George S. Hassler, a member of the Monmouth and Ocean Funeral Directors Association, died on March 15, 2025. He was 83.

Born in Bridgeton, George served in the U.S. Air Force for six years before attending and graduating from Ocean County College. He then received his diploma in funeral service from the American Academy McAllister Institute in New York City in 1975.

He established the George S. Hassler Funeral Home in Jackson Township in 1978 in a farmhouse that he gradually expanded to its present size.

He was a member of several religious and service organizations, and he is a past president of the Jackson Rotary, where he is a Paul Harris Fellow. George was a parishioner of St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church in Jackson, where he served as an usher, trustee and past president of the Holy Name Society from 1984 to 1986.

George is survived by his son, Monmouth and Ocean FDA member Brian T. Hassler; two grandchildren; and two sisters, Patricia Phelan and Dr. Barbara Phelan.

Donations in honor of George may be made to the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, c/o Saint Aloysius Church, 935 Bennetts Mills Road, Jackson NJ 08527, or the Arthritis Foundation, 1355 Peachtree Street, Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30309.

The Cremation Association of North America is seeking funeral directors’ help in gauging how cremation is approached in the arranging of funerals.

The 10-minute survey, which can be accessed here, is being conducted by CANA and Fortitude Research. The results can be used to better serve families choosing cremation and improve business profitability, according to CANA.

CANA is actively seeking funeral directors in the Northeast, including New Jersey, to provide geographical diversity in the study.

The survey closes on March 31, and CANA is asking that licensed funeral directors fill out the survey.

CANA, founded in 1913, has more than 3,700 members from all areas within the funeral industry. The association provides education opportunities, information and advocacy concerning cremation and the funeral industry.

A rabbinical court in Israel has ruled that a woman who had requested that her body be cremated must instead be buried. A mortuary science program is holding an interfaith service to memorialize unclaimed remains in Michigan. And a columnist pleads with people to stop spreading ashes in public places. These storied and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

Whistleblower Speaks after Illinois Crematory Shuts Down for Improperly Storing Bodies
By Dave Savini (CBS News Chicago)
For the first time, the whistleblower behind the closing of a south suburban Chicago crematory speaks out after Illinois state investigators obtained how the remains of deceased people were being handled. Read more here.

Historic Massachusetts Cemetery to Get Long-Needed Facelift
By Heather McCarron (Cape Cod Times)
Tucked behind the Federated Church of Hyannis, MA, the Universalist Cemetery–a hidden gem of Hyannis history–is set to receive a much-needed facelift. Starting later in March, work will get underway to restore and preserve the memorial stones within the nearly 200-year-old burial ground, the final resting place of sea captains and their families. Restoration work will take several months. The goal is to offer guided and self-guided tours to the public. Read more here.

Rabbinical Court Denies Woman's Cremation Request, Orders Jewish Burial
By Yaki Adamker (The Jerusalem Post)
Israel’s Rabbinical Court ruled against honoring the cremation request of a 31-year-old Israeli woman who died by suicide in St. Moritz, Switzerland, determining that her will was invalid due to mental incompetence, the court had confirmed. Read more here.

Mortuary Science Program to Hold Interfaith Service for Unclaimed Decedents
By Wayne State University
Wayne State University’s mortuary science program in Michigan will hold its first interfaith service of remembrance for unclaimed decedents at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office. The 90-minute ceremony is designed to bring dignity and recognition to individuals who passed away without family or loved ones to claim them. Read more here.

OPINION

Please. Stop. Spreading. Human. Ash. In. Public.
By Rick Reilly (The Washington Post)
Can you do me a favor? Can you stop scattering your dearly departed’s ashes all over my favorite golf course? I want to play Pebble Beach, not your grandpa. For that matter, stop dumping your meemaw’s sandy “cremains” on Disneyland rides. Last year, somebody on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance pulled the stunt, forcing the ride’s shutdown for cleaning. What are parents in the next car supposed to tell the kids when a cloud of human ash hits them in the face? Luke, that is not your father. Read more here.

COVID-19 Quadrupled the Number of Bodies Coming into My Funeral Home
By Malcolm Gibson (MSNBC)
Though the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t officially declared until March 11, 2020, in mid-February, one of our funeral directors at Professional Funeral Services in New Orleans had symptoms of a cold that were so severe that she was forced to seek care at a local emergency room. She was told that she had a respiratory infection of unknown origin. We came to believe that she had COVID-19 and that her getting sick was a precursor to one of the most emotionally trying times I’ve experienced in my 38 years as a mortician. Read more here.

A licensed embalmer in Texas has been charged with mutilating a corpse that she allegedly dismembered after finding out the decedent was registered sex offender.

Amber Paige Laudermilk, an embalmer at the Memorial Mortuary and Crematory in Houston, TX, was witnessed stabbing the body of Charles Roy Rodriguez in the groin before cutting off his genitals and stuffing them in his mouth, according to charging documents cited in an NBC News story.

The charging documents quote one witness, an embalming student, as saying that Laudermilk said in a threatening manner, “You didn’t see anything.”

Rodriguez had been charged with sexual assault in 2001 and received 10 years of deferred adjudication, according to a press release issued by Office of Constable Alan Rosen, Harris County Constable Precinct 1, on Rosen’s Facebook page. He died of natural causes in January 2025.

“I don’t know the suspect’s past, but we have the utmost empathy for anyone who has been the victim of a sexual assault or is the family or friend of someone who has been the victim of a sexual assault,” Rosen said in the release. “The facts clearly indicate she was angry and I hope after this is resolved in the courts, she gets the help she needs.”

Laudermilk surrendered to Harris County Precinct 1 and was placed in custody in the Harris County jail.

A fishing boat in Massachusetts pulled up an unusual catch in its nets recently: the body of a woman who had been buried at sea. 

The vessel had been casting its nets about 40 miles offshore, NBC News reported the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office as saying. Once the fishing boat returned to harbor, the body was removed to the medical examiner’s office where it was determined that the remains were of a woman of about 60 years of age.

“The body had been embalmed and appeared consistent with a burial at sea,” the district attorney’s office was quoted as saying.

The district attorney subsequently closed the case, declaring there was no foul play.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency publishes specific instructions on how human bodies are to be buried at sea. Under the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, burials at sea must take place at least three nautical miles away from land and in ocean waters that are at least 600 feet deep.

“All necessary measures must be taken to ensure that the remains sink to the bottom rapidly and permanently,” the EPA instructions say.

In 2020, a total of 21 bodies were buried at sea in Massachusetts, while 329 were buried in New Jersey, according to the EPA. Florida had the most sea burials with 932, and Oregon was second with 833. A total of 2,544 burials at sea were reported nationwide.

The 2025 Biennial Pricing Statistics Survey, information gathered by the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association to help with the association’s advocacy efforts, is now available online for all member firms to complete.

The survey, conducted by the NJSFDA every two years, compiles details on funeral homes’ pricing structures. The information is then shared with legislators and members of New Jersey’s executive branch as the association works to protect the business and livelihood of the state’s funeral directors.

The 2025 survey is especially important because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of Medicaid funding that the federal government funnels to states to offset the cost of healthcare for those less fortunate.

NJSFDA Executive Director and CEO George R. Kelder Jr., CFSP, said that potential cuts to Medicaid funding and the procedures that govern availability could affect the hard-won increases in the Work First New Jersey program that funds funerals for some Medicaid recipients who have no assets and no prepaid arrangements. The 2021 biennial survey was instrumental in proving the need for an increase in the reimbursement for WFNJ funerals.

“If federal funding to New Jersey is reduced, the New Jersey Public Assistance WFNJ Funeral/Burial Reimbursement program could also be at risk,” Kelder wrote in his March 2025 column. “This program helps cover funeral expenses for approximately 7,000 of the state’s neediest families each year. Without it, these families could be left without financial aid to provide for a dignified burial.”

The survey consists of questions concerning a funeral home’s General Price List and should be filled out as comprehensively as possible. The survey, which is completely anonymous, should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. The deadline for completing the survey is March 31, 2025.

The information gathered during the survey is also used to assist with media and consumer inquiries, and the data is often presented to legislators considering bills that affect the funeral industry.

A continued strong response rate from funeral homes will help the NJSFDA advocate for further financial enhancements to the WFNJ program.

How to Complete the Survey

The survey can be completed in one of TWO methods:

Online. Respondents can access the survey through an email sent to all REG1 members on March 17, 2025. They should complete each field on every page before submitting the document.

OR

By email. If respondents prefer, they can complete a fillable pdf, which can be found here. Once each area of the pdf is complete, the document can be emailed to pricingsurvey@njsfda.org. 

Only one response per funeral home should be submitted.

Funeral home owners and managers are urged to complete the survey as soon as possible in order to provide the NJSFDA with information needed to continue effectively advocating for your businesses and the future of the funeral industry.