recommendation by those associations to the Governor.
This bill leaves 1,000 licensees without a voice in the process so that an
association of no more than 400 licensees can have 2 dedicated seats on the
Board of Mortuary Science.
This bill is opposed by the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association as
NCFDA desires to retain the current election process, which is available to
all licensees regardless of affiliation with any professional association.
While NCFDA appreciates the efforts of the bill sponsor and others to fairly
allocate the number of appointments based on the number of licensees of each
association, it favors the current election process because it works.
The current election process works:
É there is currently minority representation on the Board: 2 to 3 of the 9
board members over the past 10 years were African-American (22% to 33%)
É the Funeral Directors & Morticians Association has been represented on the
Board: all of the minorities elected to the Board in the last 10 were
members of the Funeral Directors & Morticians Association (as well as
members of NCFDA)
É at least 40% of licensees voted
É the process is open to all licensees
É NCFDA does not 3control2 the election process. NCFDA does not endorse any
candidate for election to the Board.
==============================================================================
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINAÐSESSION 2003
HOUSE BILL 859
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/29/03
Third Edition Engrossed 4/30/03
Short Title: Board of Mortuary Science. (Public)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO CHANGE THE LAW CONCERNING THE ELECTION OF
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF MORTUARY SCIENCE AND TO ESTABLISH A NEW PROCESS
WHEREBY MEMBERS ARE APPOINTED TO SERVE ON THE BOARD.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 90-210.18 is repealed.
SECTION 2. Article 13A of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes is
amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 90-210.18A. Board of Mortuary Science created; qualifications;
vacancies; removal.
(a) The General Assembly declares that the practice of funeral service
affects the public health, safety, and welfare and is subject to regulation
and control in the public interest. The public interest requires that only
qualified persons be permitted to practice funeral service in North Carolina
and that the profession merit the confidence of the public. This Article
shall be liberally construed to accomplish these ends.
(b) The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science is created and shall
regulate the practice of funeral service in
this State. The Board shall have nine members as follows:
(1) Three members who are funeral director licensees elected by
the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Inc., two members who are
funeral director licensees elected by the Funeral Directors & Morticians
Association of North Carolina, Inc., and two members elected unaffiliated
funeral director licensees and funeral service licensees.
(2) One member appointed by the General Assembly, upon the
recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who is a member
of the general public.
(3) One member appointed by the General Assembly, upon the
recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is a
member of the general public.
Members of the Board shall serve staggered three-year terms, ending on
June 30 of the last year of the term or when a successor has been duly
appointed, whichever is later. No member may serve more than two complete
consecutive terms.
(c) Qualifications. - Members appointed by the Governor shall hold a
license issued by the Board and shall be engaged in full-time employment in
this State in a practice authorized by his or her license. Public members
shall not be licensed under this Article or employed by a person who is
licensed under this Article.
(d) Vacancies. - A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the
original appointment, except that all unexpired terms of Board members
appointed by the General Assembly shall be filled in accordance with G.S.
120-122. Appointees to fill vacancies shall serve the remainder of the
unexpired term and until their successors have been duly appointed and
qualified. (e) Removal. - The Board may remove any of its members for
neglect of duty, incompetence, or unprofessional conduct. A member subject
to disciplinary proceedings as a licensee shall be disqualified from
participating in the official business of the Board until the charges have
been resolved."
SECTION 3. The two members most recently elected to the Board of
Mortuary Science and serving on the Board on the effective date of this act
shall complete their current terms. To establish staggered terms of the
members of the Board of Mortuary Science pursuant to G.S. 90-210.18A(b),
three members recommended by the North Carolina Funeral Directors
Association, Inc., shall serve two-year terms, and two members recommended
by that Association shall serve three-year terms. One member recommended by
the Funeral Directors & Morticians Association of North Carolina, Inc.,
shall serve a two-year term, and one member recommended by that Association
shall serve a three-year term. The General Assembly, upon the recommendation
of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, shall appoint one member for a
one-year term, and the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall appoint one member for a
one-year term. After the staggered terms have been established, members
appointed to the Board thereafter shall serve three-year terms.
SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law.
North Carolina House
==============================================================================
ROLL CALL
HB 859
Sponsor: ADAMS
Total Votes: 110
Ayes: 90
Noes: 20
Not Voting: 8
Exc. Absent: 2
Exc. Vote: 0
Noes: Representative(s): Allred, Barbee, Daughtry, Dockham, Frye,
Gorman, Holliman, L. Johnson, Justus, LaRoque, McLawhorn, Moore, Munford,
Pate, Sauls, Sherrill, Starnes, Walker, K. Williams, G. Wilson
Not Voting: Representative(s): Black, G. Allen, Creech, Decker,
Goodwin, Harrell, Holmes, Saunders
Exc. Absence: Representative(s): Alexander, Ellis
In a message dated 5/11/2003 7:09:59 AM, Norma in California writes:
Covina, California A 12-year-old girl brought three human skulls to her school for show-and-tell, authorities said.
The girl claims she obtained the skulls from her grandmother, who allegedly found them in the trash at her mobile home park, police said.
After reading a newspaper article on Saturday, Catherine Knoll of Duarte contacted Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and said the skulls had belonged to her late husband, said sheriff's Lt. David Brown.
``She said her late husband, William Knoll, had acquired the skulls in Europe in 1967 and returned to the United States with them,'' he said. ``She was moving so she decided she didn't want them any more. She disposed of them in the nearest trash container, which is where they were found.''
``All three are almost 100 percent intact,'' Covina police Sgt. Tim Doonan said.
The girl, who was not identified, took the skulls to Royal Oak Intermediate School in Covina and showed them to her teacher. The student asked if they were real and if she could use them for a science project.
``They looked real to me,'' said John Roach, superintendent at Charter Oak Unified School District, who saw the skulls before they were taken away by police.
The skulls are scheduled to be examined as early as Monday by a coroner's anthropologist.
In a message dated 5/13/2003 1:41:33 AM, Jean in Massachusetts writes:
After you have read this, realize that IF all the members of the NASA board, to investigate the crash of the returning space shuttle that killed all of our astronauts, have ALL been put on the government payroll, as ALL the members have been given a salary of $100,000.00 a year, hence then the laws governing "open hearings" to the public on all that is said, will NOT be applicable, and NO one WILL know if anything was known before OR after the astronaut's ascended in the shuttle! Actually, a FEW of the "members" when told they would have a yearly pay of $100K, asked to decline the pay for this investigative board, AND "WERE REFUSED" their request to not take the salary!
As I have said, AFTER you read the Washington Post article below, fax Sen. John Mc Cain who is head of the "public hearings" committee and he has the right to change this and NOT allow the salary to be a part of this hearing and CAN allow the committee hearings to be "OPEN"! Tell him that WE want open public hearings about the crash & deaths of all our astronauts and causes of the crash! IF errors DID occur, and WERE known before hand AND after take off, that we should know this, and deal accordingly!! Sen. John McCain's Fax number is 202-228-2862. This is YOUR country and IF we do not show our concerns about happenings, etc. then we shall loose ALL of our ability's to do so at all!
Today I found out that the "Concerned Scientist's" have concurred that our chances of surviving this century are 50/50! THAT..does NOT make very good odds for our survival!! Help us to keep what we have and NOT sneaky laws which can be over ruled by "Little" options, such as a salary being given, hence making them employees of the government!! Become a part of this "law & order" as it SHOULD be, and make your opinions known!!!
Jeanne
Lawmakers Question Shuttle Probe Secrecy By PAUL RECER The Associated Press 5/13/03
Washington Post
Civilian members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board have been put on NASA's payroll so the panel can use government secrecy regulations to withhold testimony about the space shuttle disaster. Members of the House Space subcommittee, which oversees NASA, said making federal workers of the CAIB's five civilian members undermines the independence and credibility of the board. "It baffles me why they are doing this," said Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn. "This is inconsistent with the history of these types of investigations." The action permits the board to guarantee confidentiality for witnesses, such as NASA engineers, who testify before the board in closed sessions. Board chairman Harold Gehman - a retired Navy admiral who insisted on putting the civilians on the payroll - said it was the only way engineers would testify. Transcripts of the testimony, he told the Orlando Sentinel "are never going to see the light of day." Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he was disappointed to hear that the civilians had been put on the government payroll, and would "look to see what might be done." "This board should seek to restore trust in NASA and the matters its considers should be open unless it is a matter of protecting the privacy of the astronauts' families," Barton said in a statement. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., chairman space subcommittee, said in a statement that negotiations were underway to persuade Gehman to release transcripts of the testimony to members of Congress. Aaron Lewis, the congressman's spokesman, said the plan calls for subcommittee members to receive copies of the testimony, but for identities of the witnesses to be kept secret. Gordon was particularly rankled that the Gehman board could now withhold testimony even from members his subcommittee. Even the Department of Defense, he said, gives top secret briefings to the proper oversight committees of Congress. He noted that the Rogers Commission that investigated the 1986 Challenger accident which killed seven shuttle astronauts held all of its sessions in public view and made no attempt to withhold testimony. "The Rogers commission did a very good job," said Gordon. "They put the witnesses under oath and they had to tell the truth or suffer the consequences." Columbia broke up on Feb. 1 while streaking toward a planned landing in Florida. Seven astronauts died. Debris from the spacecraft was spread over Texas and Louisiana. The three other space shuttles are grounded while the investigation board looks for the cause of Columbia's loss. Gehman was named by NASA to head the investigation within hours of the accident. A retired admiral, he was hired at a salary of $142,500 per year. Other members of the board already are government or military workers. Gordon said he was told that some civilian members of the board offered to work without pay, but that NASA insisted that they be placed on the government payroll so that the board could conduct business in secret. Steven Aftergood of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists said the CAIB insistence on secrecy suggests that the board is not really independent. "What they did was hire outsiders and convert them into an internal board," Aftergood told the Orlando Sentinel, which first broke the story. "The upshot is, we don't have an independent investigating board. This means NASA is investigating itself. This defeats the whole purpose of having an independent inquiry."---- CAIB: www.caib.us
In a message dated 5/9/2003 12:36:13 PM, Beachum McDougald in North Carolina writes:
A few days after the funeral a family member called and told us that our manager left quite a bit to be desired. It appears that communication was mis-communicated and the staff just wasn't doing their job. Anyway, just one family member complaining is not a majority. Like any good business, we took note of the complaint and tossed it aside.
Another family member called following another problem service and complained about our lack of providing the type of service they requested. That's hard for us to understand! After all, they bought a really nice casket and vault. What could be there problem? Of course we just ignored their complaint and went about our typical manner of doing things. What can go wrong on an expensive funeral?
To save a little money, we decided to cut out using guest registers. It might not sound like much, but at $20 per service the totals can truly add up. As it turns out, quite a few families liked the guest register; they said it was an important item. We figured they could compromise and we'll put a web page up for them to access. The families still argued that they wanted the guest register book, saying that everyone does not have access to the Internet. Wonder if a piece of plain paper will work just as well?
It really galls us that we've got a business to run and our customers keep telling us that they are not satisfied. What do they know? We have a really large staff and a building that has been called the Taj Mahal, we have to be doing a great job! It's strange that our customers are now going to other places. Don't they understand the problems we have just running our business?
Do you see any parallel between this and NFDA? In fairness, they did finally take a position on uniform preneed regulations.
In a message dated 5/14/2003 10:10:39 PM, Mike Flynn in Massachusetts writes:
Conley of Brockton May 14, 2003 J. Frank Conley, Jr. 82 years. Beloved husband of Marian E. (Whitcomb) Conley. Loving father of Susan A. Nichols of Amherst, NH; Elizabeth E. Cochran of Loveland, CO; Anne F. Roan of Brockton; Mary C. Ellis of Manhattan, NY; A. Patricia Cirillo of Barrington, RI; Jane W. Lukasiewicz of Avon and Joan F. Conley of Denville, NJ. Grandfather of Sarah and Katrina Nichols;Megan and Trisha Cochran; Kaitlin and Mollie Roan; Matthew, Michael and Mark Cirillo and Elena and Quique Munoz. Brother of James J. Conley of Brockton, Mary A. Nelson of W. Bridgewater and Sue C. Cummings of Simsbury, CT.
Funeral from the J. Frank Conley Funeral Home 138 Belmont Street (Rte 123) Brockton Friday at 8 am. Funeral Mass in St. Edward Church at 9 am. Burial in St. Patrick Cemetery with Military Honors Visiting hours Thursday 2-4 & 7-9 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in Frank's memory may be made to the St. Edward Steeple Fund, 71 E. Main St., Brockton, MA 02301 or Old Colony Hospice 14 Page Terr. Stoughton, MA 02072.
Obituary
Mr. Conley died Wednesday morning at his home surrounded by his family and under the care of Old Colony Hospice. He was born in Brockton the son of the late J. Frank and Alice L. (McCarthy) Conley and had been a lifelong resident of the city. He was a graduate of Brockton High School Class of 1938 and had served on the class reunion committee.
He was also a graduate of U. Mass Amherst Class of 1942 where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. While in college he was a member of the US Army ROTC and upon graduation entered active military duty in WW II. He served at the Armored Force School in Ft. Knox, KY, with the 10th Armored Division, Camp Gordon, GA and in combat in Europe as a platoon leader with the 24th Cavalry Recon. Squadron of the 4th Cavalry Group.
Following his separation from the army he joined his father and brother James J. Conley at the J. Frank Conley Funeral Home. He continued to work part time at the funeral home and was recognized in January by the Mass. Funeral Directors Association for 55 years of licensed service.
Mr. Conley had been a director and clerk of the corporation at the former Peoples Savings Bank. He was a member of the Seville Council of the Knights of Columbus, Brockton Kiwanis Club, the 100 Club of Massachusetts, the 10th Armored Division Association, VFW Post 1046 and the American Legion post 35. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association.
He enjoyed family summer vacations in Eastham and sailing in Cape Cod Bay. He also enjoyed working in his garden, playing the piano, ballroom dancing and photography. He was a longtime communicant of St. Edward Church where he had served on the parish council.
In addition to his wife of 57 years he is survived by 7 daughters, 11 grandchildren, a brother, 2 sisters and many nieces and nephews and several dear friends. Services as above
TheDenverChannel.com - News - Fitness Club Members Complain Body Left Out During Workout
Heart Attack Victim Left On Floor, Covered With Towels
POSTED: 6:56 a.m. MDT May 13, 2003
UPDATED: 8:23 a.m. MDT May 13, 2003
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Members of a fitness club say they were shocked to see the body of a 55-year-old heart attack victim lying near their exercise area while they worked out.
Ronald Roberts, a teacher and assistant football coach at Ponderosa High School, died during a workout at a 24 Hour Fitness Center.
"For me to walk in at five o'clock in the morning and that is the first thing I'm looking at, and they are not doing anything about it -- they seemed awfully nonchalant about it," said Susan Martinez, a club member, who said she saw the body on the floor covered with towels.
Authorities received a 911 call at 4:37 a.m. Friday about an unconscious man at the center, said Lt. Tim Moore, a spokesman with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Deputies and emergency medical technicians arrived in five minutes and found Ronald Roberts of Lone Tree unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene but his body remained there for about two hours.
"The body was covered, so it wasn't obviously accessible to the public," Moore said.
Martinez said some club members were working out within 5 feet of the body.
Martinez went to the far end of the room, she said, but couldn't exercise because she was shaken.
"They should have kicked everyone out and closed that gym," Martinez said. "There wasn't any kind of warning when you walked in. It was a kind of like 'it doesn't really matter' attitude."
The coroner's office declined comment.
The decision to keep the club open was made by the center's management, Moore said.
"I can't tell you why they made the decision they made," he said.
A staff member at the center, near East Lincoln Avenue and Interstate 25, declined comment and referred questions to a corporate office.
In a written release, a corporate official said, "24 Hour Fitness and police officials worked in tandem to restrict access to the area. Police officers closely monitored the area until officials were able to remove the body."
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In a message dated 5/19/03 12:25:35 PM, Mike Flynn in Boston MA writes:
Donating organs raises ethical issues
In the past decade, uses for organs or tissues donated after death have grown more varied, complex and profitable than average citizens realize, medical experts say.
As a result, ethicists are urging revisions in federal and state organ donation laws and far more frankness on the part of those charged with obtaining consent from potential donors or their next-of-kin.
``The market for body parts has become very lavish - skin, brains, heart valves are not just used for research but are part of a for-profit industry now,'' said George J. Annas, chairman of the Health Law Department at Boston University's School of Public Health. ``People need to be informed of this.''
Informed consent has been part of U.S. law for decades, experts say. As a result, the United States is likely to be spared the scandal that erupted recently in Great Britain when the public learned that hospitals were retaining hearts, brains and other tissue without permission.
But few Massachusetts residents, for example, realize when they agree to have ``organ donor'' imprinted on their drivers' licenses that they are agreeing to be ``organ and tissue donors,'' meaning body parts can be harvested virtually without restriction.
The Herald reported last year that a donor consent form used by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and New England Eye and Tissue Transplant Bank made no mention of the commercial use of tissue. The form was soon revised to say ``donated tissue may be processed or used by either nonprofit or for-profit organizations,'' and that ``some donated tissue maybe used for . . . cosmetic surgery.''
But other forms, such as the one used by Children's Hospital, strike ethicists as austere and out of date.
``The language on forms like this is too vague,'' said Arthur Caplan, head of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. ``Giving families more information on what will be removed and what may not be restored is necessary today.''
Michelle Davis, a spokeswoman for Children's, said: ``We approach parents to see if they want an autopsy done, and walk them through a very specific consent process. We are very clear about the retention and about the purpose of any organ retention.''
In a message dated 5/19/2003 11:22:20 PM Eastern Standard Time Mike Flynn in Boston MA writes:
Monday, May 19, 2003
When the Macrelli family of Boston lost their 18-month-old son, David, to a vaccine reaction 6 1/2 years ago, the devastated couple was comforted to learn his autopsy would be held at Children's Hospital, not ``the cold city morgue.''
Little did they know they would wind up in Suffolk Superior Court Wednesday suing Children's and its doctors for harvesting David's organs - from his brain to his testicles - without their permission.``Our son David was all heart, and he was buried without that heart,'' said Cathleen Macrelli, 46, David's mother and a nurse in the Boston area. ``He isn't resting in peace. He's resting in pieces.''Children's admits to removing the organs without parental permission. It claims it did so with the go-ahead of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but there is no indication the ME's Office had such authority in David's case.Officials of the ME's Office declined to comment on the dispute, citing ``ongoing litigation.''Beyond its undisputed facts - David's organs were taken without his parents' consent, and returned four months after David's burial in what the Macrellis called ``an unlabeled, vacuum-sealed bag'' - the Macrellis' case highlights troubling questions about what happens to body parts after autopsies:
Has the ME's Office allowed hospitals to retain organs from bodies sent out for post-mortems? If so, is the ME's office bypassing informed consent rules? And what has become of those body parts?
In autopsies where hospitals or the ME's office do obtain written consent for organ retention, are permission forms and explanations about what becomes of body parts sufficient in an era when human tissue has enormous value in the medical and research fields?``I do not think the consent system as it exists today in the U.S. is adequate at all,'' said Arthur Caplan, chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.``There must be far more discussion with kin as to what body parts might be kept,'' he said. ``There should be an expectation families will want a particular kind of funeral, that they want back everything possible so they can proceed at peace with their funeral plans.''It was just after dawn on Sept. 11, 1996, when Cathie Macrelli discovered David in his crib, clearly dead. ``They heard me screaming two blocks away,'' she said. ``I felt like I was going to die myself.''David had suffered a seizure - one soon determined to be a rare side-effect of the childhood DPT vaccination he'd just received.Even though David had been dead for hours, Don, a construction engineer certified in CPR, labored to revive his son as Cathie frantically called 911.David was pronounced dead at Carney Hospital. Because state law requires autopsies on minors who die unexpectedly, his body was first sent to the ME's South End office then to Children's for the post-mortem.On average, the ME refers the remains of three minors to Children's for autopsies annually, the hospital said. ``We want to be responsive to the ME and to parents who want answers, and we have expertise here,'' said Children's spokeswoman Michelle Davis. She said in ME cases, organs are retained for a year then incinerated in accord with national standards.According to pretrial testimony, two ME's Office doctors, Jennifer Lipman and the late George Kury, went to Children's to conduct the autopsy. Joining them in the room were three Children's physicians: Dr. Hannah C. Kinney, a leading expert on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; Dr. Antonio R. Perez-Atayde, and Dr. Tina Haliotis.According to Kury's testimony, after he and Lipman finished their work, which included excising and examining David's organs to investigate for foul play or communicable diseases, they left his body open on the autopsy table and left.``Usually in every autopsy they put the organs in a bag and they put the bag back in the body after . . . the autopsy is finished and completed,'' Kury said in a sworn deposition taken Jan. 16, 2002.Asked by Michael R. Hugo, the Macrellis' Boston lawyer, whether Kury was ``referring to autopsies conducted at area hospitals or at the Medical Examiner's Office,'' Kury responded: ``Everywhere.''Children's agrees that did not happen in David's case. Davis and Children's lawyer William J. Dailey Jr. said the doctors continued with the autopsy - and with the harvesting and retaining of David's organs - as part of its ``routine practice'' in ME referral cases.``In this case,'' the hospital said in a statement, ``Children's did not request consent from the child's parents to conduct an autopsy because it was acting under the authority of the Medical Examiner.''But state law limits the ME's authority to retain autopsied body parts to cases where the parts are needed to investigate a criminal matter or public health crisis.Otherwise, next-of-kin can refuse to permit organ retention. And in one state Appeals Court ruling, the justices said: ``There is no question a hospital or its medical personnel . . . may not order the removal of tissue or other body parts of a deceased person for forensic or scientific study without consent from the . . . next-of-kin.''Some 300 people attended the wake for David Macrelli in Boston. His parents chose a closed casket, but visited their child before the funeral, noting only that his blond curls seemed askew atop his head.``We had him buried in his Winnie-the-Poohs, with his blanky and a stuffed animal, just like a sleeping baby,'' Cathie said. ``We felt we were burying him whole. I didn't even want to take a lock of hair.''In the ensuing months, said Don, 47, he pored over his only child's autopsy reports. When he noted a reference to brain-stem removal, ``I knew something was wrong.''``I would tell Cathie, `I know they have his brain,' '' he said. ``She would say, `No, no, they just took slides.' It bothered me. As a Catholic, I wanted him buried whole.''On Jan. 15, 1997, seeing Don brooding and tearful, Cathie decided to settle it. She called Children's and got Kinney on the line.``I asked her if they had David's brain,'' she recalled, ``fully expecting them to tell me `No.' She said, `Not only do we have his brain, we have all his major body organs.'``I wanted to throw up,'' she said.``For God's sake,'' Don added, ``they'd cut out his testicles.''The next day, the Macrellis said, the organs, in a plastic sack, were released to their funeral director.``Here we are in front of a grave mound once again,'' Cathie said, ``disinterring and reburying him.''``Something went badly wrong,'' Don added. ``Our son was buried twice. He's buried in two caskets.''The Macrellis believe their case is clear-cut because they never gave anyone consent to retain David's organs - not the ME's office, which has an organ and tissue rentetion consent form of its own; not Children's, whose autopsy permission forms give parents the option to refuse retention of organs.But the deeper the Macrellis probe their own ordeal, the more determined they are to see all laws on body parts revised. They have written to state and federal officials and launched davidsfund.org to shine light on an arena where next-of-kin are ``reading bureaucratic forms'' and consenting to removal of organs or tissue ``through water'' - their tears of grief.``It's bad enough to lose a child,'' said Cathie. ``But we thought we were burying him whole. To learn months later that what you buried was the shell of a person - it must never happen to another parent.''
In a message dated Sun, 18 May 2003 18:33:52 -0700 (PDT) Ted in California writes:
They came in white, silver and black hearses. They wore somber suits and starched shirts. They stood in practiced poses of respectful silence, hands behind backs, heads bowed.
They had, in short, the air of people used to staying in the background as they shepherd others through their grief.
But on Saturday, the dozens of Los Angeles funeral directors, embalmers, morticians, florists, escorts and mortuary counselors -- most of them black -- were doing something else: They were protesting urban homicide.
The demonstration by people in death-related industries had been organized by several Los Angeles funeral home owners and employees -- tired, they said, of young gunshot victims passing through their doors.
It was a strange idea, they admitted. But once word got out, more and more of their colleagues joined in, and the result was a column of nearly 20 hearses streaming through the streets of South Los Angeles on Saturday morning.
Many of those who took part said they have long harbored feelings of unease about profiting from an all-too-common source of business: premature deaths due to a plague of street homicides.
"We know that people are going to die," said Edith Simpson, a counselor at House of Winston Mortuary. "But making money off senseless killing -- that is another thing."
"We want to show we are not just burying people for money," said Eric Williams, the mortuary's office manager. "We are human too. We are not just hearse drivers and money mongers."
Human, and just as likely to suffer as the people they serve, said Elizabeth Floyd, a funeral director at Rucker's Mortuary in Pacoima. Her son, Howard L. Baker, was gunned down in 1984 at age 23.
She told of how she got home in time to find him lying on the ground, his eyes open, as if looking to her for help. Now, as a funeral director, every time she serves a customer who has lost someone this way, "it breaks my heart," Floyd said. "If I could just say something, do something.... The pain is so penetrating. A hole. An emptiness in your stomach. You are never the same."
The protest was conducted in a manner only funeral directors could perfect: First, the hearses rolled through the streets, drawing waves from onlookers, and a few baffled stares. Next came sermons and hymns at a graveyard amid bunches of black and white balloons. Finally, there was a release of white doves.
The event was originally planned as a "No Service Saturday" -- a day without funerals. But it didn't work out that way, organizers said. Some funerals took place anyway, and police said at least four people were killed in Los Angeles County from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. Two were black men, one was a Latino man and one was a Latina woman.
State Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), who spoke at the event, called the protest "extraordinary."
Demonstrations against street killings are commonplace in black communities of Los Angeles. There are regular stop-the-violence rallies and candlelight vigils.
But Saturday's protest shows that such efforts are gaining new backing, Ridley-Thomas said. "People you don't expect are saying, 'Enough is enough,' " he said.
The hearses took to the streets in an hour when many stretches of South Los Angeles boulevards were empty. The procession passed quickly through light traffic, drawing little notice.
But at some points, small crowds gathered. Pedestrians waved and motorists honked. A few people flashed peace signs, participants said.
The hearses bore signs carrying the usual exhortations seen at South Los Angeles antiviolence demonstrations -- "Stop the Violence," "Stop the Senseless Killing." But one car also bore a hand-written sign with a more unusual slogan: "Live a Long Time."
One of the organizers, funeral director Anthony Felder of Spalding Mortuary, stood on Century Boulevard to cheerlead as the column passed. He began talking about his sister, Michelle Alyce Felder -- "my best friend in the world" -- who was killed at age 23, randomly gunned down at a bus stop.
"Even though we profit from this, there comes a time that those of us who deal with death every day need to take a stand," Felder said.
"There they go!" he yelled as the hearses rolled past, their company signs in the windows. "Wake up Los Angeles! Wake up!"
Eric Smith, a Los Angeles County sheriff's dispatch worker, idled his car nearby, waiting for the column to go by.
Smith is 19 and black, a member of the highest-risk age, race and gender group for violent death. At first, he said, he was confused, thinking that he was watching a funeral. But learning the reason, he beamed. "It's good," he said. "I think it's positive. I hope it does something."
The column zoomed up and down some of the boulevards most notorious for violence: La Brea, Jefferson, Crenshaw, Slauson, Florence, Manchester and Vermont, ending at the Angeles-Rosedale Cemetery at Normandie and Washington.
Organizers had invited some customers to take part. Stephanie Ross, who lost her only son, Christopher Barrett Hayes, 24, to a shooting last month, came to "call on the community to pinch in and help," she said.
Protesting with funeral directors might seem out of the ordinary, she said. "But, my goodness, these people are who we are calling to help us," Ross said.
Participants talked about being emotionally affected by their work.
Simpson of the Winston mortuary told how she felt tears rise in her eyes as she counseled a family that had lost three sons in a series of related shootings. Unable to maintain a professional demeanor, she excused herself.
John Terry, the mortuary's film director, nodded in agreement as he recalled the funeral for the three brothers. "It was hard to keep my composure.... My chest was tight," he said.
At the cemetery, Felder, the embalmer and organizer who had lost his sister, took the microphone. He thanked his fellow funeral parlor workers, and called for an end to the killing.
"Brothers and sisters in our industry, you have come out of the closet and shown that we too live in the community ... that we too are affected," he said.
He was holding his slain sister's picture. As he stepped down from the podium, he glanced at it. "Michelle," he added quietly, "this is for you."
Fri May 16, 8:58 AM ET
LONDON - Newly widowed John Walker could not believe it when bailiffs wrote to demand that his wife pay a series of parking fines.
He wrote back to tell them his 44-year-old wife Zitta had died in January of breast cancer (news - web sites) and had sold her car, a Peugeot 405, for scrap more than two years before. But the threatening letters kept coming.
When a demand for 90 pounds (US$144) arrived, Walker, 40, of Thorpe Willoughby near Selby in northeast England, responded dramatically.
Carrying the urn containing his wife's ashes and her death certificate, he marched into the offices of York Council and laid them on the desk of a startled official.
"I had already rung them and sent a letter with a copy of her death certificate which they said they didn't receive and the bailiffs still said they were coming to take items of property from the house," Walker said.
"That's when I flipped my lid so I took the casket down to show them."
When the official saw the casket, said Walker, he became "very apologetic."
"He said that ... he did not think the ashes were essential. I did because I just couldn't stand it any more."
Walker said his wife had written to authorities when she got rid of the car, but the form had failed to arrive and she remained the registered owner.
A York Council spokesman insisted that officials had dealt with the matter "absolutely by the book."
"No documentary evidence has ever been provided to say there was a change of ownership," said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Mr. Walker then informed us over the telephone that Mrs. Walker had since died and as soon as he was able to provide us with documentation we canceled the action."
BANGKOK (AFP) - Villagers in northeastern Thailand were horrified this week when a man they thought had died and been cremated reappeared in their midst, a report here said.
Thanom Wongsuphent, 35, from Ban Maed village in Roi Et province, was thought to have died in a January motorcycle accident in Bangkok, the Nation newspaper said.
But Thanom reappeared in his village this week, after a stint of work as a security guard in the capital, only to be shunned by relatives who thought he was a ghost, the report said.
The body thought to have been his was collected in Bangkok by an assistant village chief, Bualee Janthakhet. He told the daily he had not been able to tell if the body he viewed was Thanom's because it had been swollen and decayed, but police had insisted it was him.
Thanom was cited as saying he had lost his identity card and believed it had been with the person who was really killed in the accident.
The village's funeral assistance fund, which had handed over 23,050 baht (545 dollars) to Thanom's relatives, reportedly decided they could keep the money -- but said they would not be entitled to further assistance when he dies "again".
ICFA WIRELESS is a biweekly electronic newsletter bringing members of the
International Cemetery and Funeral Association the latest government and
legal, industry and association news. It is available to all ICFA members
current on their dues. Comments, questions and "hot news tips" are welcome.
Write to: wireless@icfa.org.
IN THIS EDITION:
INDUSTRY NEWS
GAO Funeral Profession Investigation Completed, Pending Publication
FTC Cracks Down on Scams for Do-Not-Call Telemarketing List
Funeral Coaches Exempt from Child Restraint System Requirements
ICFA NEWS
ICFA, Driver Alliant Introduce New Group Insurance Benefit
ICFA, Transaction Group Offer Credit Card Processing Discount
ICFA Creates Free Print Advertisements
ICFAU Faculty Speak Out on Quality of Embalming
May Product of the Month: "Will You Dance?"
---------------------------
INDUSTRY NEWS
---------------------------
GAO FUNERAL PROFESSION INVESTIGATION COMPLETED, PENDING PUBLICATION
The U.S. General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has
completed its report on whether state laws and their enforcement adequately
protect consumers in funeral, burial and cremation transactions. The
investigation was launched last year at the request of Sen. Christopher Dodd
(D-CT) and Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), each of whom will receive the report in
late July. The ICFA has learned from GAO staff that the report may be
earmarked as confidential for up to 30 days after receipt if either Dodd or
Foley so request, but after that point, it would become public information.
According to GAO staff, the completed report is now undergoing standard
internal review and the target date of late July to transmit the findings to
Capitol Hill should be met. This means the GAO report would be publicly
available by the end of August at the latest, unless Dodd or Foley wish to
publish the report earlier. The findings and recommendations by GAO are
unknown at this point, but the report's publication may trigger public
hearings in the fall.
---------------------------------------------------
FTC CRACKS DOWN ON SCAMS FOR DO-NOT-CALL TELEMARKETING LIST
In an ironic commentary on Yankee ingenuity, the Federal Trade Commission has
filed charges against two Internet sites that deceptively offer to sign
consumers up to the FTC's Do-Not-Call list to stop telemarketing calls. These
sites charge consumers between $9.99 and $17.99 while claiming to stop
telemarketing calls and to register consumers with the FTC list. The FTC does
not charge a fee to register on its Do-Not-Call list, but requires consumers
to sign up on their own and not through a third party. The FTC registry will
not be ready to accept calls until July.
The FTC is concerned that the information required from the Internet sites
could cause consumers to reveal their personal identifying data. In addition,
consumers would falsely believe they are signed up with the FTC list.
According to FTC attorney Howard Beales, "These scam artists are seizing on
the public's interest in the Do Not Call Registry, but the law doesn't allow
third-party profiteers to be in the do not call business." For more details
on these cases, visit the FTC Web site at
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/05/kenchase.htm.
---------------------------------------------------
FUNERAL COACHES EXEMPT FROM CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last week that
funeral coaches have been "temporarily excluded" from the requirement to
install child restraint anchorage systems on motor vehicles. In granting the
exclusion, the agency also added a definition of "funeral coach" to its
regulation. A funeral coach is considered "a single purpose vehicle equipped
with heavy duty components to handle the additional mass of a body and
casket. Front and rear 'stops' are used in the interior of the vehicle to
keep the casket stationary."
The exclusion does not apply to funeral coaches having rear seating
positions, if any such vehicles exist, because the rear seating could be used
to transport a child, necessitating a child restraint system. The decision
was based on comments submitted by Accubuilt Inc., a final-stage manufacturer
of funeral coaches, and the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. The
federal agency agreed with the position stated by Accubuilt that funeral
coaches generally have only one row of seats, in the front, making the
installation of a child restraint system unnecessary. The exclusion will be
made permanent pending additional comments on the issue.
-------------------
ICFA NEWS
-------------------
ICFA, DRIVER ALLIANT INTRODUCE GROUP INSURANCE BENEFIT
The ICFA has teamed up with Driver Alliant Insurance Services Inc. to offer a
group insurance program that allows members to purchase commercial property
and casualty insurance at prices they could not afford on their own. The
program includes insurance for general liability, commercial property,
automobile liability and physical damage, umbrella liability, professional
liability, workers compensation, employee benefits and more.
"For many cemeteries and funeral homes, especially some of the smaller
properties, commercial property and casualty insurance can represent a
significant expense," said ICFA External Chief Operating Officer Bob Fells.
"This program allows our members to take advantage of the buying power the
ICFA provides as a group. We hope members will take advantage of this
important benefit."
To learn more about the program or to sign up, contact David Stewart of
Driver Alliant at 1-800-821-9283.
---------------------------------------------------
ICFA, TRANSACTION GROUP OFFER DISCOUNT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
The ICFA and The Transaction Group of Chicago, Illinois, now offer members a
discounted credit card processing program with a special low rate of just
1.57 percent. This new benefit will make it less expensive for cemeteries and
funeral homes to accommodate customers who wish to pay via credit card.
For additional information, call James Bruton of The Transaction Group at
1-800-622-7705.
---------------------------------------------------
ICFA CREATES FREE PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS
The ICFA has developed several professionally designed print advertisements
available free to all members current on their dues. The ads promote the
concepts of prearrangement and memorialization and can be customized to
include the member company's logo and contact information.
Each of the three ads is available in two common sizes as print-quality
downloads. For information on how to access the ads, e-mail your name,
company name, city and state to lacorn@icfa.org or call the ICFA at
1-800-645-7700.
---------------------------------------------------
ICFAU FACULTY SPEAK OUT ON QUALITY OF EMBALMING
According to faculty members of the new ICFA University College of Embalming
& Restorative Arts, a lack of attention to quality embalming is leading to
the loss of an art form -- and fewer open-casket services -- within funeral
homes across the United States.
In a recent interview with International Cemetery & Funeral Management
magazine, six of the nation's top funeral directors and embalmers discussed
the state of embalming and their commitment to educating embalmers in an
overall effort to improve the profession.
"We have done lots of great things on preneed, the psychological effects,
aftercare, how to sell a cemetery lot or a headstone and all of that," said
Chicago trade embalmer Melissa Johnson. "But for embalmers, [education] is
sorely lacking. It is that kind of thing we need more emphasis on, so
embalmers have the best information available."
The interview will appear in the June edition of ICFM and is available now on
the ICFA Web site at http://www.icfa.org/dream_team.htm .
Embalmers as well as other cemetery and funeral service professionals will
have an opportunity to hone their skills, learn new ideas and techniques and
network with peers at ICFA University, July 18-23 at the University of
Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. For more information on ICFAU or to register,
visit http://www.icfa.org/icfau03.htm or call 1-800-645-7700.
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MAY PRODUCT OF THE MONTH: 'WILL YOU DANCE?'
"Will You Dance?" is an inexpensive and helpful aftercare gift for survivors
that will assist them in working through the difficult times and demonstrate
that your company's concern extends beyond the services already provided.
Presented as a simple story, easily read and with enchanting artwork, this
deluxe hardcover book by psychologist Annette Childs-Oroz, Ph.D., uses
symbolism and sensitive prose to explore the Change, Fear and Loss that
accompany grief and leads the reader toward Faith, Hope and Joy. It has
already changed -- and saved -- the lives of people dealing with grief or
facing great difficulty.
Pick up a copy today and take the journey yourself. List price: $24.95; ICFA
non-member price: $19.95; ICFA member price: $16.95 ($15.95 when purchased at
the ICFA Store at http://www.icfa.org).
To order, call 1-800-645-7700 or visit the ICFA Store.
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AND MORE . . .
The ICFA News Page at http://www.icfa.org/newspage.htm takes you to sources
throughout the world for industry news and updates. It brings you the most
comprehensive selection of funeral service and cemetery news available
anywhere, along with frequently updated general news items related to
national and world events. The News Page is the second most visited page on
the ICFA Web site. Stop in each day and you'll see why.
The ICFA Internet Expo at http://www.icfa.org/expo/index.html is the largest
online exposition in the cemetery and funeral service industry. Cemetery and
funeral home owners and operators will find more than 300 providers in over
100 product and service categories at the Expo. Exhibit space is provided as
a free, exclusive benefit to all ICFA supplier and professional members.
Check it out today!
Need a labor relations and employment law attorney? Check out ICFA's benefit
program offering free telephone legal consultations at
http://www.icfa.org/pepperman.htm .
In a message dated 5/1/03 6:09:15 PM, fspano@nfda.org writes:
NFDA BULLETIN-APRIL
In This Issue:
-Your Feedback is Important
-Weigh-in with the estate tax survey
-FTC Funeral Rule and the NFDA Discussion Forum
-NFDA Institute
-Upcoming regional seminar, "Exceptional Events: The New Frontier in
Serving Families"
- Additional NFDA Institute opportunities
- Public Relations
- Pursuit of Excellence Program deadline extended
- Government Relations
- Qualified Funeral Trust Bill introduced
- NFDA active on wage and hour issue
- HIPAA Privacy Rule and its impact on funeral service
- NFDA News
- NFDA Annual Leadership Conference, Aug. 3-6, Asheville, NC
- NFDA Initiative Award recipient
Please weigh-in and help shape a priority NFDA legislative issue
An estate tax survey is available in the Member's Only section of the
NFDA Website. This information will be used to support our efforts to
repeal, once and for all, the onerous federal death tax. Please let us
know how this tax is affecting you,
http://www.nfda.org/page.php?pID=362.You will need your member number
which can be found above your name on the mailing label of The
Director.
We'd also like to hear from you on the Policy Board vote on the FTC
Funeral Rule
To help clarify this important issue, NFDA President, Dwayne Spence and
CEO, Christine Pepper have drafted a letter,
http://www.nfda.org/page.php?pID=396. In addition, please post your
thoughts on NFDA's Discussion Forum.
NFDA Institute
Regional Seminar provides novel approach to tributes
"Exceptional Events. The New Frontier in Serving Families." Are you
ready for the family who walks through your door looking for a tribute
that's beyond the ordinary&emdash;one that requires skills outside of those
used to arrange a traditional funeral? This seminar takes you beyond
picture boards and helps you build the skills necessary for helping
families create that special tribute.
Be among the first in your area to apply special event techniques to
arranging exceptional funerals. This program is for those who recognize
that serving the current generation is different from the last. Maybe
you're already providing these services or maybe you just want to be
ready when you need to. Whichever the case, this seminar is for you.
The instructor, Richard Aaron CMP, CSEP, is president of The Aaron
Group and a renowned event planning professional. Essential components
for tribute planning, including the five tools you need for successful
event planning, will be addressed. TO REGISTER, CALL 800-228-6332
TODAY.
June 11-13, Brookfield, WI, at the National Funeral Directors
Association Headquarters
July 14-16, Indianapolis, IN, at Flanner and Buchanan Community Life
Center
Plus, additional NFDA Institute opportunities to help you serve today's
families
If you're looking for fresh ideas but can't come to a seminar, the NFDA
Institute offers self-study courses on topics such as: "Future Trends:
Repositioning and Branding Your Funeral Home"; or "Survive & Thrive:
Understanding Market Changes." For a more complete look, visit
http://www.nfda.org/page.php?pID=83.
The NFDA Institute is Professional Development, for the Life of Your
Business. This new opportunity prevails as the most forward-thinking
and critical professional development program available within funeral
service. All NFDA Institute opportunities and information focus on
teaching you a new approach to your business and serving the needs of
today's families. Results from NFDA's market research and the Future's
Forum serve as the basis for defining the programs offered. Stay tuned
for additional NFDA Institute opportunities, which will be available
through NFDA's Online Learning Center and as special educational tracks
at the NFDA Convention & Expo in Las Vegas, October 19-22.
Qualified Funeral Trust Bill introduced in House thanks to NFDA
advocacy efforts
At the request of NFDA, Representatives Dave Camp (R-MI) and Max
Sandlin (D-TX) introduced H.R. 1727 on April 10, 2003. Fo
r key aspects
on this bill, which would eliminate the $7,800 limit for funeral trusts,
visit http://www.nfda.org/page.php?pID=390
Still time to get involved in NFDA's premier program honoring
excellence
The deadline to enter the 2003 Pursuit of Excellence Program has been
extended to May 15! The program deadline was slated for May 1 for the
first time this year. For that reason, we have decided to grant an
additional grace period of two weeks and will accept applications and
fees for participation in the 2003 Pursuit of Excellence Program until
May 15. Click the following link to download the Pursuit of Excellence
application form: http://www.nfda.org/files/POE2003BrochureFAXBACK.pdf.
NFDA active on wage and hour issue and will submit comments this spring
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed revisions to the Fair Labor
Standards ACT (FLSA) implementing regulations that could reclassify
licensed funeral directors as "professionals". For more details on
incentives and how amending the regulations to include licensed funeral
directors and embalmers as professionals will recognize their actual
status as well as eliminate the significant reporting and record-keeping
burden associated with their current treatment, visit
http://www.nfda.org/pressRelease.php?eID=126.
How the HIPAA Privacy Rule Impacts Funeral Service&emdash;and How it
Doesn't
The HIPAA Privacy Rule, a federal regulation which is required by the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, took effect on
April 14, 2003. Basically, the HIPAA Privacy Rule will require all
health care providers, such as hospitals, nursing homes and doctor
offices, to adopt and implement strict privacy procedures for a
patient's medical records. It is critical to understand how this does
and does not affect funeral service. Visit
http://www.nfda.org/page.php?pID=380 for details on key points such
as 1.) funeral homes are not covered by the HIPPA Privacy Rule, 2.)
funeral homes are not considered business associates, and 3.) funeral
homes may receive confidential medical information.
Save the date for NFDA's Leadership Conference in Asheville, NC, August
3-6
If you're a state leader or aspiring to be one, this annual event is a
must-attend. Slated keynote speakers include Bob Ash presenting a new
twist on leadership and teamwork and Leslie Charles on "Why is Everyone
So Cranky?" Also, learn practical ways to make the most out of NFDA's
Consumer Education Campaign. Registration information available soon.
Congratulations to NFDA's Initiative Award Recipient
NFDA's 2003 Initiative Award recipient is Katherine Scimmi from
McKenzie & Bundy in Ontario, Canada. The award, recognizing an
exceptional woman who has made noteworthy professional contributions to
funeral service, was presented during NFDA's Professional Women's
Conference in California on Sunday, April 13.
Fay Spano
Public Relations Director
National Funeral Directors Assoc.
13625 Bishop's Drive
Brookfield, WI 53005
262-814-1549
fspano@nfda.org
We hereby enclose pictures of our chipboard (plywood) casket with natural wood looking. (Consumer cannot find it is true Walnut, for example, or chipboard with natural walnut covering because the chipboard are combined with natural wood skin or paper by machine. They are used widely in furniture). Many different kinds of wood looking such as teak, oak, mahogany, walnut etc are available.
The handle bars (2 sides or 4 sides) are nornally nature wood.
Prices are various greatly because different woods are different prices.
Generally, the prices of the chipboard caskets with natural wood looking in the photoes are as follows :
1) Chipboard casket itself (without hand