By Amanda Marie Eilis King, CFSP, MBIT, MSP

Organ and tissue donor cases present some of the most meaningful and most technically demanding situations in funeral service.

Families are often experiencing layered emotions: gratitude for the ability to provide a life-saving gift and uncertainty about what to expect, all while having deep grief over their loss. Restoring Honor: Restorative, Cosmetic and Funerary Considerations for Donor Cases is designed to equip funeral professionals with practical skills and communication strategies to meet those challenges with both confidence and competence in technical skills and conversations with families.

Why Should You Attend This Presentation?

King brings a unique blend of clinical training, advanced restorative education, artistic background and multi-state licensure as both an embalmer and funeral director. Her apprenticeship training, extensive reconstructive experience and ongoing work as an embalming specialist and educator provide a perspective grounded in real casework, not theory alone.

This presentation is built from hands-on experience with a variety of complex donor case issues, including delayed releases, anatomical disruption, leakage management, edema control from life support and even pediatric donor considerations.

It integrates chemical considerations, injection strategy and cosmetic theory with the ethical responsibility of honoring the donor’s gift. When you learn from someone actively working in the prep room, you gain insight into what actually works in practice. The goal is not only technical proficiency, but also professional confidence in navigating conversations with families and collaborating with organ procurement organizations.

What’s the ROI for Attending?

The return on investment is both professional and practical. First, enhanced technical competence allows your firm to confidently accept and manage donor cases that might otherwise feel challenging.

Improved restorative outcomes can increase the likelihood of viewings, strengthen family satisfaction and elevate your firm’s reputation within your community and with OPO partners. This will hold true even when families do not choose embalming yet still desire a final viewing to have the chance to say goodbye.

Second, mastering communication strategies for donor situations improves trust. Learning how to set realistic expectations during pre-arrangement and at-need discussions reduces misunderstandings and positions you as knowledgeable and compassionate in your community. Clear dialogue about embalming options, non-embalming alternatives, and viewing candidacy ensures families feel supported in their decision making.

Third, stronger restorative and cosmetic skills streamline workflow. Effective pre-embalming analysis, thoughtful case planning and appropriate material selection can reduce complications such as leakage and discoloration, saving time and minimizing corrective work later. That efficiency translates into better use of staff time and preparation resources.

A Real-Life Example of Value

Consider a donor case involving delayed release and significant tissue disruption following recovery procedures. Without specialized planning, this type of case might be considered unsuitable for viewing due to a variety of issues resulting from the recovery. The family may assume that an open casket is impossible and might not even attempt to ask their funeral director to view their loved one again.

Through structured pre-embalming analysis, adjusted arterial fluid selection, strategic injection site planning, decisive co-injections for distribution challenges and targeted restorative techniques–including shape restoration, incision coverage and color correction–the outcome can change dramatically.

In many instances, these methods can transform a complex donor case into one that allows for a dignified, meaningful viewing. This impact extends beyond appearance as families often express that seeing their loved one restored affirms the dignity of the donation and supports their healing process. That final goodbye becomes a moment of gratitude and connection.

Restoring Honor reinforces that donor care is both a technical and sacred responsibility. Attending this session means investing in your skills, your confidence, and your ability to serve families with excellence and ensuring that every donor is returned to their loved ones with dignity, respect and, most importantly, presence.

Amanda Marie Eilis King, CFSP, MBIT, MSP, has extensive education and experience postmortem reconstruction work and restoratives arts. Her seminar, Restoring Honor: Restorative, Cosmetic and Funerary Considerations for Donor and Autopsy Cases, will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 16 and from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 17, 2026 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Registration for the event is now open. Register for the 2026 Funeral Directors Convention and Expo by July 1 and receive an automatic 10 percent discount. 

Film star Leonardo DiCaprio has produced a new documentary on funeral service and the coming glut of deaths that will result from an aging baby boom generation.

“Death Boom,” which debuts at the 2026 Tribeca Festival held in June, generated mixed reactions even before it was screened.

Called “eye-opening and comprehensive” in a description on the Tribeca Festival’s website, the film, directed by Jessica Chandler and produced by DiCaprio, explores the impact that dying baby boomers will have on the funeral industry and the changes and challenges facing death care. The film also explores greener options for disposition, such as natural organic reduction and green burials.

“While never losing sight of the topic’s seriousness, Chandler’s shrewdly accessible doc is a wake-up call of a film that’s also highly entertaining and often quite funny,” the description reads.

And that is part of the problem for one funeral director, who said she had initially been part of the project.

“What disappoints me is when education turns into entertainment. When nuance gets lost. When complicated stories are reduced to shock value, villains and headlines,” said Melissa Meadow, who bills herself as The Modern Mortician on Facebook. “The public deserves better than a sensationalized version of death care. They deserve context. They deserve current information. They deserve to see not only the failures, but also the people working every day to improve this profession.”

The purpose of the film, however, was not to sensationalize the issue, said Eli Roth, a film director who narrated “Death Boom.”

“This is not an attack on an industry, but an effort to understand how we got here and how we can move forward together to protect future generations. Jessica and her team did incredible work, and we hope the film galvanizes people to take control of their own death,” Roth told Deadline.

A streaming service and release date for the film have not yet been announced.

Jewish war veterans, mistakenly buried with Christian crosses, get new headstones. A lawmaker in the Philippines has introduced a measure to supply poor families with free caskets and funeral aid. And state police in Connecticut stopped a funeral procession on I-95 after reports of unruly behavior on the highway. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

Jewish Veterans Incorrectly Buried Under Latin Crosses Get New Headstones
By Nick Mordowanec (Military.com)
Five Jewish service members recently had their headstones altered, and they may be just the beginning. The American Battle Monuments Commission has partnered with the nonprofit Operation Benjamin to provide funding for the partnership to identify, research and correct burial mistakes for such service members. Read more here.

Filipino Lawmaker Files Free Casket, Funeral Aid Bill
By Charlene A. Cayabyab (Sun Star)
A legislator in the Philippines has filed a measure seeking to provide free caskets and funeral service discounts for poor families nationwide through local government units. Read more here.

Former Funeral Director Decapitated Corpse Before Cremation, Threw Head into Woods
By WKRC
A former funeral director in Minnesota was sentenced for beheading a corpse before cremating it and throwing the head into a ravine, where it was found by Boy Scouts. The case remained unsolved for two decades. Read more here.

Family Sues Ohio Funeral Home After Mom Was Allegedly Cremated “Against Her Express Wishes”
By Desiree Anello (People)
An Ohio family is suing a local funeral home after their mother was allegedly cremated by accident. On June 1, 2026, the children of Nancy Anders filed a lawsuit against the Tidd Funeral Home in Hilliard after the body of their late mother was cremated “against her express wishes and without authorization from the family,” according to legal documents. Read more here. 

Alaskan Assembly to Consider Natural Burial Project in South Anchorage
By Bella Biondini (Anchorage Daily News)
Anchorage, AK, is running out of low-cost cemetery space. If approved by the Assembly, a bill would permit the creation of a new natural burial site, the first of its kind in Alaska, in South Anchorage. Read more here.

State Police Stop Funeral Procession on I-95 South in Connecticut
By Jason Levy (News 8)
A section of I-95 South in Fairfield, CT, was temporarily shut down recently as state police investigated a funeral procession. According to Connecticut State Police, Troop G received multiple calls from drivers on I-95 South to report people hanging out of vehicles in a funeral procession on the highway. Read more here.

Human Composting and Water Cremation Considered to Tackle Burial Space Shortages
By Antonia Matthews (BBC Wales)
Human composting and water cremation could be introduced in England and Wales, a report has suggested. Burial, cremation and burial at sea are the only methods currently formally recognized in law in the two nations, the law commission said. Read more here.

In observance of the federal holiday of Juneteenth, the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association will be closed on Friday, June 19, 2026.

The office will reopen at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, June 22, 2026.

Hannigan

Our sincerest condolences to Bergen County Funeral Directors Association Secretary Treasurer Patricia A. Hannigan on the death of her mother, Sharon Kathleen Hannigan, who died on June 1, 2026.

Wilson

Our sincerest condolences to Mercer County Funeral Directors Association member Robert Asher Wilson Jr. on the death of his mother, Delores May Wilson, who died on June 2, 2026.

The percentage of cremations as a method of disposition in New Jersey increased slightly between 2024 and 2025, but the growth in the state will continue, a recent study shows.

The prevalence of cremation in the state, which stood at 55 percent in 2025, will experience a rapid rise over the next 10 years before topping out at nearly 70 percent in 2035, according to figures and projections compiled by the Cremation Association of North America.

Key Takeaways

• New Jersey's cremation rate reached 55 percent in 2025 and is projected near 70 percent by 2035
• The percentage of cremations in the state still remains below the U.S. rate
• National cremation growth is slowing as higher-rate states approach market saturation

The rate of cremation in New Jersey still significantly trails that of the nation, with the U.S. rate sitting at 62.8 percent, but the state will begin to catch up as the national turn toward cremation begins to reach saturation. By 2035, the U.S. rate is projected to be 73.8 percent, CANA figures show, meaning the difference between the national and New Jersey turn toward cremation will be cut in half.

The increase in cremation is already starting to slow, CANA statistics indicate.

“Note a gradual decline of the U.S. national growth rate from 1.58 percent to 1.33 percent per year,” the CANA study said. “States with cremation rates below 60 percent are likely to grow at a faster rate than the national average. While states that have reached or are approaching the plateau phase (80 percent-plus cremation rates) are now experiencing minimal annual change, with only slight fluctuations from year to year.”

Four states have cremation rates greater than 80 percent–Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire and Oregon.

Despite the projected continued increase in cremation, New Jersey currently has the lowest percentage rate of growth in the disposition method in the U.S., ranking 51 (a figure that includes Washington, D.C.), according to CANA.

States in what CANA calls the Middle Atlantic, which includes New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, trail the national average, with Pennsylvania the only one to top 60 percent. All three states are part of the Northeast Funeral Service Partnership, a five-state organization made up of the funeral directors associations within those states. CANA includes Connecticut and Massachusetts, the other two member states of NFSP, in the New England region. Connecticut’s rate was 67 percent in 2025, and Massachusetts was 55.7 percent.

While the choice of cremation in the United States continues to grow, it remains behind many other countries, including Canada, where the national rate stood at 77.4 percent in 2025. Several European countries had rates that topped 80 percent in 2024, including Denmark, Great Britain, Slovenia and Switzerland. Other countries had incomplete data for 2024, but their rates topped 80 percent in 2023, including the Czech Republic and Sweden. South Korea’s rate was above 90 percent.

The growth in cremation in the United States over the past 150 years has been remarkable. Between 1876 and 1960, only 3.56 percent of all dispositions were cremation. The percentage stayed below 10 as late as 1980 and below 20 until 1994, according to CANA. The rate first topped 50 percent in 2016, only 10 years ago.