Members of the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association should make sure to renew their NJSFDA memberships before December 31, 2025.

All members should have received their 2026 dues statements, which were sent electronically on October 1, 2025. That email contains information on how to pay your dues online.

The email has a link directing you to the njsfda.org login page. Once there, you will need to follow these steps.

• Click on the Welcome area with your name
• Click on My Account
• Then click on Renew Now
• Follow the prompts to pay by credit card

Members also have the option to handle their renewal through the mail. An invoice is attached to the email and can be downloaded from there, but it can also be downloaded from the NJSFDA website by following these instructions:

• Click on the Welcome area with your name
• Click on My Account
• Click on My Participation
• Click the printer icon
• Print your dues statement
• Complete the dues statement as instructed on the document
• Attach check to the top portion of the dues statement and mail to:

New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association
PO Box L
Manasquan, NJ 08736-0642

Whether paying online or by mail, members should print and keep their receipt of payment with their files.

The 2026 dues rates are as follows:

NOTE: The amounts above do not include district dues.

By default, REG 1 members have a portion of their dues allocated to the NJFD-PAC, which supports candidates who advance the interests of funeral service in New Jersey. Should you choose not to direct this portion to those efforts, the allocation will instead be applied to the NJSFDA General Fund. All other member types have the option to support the NJFD-PAC through a voluntary contribution.

The NJSFDA continues to provide outstanding benefits to its members, including discounts off continuing education seminars and training sessions and access to the New Jersey Prepaid Funeral Trust Fund, The FORUM, Manager of the Day, Association Member Trust, the NJSFDA app and numerous business resources.

Members are encouraged to introduce licensed colleagues to the NJSFDA and your district to promote the benefits and goodwill that come with membership. Doing so will ensure that the NJSFDA can continue to offer its services and advocate for you and the entire funeral industry.

If you have not received your statement via email or if you have any questions, please contact Membership Services at 800.734.3712.

The former employee of a Tennessee funeral home has been charged with stealing an embalming machine from the facility. Utah authorities are seeking the culprits who stole a human skull from an ancient burial ground. And Martha Stewart wants to be composted when she dies. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news. 

NEWS

Former Employee Charged with Stealing Embalming Machine from Tennessee Funeral Home
By Sydney Keller (FOX 17)
A former employee is accused of stealing an embalming machine from a Nashville funeral home, police say. Read more here.

The Famous Comedian Who Used to Work in a Funeral Home
By Tony Alpsen (Vice)
In 1984, Whoopi Goldberg was featured in one of her first televised interviews on Late Night with David Letterman. The two comedians started their conversation off by talking about Goldberg’s one-woman Broadway act, The Spook Show, and the different characters she played in it. Within a few minutes, they switched gears and discussed what Goldberg was doing before she got into show business. Letterman brought up the fact that Goldberg was once a cosmetologist, which she quickly confirmed, adding one minor detail that he’d left out: The type of cosmetology she used to engage in took place in a mortuary. Read more here.

Alabama Shooting Leaves Two Men Dead, Woman Injured after Funeral for Homicide Victim
By Carol Robinson (AL.com)
A possible domestic dispute at a family gathering in Ensley, AL, ended with two men dead and a woman injured. The shooting involved multiple family members who had gathered for a barbecue following the funeral of a 29-year-old man shot to death. Read more here.

Human Skull Stolen from Ancient Burial Site in Southern Utah
By MJ Jewkes (News 4 Utah)
Archeologists are seeking the public’s help after a human skull was illegally removed from an ancient burial site. In January 2025, investigators with the Utah Attorney General’s became aware of the theft after viewing social media posts, prompting a search of the site near Kanab, UT. Read more here.

TRENDS

Water-Focused Cremation Offers a Middle Ground for Eco-Friendly Funerals
By Kate Kampner (The Barre Montpelier Times Argus)
When it comes to choosing a funeral option, many factors need to be considered, like process, price and location. So when customers started asking Jonathan Duponte, a funeral home owner in Milton, VT, about environmentally friendly options, he began digging for answers. Read more here.

Martha Stewart Reveals Her Unconventional Burial Plans
By Carly Ledbetter (HuffPost)
Martha Stewart is someone who knows what she wants–and doesn’t want–even in the afterlife. “These coffin things and all that stuff? No way,” Stewart, 84, said when she was asked about her funeral plans during an appearance on the QVC podcast “50+ & Unfiltered” recently. “I’m going to be composted,” the lifestyle icon said before naming the exact spot where she wants to be put out to pasture. Read more here.

OPINION

The Loop Living Cocoon: A Mushroom-Based Coffin Grown in Seven Days
By Rain Noe (Core 77)
As we live our lives, we humans steadily pollute the planet. And when we die, we have our final opportunity to concentrate poison into the Earth. And, boy, do we make the most of it. Read more here. 

The state Office of Vital Statistics is in the process of changing its phone system, which is causing some issues with reaching the Electronic Death Registration System Help Desk.

The issue is expected to be resolved by the end of the week of December 8, 2025, but during that week the protocol for reaching the help desk has changed. The following is instructions from EDRS on reaching the help desk:

Currently, calls to the EDRS Help Desk are routed to our main line during normal business hours. Callers should select Option 4 (“Local Registrars or Funeral Directors”), followed by either Option 1 (“Funeral Directors”) or Option 2 (“EDRS or VERI”). If all agents are busy, there is an option to press for voice mail. Currently, only Option 1 is allowing this.

Our telecom team is going to correct the issue to allow voice mails for option 2, but this may not be done until mid to end of next week. This does not affect after hours when voice mail is the only option.

EDRS is asking for patience until this issue is resolved.

Muster

Our sincerest condolences to the family of John W. Muster IV, who died on December 3, 2025. John was a fifth generation Kentucky funeral director and founder of the professional vehicle sales company, Muster Coaches.

Kuchler

Our sincerest condolences to Bergen County Funeral Directors Association member Toni Scordato Kuchler on the death of her husband, Dr. Albert F. Kuchler Jr., DMD, who died on November 27, 2025.

If your funeral home uses music to personalize ceremonies and remembrances for consumers, it’s time to renew your music license for 2026.

Valid for the calendar year, music licenses are required if the music is performed live, through CDs, DVDs and cassette tapes, and any “music-on-hold” software such as Spotify or Pandora. The license is also needed if the family provides or plays the music themselves.

The music license purchased for the funeral home covers music played at the facility or other locations, such as a church, cemetery, park or private residence, where the funeral service is held. If more than one location is owned, each location will need a license.

Playing music without the license can result in fines of up to $30,000.

Two funeral service organizations have negotiated with the three main music-licensing organizations to provide bundled music licenses, offered at special rates to funeral homes.

The National Funeral Directors Association is offering the 2026 music license for $350 per location. The NFDA form for the license can be found here.

The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association offers the bundled 2026 license for $365 per location. Its form can be found here. The ICCFA price is valid until January 31, 2026.

Purchasing the bundled license will save funeral homes money, according to both organizations. Buying directly from the music-licensing agencies could cost about $600 per location, according to ICCFA.

Funeral homes should know that music licenses do not cover the use of music online through streaming or webcasting. ICCFA and NFDA both offer internet music licenses for $65 per website.

Both the NFDA and ICCFA licenses cover the three main music-licensing organizations:

• American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
• Broadcast Music, Inc.
• Society of European Stage Authors and Composers

ICCFA also offers a new GMR agency license for $143 per location and $28 per website. GMR is another music licensing organization that continues to grow, according to ICCFA. A list of GMR artists can be found by clicking here.

Both performance and webcasting music licenses do NOT cover music played in a DVD or video tribute. Music that is synchronized for use in a DVD or video tribute created by a third party is subject to the terms and conditions of the licensing provider.

Be sure to check with your tribute retailer to see if they have obtained the proper licensing required to use music included in any products you offer. Funeral homes may also choose to purchase “royalty-free” music for use in a video tribute.

Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange will be closed for both funeral services and visitations on Tuesdays as of January 1, 2026, the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark has announced.

“No committal services, interments or family visitations will be scheduled or permitted on Tuesdays,” the archdiocesan cemeteries said on their website. The schedule on other days remains unchanged.

Operating hours for the cemetery are 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

“We kindly ask that you take this new schedule into account when assisting families with making funeral and burial arrangements, and that you share this information with your staff and any scheduling coordinators in your office,” the cemeteries said in an email sent to funeral directors and the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association.

Funeral directors with any questions or in need of help scheduling, should contact the cemetery office at 973.678.3757.