Robert D'Amico, a member of the Monmouth and Ocean Funeral Directors Association, died on November 4, 2025. He was 54.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Robert had a passion for funeral service from a young age, becoming a funeral director and eventually opening his own facility, Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home in Middletown, more than a decade ago. He counted the opening of Evergreen as one of his greatest accomplishments.

Robert had a variety of interests, talking up golf, billiards and racquetball, among other things.

He is survived by his wife, Valerie; his children, Leah and Robert; his parents Nancy and Dominick; and his brothers, Anthony and Dominick.

Rumpf

Our sincerest condolences to former Middlesex and Somerset Funeral Directors Association members Gail Rumpf Young and Gary Rumpf on the death of their mother, Margaret A. Rumpf, who died on November 1, 2025.

VanArsdale

Our sincerest condolences to the VanArsdale Family on the death of former Middlesex and Somerset Funeral Directors Association member Norman R. “Skip” VanArsdale, who died on October 25, 2025.

Three more New Jersey licensed funeral directors have completed the inaugural Certified Funeral Service Employer course, raising the state’s total number of graduates to 11 out of the 15 who had registered.

The course, conceived by the Northeast Funeral Service Partnership and conducted by Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Illinois, was designed to help funeral home owners and managers reimagine funeral home employment and ultimately become better employers.

The following New Jersey funeral directors completed the coursework and earned the certified funeral service employer designation:

• Daniel Bitecola III, CFSP, Halpin-Bitecola Brookdale Funeral and Cremation Service, LLC
• Timothy W. Brock, CFSP, Vander Plaat Funeral Home, LLC of Wyckoff
• Sherry T. DeGraff, DeGraff Lakehurst Funeral Homes Inc.
• Randy S. Gagnon, Brunswick Memorial Home
• Joanna Hagan, Hagan-Chamberlain Funeral Home, LLC
• Jill Bradley Ingram, Bradley Funeral Home
• Kyle P. Ledford Sr., CFSP, Ledford Funeral Home, Inc.
• David Milne, Norman Dean Home for Services, Inc.
• Geraldine Oliverie, CFSP, Oliverie Funeral Homes
• Robert J. Prout, Prout Funeral Home, Inc.
• Kiera Scanlan-Wespestad, Scanlan’s of Pompton Plains

The course, which was made up of six monthly seminars, included participants from the NFSP’s five member states, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. A total of 49 funeral directors from the five states participated.

Participants had to complete the work for each of the six webinars by November 1, 2025 to earn their certification. The seminars covered topics such as Effective Communication and Multigenerational Collaboration, Inclusive Culture and Employee Integration, Legal Compliance and Policy Development, and Strategic Recruitment and Branding. Participants gave the courses and presenters high marks for their value.

The Certified Funeral Service Employer program was the first course to be conceived by the NFSP. Following this successful course, the NFSP has now created the Certified Funeral Service Employee program, which will begin shortly. The new course also will be conducted by Worsham College of Mortuary Science.

A survey conducted among the participants in the employer certification course proved the program’s value and hinted at the advantages both the employer and the upcoming employee courses give their participants.

“We need to understand who we are and what our values are before we can tell our story,” a respondent wrote. “How we deliver a message is just as important as the message itself.”

The certified employer course will be repeated in 2026.

Are you interested in being buried near Jim Morrison?

A plot near the final resting place of the legendary front man for The Doors is being sold through a lottery, but it’s going to cost you. Oh, and you’ll have to move to Paris, France.

The graveyards of Pere-Lachaise, Montparnasse and Montmartre in Paris are home to some of the well-known artists of all time, but they are deteriorating. The inscriptions on some of the headstones are barely visible.

The solution, the city of Paris has announced, is a lottery, in which the winners can “buy” one of the cemeteries’ headstones, repair it and then purchase a prime burial spot in one of the overcrowded graveyards as well, according to a BBC article. The benefit, beyond the good will of repairing a historic headstone, is that you can be buried near Morrison, writer Oscar Wilde, singer Edith Piaf and Marcel Proust, among others.

Repairing the gravestones will cost approximately 4,000 euros (about $4,600), but leasing the burial plot is an additional cost that can become quite pricey, the BBC reported, and there are restrictions. Currently, the lottery is only open to residents of Paris. And repaired headstones must be “faithful to the original,” according to the BBC.

If the terms of the agreement, which include the headstone repair and the purchase of a burial plot lease, are not met, the sale will be considered void and the purchaser will lose their money. A lease in perpetuity at one of the cemeteries will cost more than $20,000. The drawing is expected to be held in January 2026, the BBC reported.

None of the headstones available are of famous people, but the cemeteries, popular with tourists, are considered historic, and many of the headstones being offered under the program no longer are being cared for by families of the decedents.

As with many cities, Paris has a dearth of burial plots available within its borders.

Federal authorities are continuing to investigate the discovery of hundreds of piles of cremated remains found in the Nevada desert. Cremation is becoming more popular in Italy. And a large Roman-era cremation site found in France sheds light on the funeral practices from more than 1,700 years ago. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

Investigation Continues after Hundreds of Cremated Human Remains Discovered in Nevada Desert
By Emma Bussey (Fox 4)
Federal investigators are reportedly searching for answers after more than 300 piles of cremated human remains were discovered in the desert near Las Vegas, NV. The discovery was first reported after a local man stumbled upon the remains in July outside Searchlight, nearly an hour south of Las Vegas. Read more here.

Christians in Kolkata, India, Launch Initiative for Dignified Burials for All
By Kielce Gussie (Vatican News)
The spirit of the commemoration of All Souls’ Day will last longer than just one day for the Christian community in Kolkata, India. With the launch of the initiative “Shamman Samadhi” (dignified burial), they continue to give dignity to people at the moment of their death. According to the Christian Burial Board of Kolkata, this project is meant to be “a gesture of compassion and inclusion,” and it brought together representatives of various Christian denominations. Read more here.

“Vast” Cremation Site Unearthed in France Reveals Roman Burial Practices
By Andy Battaglia (Art News)
In what once functioned as an ancient Roman city focused on trade and thermal baths in the south of France, archaeologists have unearthed graves thought to offer new revelations related to Roman burial rites. Read more here.

Where Are the Bodies? Cemetery Worker Allegedly Pocketed Burial Money for Years
By Brad Devereaux (M Live)
Investigators in Kalamazoo, MI, have sifted through years of records, looking for clues about unmarked and unrecorded graves. It’s a graveyard mystery-turned-criminal case in Kalamazoo. Former Mt. Olivet Cemetery employee Shaun Albertson has been charged with embezzlement, as police allege he pocketed the money he collected for burials instead of giving it to the graveyard where he worked for over two decades. It raises a bone-chilling question: Where are the bodies and how many families are involved? Read more here.

In Seattle, Art Rises from Ashes as Cremation Gains Popularity
By Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton (The Seattle Times)
After Janet Greiling lost her 31-year-old son, Rodney Greiling, she and her daughter faced a tough decision: finding a fitting way to honor his memory through his ashes. Read more here.

The Practice of Cremation Is Growing in Italy
By Nova News
Cremation is growing in Italy, reaching 39 percent in 2024 (compared to 21 percent 10 years ago), with levels exceeding 50 percent in several regions of central and northern Italy and peaks of more than 70 percent in the major cities of northern Italy. Read more here.

145 Maltese Chose to be Cremated Overseas in 2024
By TVM News
The tradition of burial in cemeteries remains very strong among residents of the island of Malta, but year after year, more people are opting for cremation abroad. Last year, 145 Maltese were cremated outside the country, representing 3.5 percent of all deaths in 2024. Conversely, sea burials have declined significantly. Read more here.

Soaring Burial Costs Push Iranians to Rural Graveyards
By Iran Intl
The price of graves in the religious city of Mashhad, Iran, has surged, forcing families to bury their dead in nearby villages, according to a report. In Mashhad, the report said, grave prices have reached record levels. Plots in municipal cemeteries range from about $55 in public sections to around $16,700 for private family plots. Read more here.

Living with the Dead? You Need to Know These Seven Facts about the History of Human Burial
By James Osborne (History Extra)
From the depths of prehistory, human societies have grappled with the same question: How do we treat the dead? Those many varying answers offer a valuable insight into how people across history have understood life, faith and human relationships. Read more here.

Health insurance rates for 2026 will increase by an average of more than 16 percent over 2025 levels, the state Department of Banking and Insurance has warned.

Consumers will see that sticker shock as of November 1, 2025 when open enrollment periods for insurance coverage begin. The rate increases will be felt by nearly everyone purchasing insurance through carriers operating in the individual market, but some consumers will see even more drastic costs.

The financial picture of health insurance is complicated by the expiration of enhanced tax credits for coverage through the federal Affordable Care Act. Purchasers buying insurance through the Get Covered New Jersey carrier, the state’s official insurance marketplace, will likely see their premiums more than double without the tax credits, according to DOBI.

“Consumers will soon be shopping and comparing health plans, and without these enhanced tax credits, they will be confronted by startlingly higher prices for coverage,” DOBI Commissioner Justin Zimmerman said in a press release. “We are significantly concerned that many households will be forced to choose plans with lesser coverage or choose no coverage at all as a result.”

The department has estimated that costs through Get Covered New Jersey would rise up to 174 percent without the enhanced federal subsidies.

Those increases will likely eat into the household incomes of those using the state marketplace. DOBI projections show that a family of four in Ocean County, making approximately $131,000 annually and getting its coverage through Get Covered New Jersey would see its premiums rise to $26,000 a year once the tax credits expire, meaning that insurance costs would account for 26 percent of that family’s household income.

The fight to renew the subsidies is part of the deadlock over federal spending that has caused a now month-long government shutdown. More than a half million New Jersey residents are enrolled in a health plan through Get Covered New Jersey, according to DOBI.

While many New Jersey workers will see those 16.6 percent increases in insurance premiums through their employers, New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association members have the ability to rein in those costs through a benefit available to them.

Members are able to take advantage of the Association Member Trust, which can help keep premiums more affordable for its members. While premiums through AMT will still increase in 2026, the costs will not rise as high as the average DOBI is forecasting.

The NJSFDA established a benefits trust for the purpose of providing health care benefits to NJSFDA member funeral firms and their employees.

The NJSFDA teamed up with AMT, a self-funded, multiple-employer benefits trust, to provide administrative and advisory services and ensure the efficient enrollment of NJSFDA qualifying member employers and their employees.

AMT operates in accordance with New Jersey Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement laws and is registered with the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. NJSFDA members join thousands of AMT participants from 17 New Jersey-based associations to gain greater buying power. This provides small business owners access to affordable health care and prescription options.

Participating member firms enjoy all the benefits of network services and modern claims administration through one of the best-known insurance providers–Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Those interested in taking advantage of this member benefit should call the association at 732.974.9444.