Time is running out to vote for two delegate-at-large positions on the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association Board of Directors.

Voting in this year’s election, the first to be conducted via the new NJSFDA app, will end at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, July 28, 2025.

Members who hold a Fully Privileged Membership, or those who have converted to fully privileged membership status and have paid the entire sum of annual dues in full on or before June 30, 2025 are eligible to vote. Members are reminded that they should cast their ballots for TWO of the candidates.

The candidates are:

• Antonietta E. Cuoco (Middlesex and Somerset FDA)
• Rosa E. Hernandez, Incumbent (Hudson County FDA)
• Thomas E. Weber Jr. (Burlington FDA)

Those voting must download the new NJSFDA app to cast their ballot. The app is available for download in Apple’s App Store and on Google Play.

To vote, members must:

1. Download the NJSFDA app by searching “NJSFDA” in the App Store or Google Play
2. Log in using your NJSFDA website credentials. If you need assistance with logging in, call Membership Services at 800.734.3712

Full instructions on voting, including screenshots of the process, can be found here.

If you have any problems voting or with accessing the app, please contact Membership Services by email at njsfda@njsfda.org or by telephone at 800.734.3712.

Once you cast your ballot, make sure to keep the new app on your phone. The app will eventually host many of your favorite features from the NJSFDA website. You can configure the app to allow for push alerts, keeping you abreast of any significant developments such as potential outages in vital tools for funeral directors such as the Electronic Death Registration System.

The NJSFDA is committed to technological investments for the benefit and convenience of our members. Stay tuned for information regarding more features that will be added to the app, making it an indispensable tool for your funeral service needs.

The popular Exhibit Hall at the 2025 Funeral Directors Convention and Expo promises to give attendees plenty to talk about long after the event, set for September 16 to 18 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, has concluded.

From vendors exhibiting some of the newest technology available in the funeral industry to unique and fun ways to make your way through the booths, the Exhibit Hall experience has been enhanced.

The hall will be open from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16 and from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at the hall, located in the Etess Arena, on Tuesday, where complimentary beer and wine will be served with light hors d’oeuvres.

To add to your enjoyment, the hall will feature a nine-hole mini golf course winding through the booths on Wednesday. Tackle the course with friends and acquaintances and make it a group activity. Lunch will be served from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, giving attendees the chance to compare Exhibit Hall notes while enjoying the complimentary refreshments.

While browsing, attendees may notice some new vendors as well. With a bill that would allow natural organic reduction in New Jersey sitting on the governor’s desk, companies that provide equipment for the process are planning to attend. This is your chance to ask questions about this new technology and make acquaintances that may guide future business decisions.

Many vendors offering funeral service vehicles have also signed up to attend, and several of the speakers who will be giving seminars during the Convention will also have booths, allowing you more time to speak with them about the topics they will be discussing.

Registration Information

Those wishing to attend can register online on the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association website. Make sure to register by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 5 to take advantage of the early registration rate, which comes with a $50 discount. The online option will remain available until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 2. On-site registration will also be available.

Tickets for late-night Boardwalk Bayou at The Balcony Convention party featuring New Orleans-inspired food, drinks and music can be purchased separately at the time of registration.

More information on the Convention, including a list of scheduled speakers, featured events and details about the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, can be found on convention.njsfda.org. Register now so you can make the most of your Convention experience.

Idaho’s coroner system is drastically underfunded, and those appointed to the positions are unprepared and lackadaisical when faced with potential criminal investigations, an investigation has shown.

ProPublica, a nationwide investigative news website, recently published its investigation, based in part on a case where the suspicious death of a man’s spouse was never probed and the man was later accused of murdering another wife.

In December 2016, Clayton Strong drove up to a hospital in Idaho with the body of his wife, Betty Strong, and claimed she had died from complications of Parkinson’s disease. After a few questions, the coroner released the body for cremation, which was paid for in cash.

Subsequently, however, it was discovered that there had been several calls concerning domestic violence involving the Strongs.

“Someone shows up with a dead body and just says they died of natural causes,” one of Betty Strong’s children told ProPublica. “I mean, really, do you just take their word for it?”

The coroner system in Idaho features poorly trained people, often with no real medical or investigative background, paid less than minimum wage. The system has been called out as inadequate since the 1950s, yet little has changed, ProPublica reported. The coroner in charge of the area where Betty Strong died told ProPublica he had no office, no vehicle to transport bodies and no camera to take crime scene photos.

One county coroner admitted to ProPublica that people who committed murder had likely escaped arrest and prosecution because of the system.

In Clayton Strong’s case, a second family was devastated when Shirley Strong, whom Clayton Strong had married after Betty Strong died, was found shot to death. Clayton Strong fled the country and was arrested in Mexico. He died of a heart attack before he could be extradited, ProPublica reported.

Systems for investigating unattended and suspicious deaths vary from state to state. In New Jesey, regional medical examiner’s offices handle the response to these deaths. Autopsies are often ordered, and the bodies only released once an investigation is complete. These regional facilities are overseen by the New Jersey Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

Even though these medical examiner’s offices are staffed with trained pathologists, there have been numerous complaints concerning operations at these facilities. The New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association has advocated for upgrades to the system, specifically at the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark. A plan to renovate the facility was announced in 2023.

The entire budget for the coroner’s office where Strong died was $85,651, ProPublica reported. The coroner, responsible for beginning the investigations into unattended deaths and transporting bodies to one of Idaho’s few medical examiners, was paid $13,000 for his work. The job is considered full-time.

Idaho Governor Brad Little has said he would be willing to give more resources to the state’s coroner system, but the legislature has not acted on any measure to increase funding, according to ProPublica.

Sheriffs from around the United States learned about Jewish burial customs during a recent training session. A Maryland funeral director is sentenced to 60 years in prison for the shooting death of a pallbearer during a child’s funeral. And the Plains, GA, burial site of President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, has opened to the public. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

More than 100 U.S. Sheriffs Join Training Course on Jewish Burial Customs
By The Jerusalem Post
More than 100 sheriffs from 30 American states participated in a training seminar hosted by ZAKA Search and Rescue recently, aimed at educating law enforcement on Jewish customs related to honoring the dead. Read more here.

Calls to Curb Price Rises for Burial and Cremation Fees in New Zealand
By RNZ
Funeral directors in New Zealand are calling on councils to curb price rises for burial and cremation fees, ahead of this year's local body elections. Funeral Directors Association chief executive Gillian Boyes spoke to Charlotte Cook. Listen to the report here.

Health Ministry in Malaysia Gets Dead Serious over Bribery at Mortuaries
By FMT
The Malaysian health ministry has issued a stern warning to hospital mortuary staff in Petaling Jaya not to accept any form of payment, gift, or donation in exchange for handling the remains of dead people or providing information about the deceased. Read more here.

Funeral Director Sentenced to 60 Years for Pallbearer's Murder
By Alanea Cremen (WUSA 9)
A Maryland man convicted of killing a pallbearer at a funeral for a 10-year-old girl in 2023 has been sentenced to 60 years in prison. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson announced the sentencing for 50-year-old Wilson Chavis for the murder of 30-year-old Ronald Banks. Chavis was convicted in February 2025 of killing Banks while at a funeral for a 10-year-old girl who had also died from gun violence. Read more here.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's Gravesite Now Open to Public
By Sam Daniel (Fox 5 Atlanta)
You can now visit the eternal resting place of former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter. The National Park Service announced that the burial site in Plains, GA, has opened to the public. Read more here.

Project Aims to Honor 22,000 Buried at Forgotten Richmond Burial Site
By A.J. Nwoko (6 News)
A forgotten Black burial ground in Richmond, VA, is getting renewed attention as architects work with the community to create a memorial for the estimated 22,000 free and enslaved people buried there. Read more here.

Voting has begun for two delegate-at-large positions on the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association Board of Directors, and those eligible to cast ballots are reminded that this year’s election features an easy-to-use voting tool.

Members who hold a Fully Privileged Membership, or those who have converted to fully privileged membership status and have paid the entire sum of annual dues in full on or before June 30, 2025 are eligible to vote.

Voters will be casting ballots for two delegate-at-large positions on the Board of Directors, and voting will take place from July 14 to 3:00 p.m. July 28, 2025. The candidates are:

• Antonietta E. Cuoco (Middlesex and Somerset FDA)
• Rosa E. Hernandez, Incumbent (Hudson County FDA)
• Thomas E. Weber Jr. (Burlington FDA)

Information on each of the candidates can be found here.

Those voting, however, must download the new NJSFDA app to cast their ballot. The app is available for download in Apple’s App Store and on Google Play.

To vote, members must:

1. Download the NJSFDA app by searching “NJSFDA” in the App Store or Google Play
2. Log in using your NJSFDA website credentials. If you need assistance with logging in, call Membership Services at 800.734.3712

On July 14, you will receive an app text alert (if notifications are enabled) instructing you to vote for two delegate-at-large officers. When you open the app, tap on the “Voting” icon at the bottom of your screen. This will lead you to the voting dashboard, alerting you once again to cast your ballot.

By tapping on the voting dashboard, you will be taken to the ballot page where the names of the candidates are listed. Note the instruction to vote for TWO candidates.

Tap on the names of your preferred candidates. Note they are listed in alphabetical order. Make sure your votes are correctly cast before tapping on “Submit” at the top of this screen.

Once you tap on “Submit” you should get a notice that your vote has been submitted successfully.

Eligible members must cast their ballots by 3:00 p.m. Monday, July 28. Voters are reminded again to vote for two candidates.

If you have any problems voting or with accessing the app, please contact Membership Services by email at njsfda@njsfda.org or by telephone at 800.734.3712.

Once you cast your ballot, make sure to keep the new app on your phone. The app will eventually host many of your favorite features from the NJSFDA website. You can configure the app to allow for push alerts, keeping you abreast of any significant developments such as potential outages in vital tools for funeral directors like the Electronic Death Registration System

The NJSFDA is committed to technological investments for the benefit and convenience of our members. Stay tuned for information regarding more features that will be added to the app, making it an indispensable tool for your funeral service needs.

The 2025 Funeral Directors Convention and Expo, scheduled for Tuesday, September 16 through Thursday, September 18 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, will have a full array of seminars geared toward addressing some of the most pressing and interesting issues facing the funeral industry.

In a previous article in The FORUM, descriptions of three speakers–Darren Crouch, John Horan and Glenn Gould III, MS–and the seminars they will be conducting were outlined. In this article, we profile three more seminars and speakers, who will be addressing topics such as restorative techniques, changing demographics and pricing transparency.

Each seminar will be held twice during the Convention, which allows those attending the event some flexibility in scheduling their activities. All seminars have been approved for one elective CEU toward licensing renewal.

Registration for the Convention is available online until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 2. Register by 5:00 p.m. Monday, August 5 and save $50 off your admission. 

The following are descriptions of three speakers and their seminars:

In Restorative Techniques to Keep that Casket Open, Amanda Marie Eilis King, CFSP, MBIT, will discuss several techniques used on both “normal” and “reconstructive” cases to help create a more natural appearance of the decedent.

King is an embalmer and funeral director and is licensed in multiple states. An honorary member of the Belgium Institute of Thanatopraxie and a funeral director and embalmer for Bailey Family Funeral Homes in Connecticut, she has extensive training in postmortem reconstructive work.

King teaches reconstructive work and cosmetic application and has provided articles, illustrations and photography for trade journals and mortuary textbooks. She holds several degrees, including a post-baccalaureate degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

This seminar will be presented from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16 and from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 17.

Jolena Grande, CFSP, will present Death Becomes Her: The Changing Demographics of Funeral Service Practitioners, which will explore the differences between the historical attributes of funeral service practitioners and those of today’s employees and offer advice on how to connect with the modern funeral professional.

Grande has more than 30 years of professional practice as a California-licensed funeral director, embalmer, cemetery manager and crematory manager.

She began her funeral service career working for a large mortuary/cemetery combination operation in Southern California and joined the faculty in the Mortuary Science Department at Cypress College in 1995.

This seminar will be held from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16 and from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17.

In Can You See Me Now? Transparency's Importance in Deathcare's Online Pricing, Gabriel Ngo will discuss the importance of transparency in pricing.

Ngo is the director of transaction and advisory services of The Foresight Companies, a firm that supplies funeral and cemetery professions with business solutions to improve their profitability.

Before joining Foresight, Ngo worked for Carriage Services for 13 years, filling a variety of roles from auditing, operational support, human resources, payroll and risk management. He also worked as a consultant for companies such as Manpower-Jefferson Wells and Sirius Solutions.

Ngo has a proven record of being able to problem solve across multi-functional disciplines and achieving sustainable, high-performance results through partnership and teamwork.

This seminar will be held from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16 and from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17.

To take advantage of these informative seminars, register for the 2025 Convention. Visit convention.njsfda.org/speakers for more information on these seminars and others.