Are you figuring out your next step toward enhancing your ability to serve your clients? You may want to consider adding a Certified Celebrant to your staff.

To help funeral directors take this step, the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association is providing those interested with the opportunity to take Certified Celebrant Training from September 16 to September 18, 2024 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City.

The training is available to everyone–funeral directors, unlicensed staff or even members of the community you serve.

Those engaging in the training will learn how to craft personalized funeral services for families seeking unique and personalized options outside of the typical religious offerings. The training will be held the same week as the NJSFDA’s Funeral Directors Convention and Expo, also at the Hard Rock.

Registration is currently open, and those wishing to attend can register here. In addition, this brochure contains more information on the training.

The training will once again be provided by Glenda Stansbury, MA, CFSP, a certified celebrant and licensed funeral director who also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Central Oklahoma Funeral Department.

The curriculum will cover:

• The value of a funeral
• Writing and listening skills
• Facilitating family meetings
• Service planning
• Music and readings resources
• Master of ceremonies
• Presentation skills
• Developing the celebrant concept in the community

Included in your registration are food and beverage, two nights of hotel accommodations at the Hard Rock and a complimentary parking pass. The training also gives attendees the chance to network with other funeral industry professionals, and those who register will also have limited access to the Convention and Expo.

Trainees can earn up to 17 elective continuing education credits.

Don’t delay! Register today.

The owners of a Colorado funeral home where more than 190 decomposing bodies were found during a state investigation in 2023 are now facing federal charges of illegally obtaining more than $880,000 in pandemic relief funds.

Jon and Carie Hallford were in federal court in Denver, CO, on April 15, 2024 where prosecutors laid out a scheme in which the couple applied for Small Business Association loans and received three payments totaling $882,300, according to an article in The New York Times.

The loan money was used by the Hallfords, who ran Return to Nature Funeral Home, for a vehicle, vacations, cosmetic medical procedures, dinners and jewelry, among other things, the Times stated. More than $19,000 was spent on items from Amazon, according to the Times.

In addition to fraudulently obtaining SBA loans, the Hallfords collected $130,000 from families for cremations and burials that were never done. In some cases, the couple provided family members urns that contained a dry concrete mix rather than cremated remains, and at least twice the funeral home buried the wrong body and withheld that information from the next of kin.

The Hallfords were arrested in November 2023 after Colorado investigators discovered scores of decaying corpses, some there for at least four years, in the couple’s Penrose, CO, funeral home. The couple had fled to Oklahoma where authorities found them. They have been charged by the state with hundreds of counts of abuse of a corpse, money laundering and forgery. But federal investigators soon became involved, and the ensuing federal indictment shows the depth of the Hallfords’ alleged deception went far deeper.

SBA loans were given out during the pandemic to help businesses that were struggling to stay open. But the funds were meant to be used for specific operational purposes. Instead the couple “used the bulk of the loan proceeds for their personal benefit,” the Times quoted the indictment as saying.

The Hallfords’ case, along with several other high-profile incidents of misconduct by funeral industry workers in Colorado, caused the state to once again consider licensing funeral directors. Colorado is currently the only state in the U.S. that does not require a license to practice funeral directing.

Sheila Canfield-Jones was one of the Return to Nature clients that received cement dust rather than cremated remains. During a press conference when legislation that would license funeral directors was introduced, Canfield-Jones said her case prompted her to take a hard look at Colorado laws and contact legislators about the issue, according to a Colorado Public Radio story.

“I’m reading these laws and they’re horrible and they’re bad, and we need to do something now,” Canfield-Jones said.

The 2024 Funeral Directors Convention and Expo is headed back to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City this year, featuring several revamped features and all the benefits that America’s most iconic boardwalk has to offer.

Held from Tuesday, September 17 to Thursday, September 19, the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association’s annual event will provide attendees with plenty of educational and networking opportunities, as well as the Hard Rock’s unique atmosphere and attractions.

This year’s Convention party, called Yacht Rock Night, will feature a live band, so enjoy the company of your friends and colleagues on what is sure to be a memorable night. The Convention will also have expanded hours for the large Exhibit Hall on Tuesday and Wednesday of the Convention, giving you more time to explore the latest offerings in funeral service.

In addition, there will be VIP perks waiting for you when you join us in Atlantic City.

If you can’t wait to register for the Convention and Expo, you’re in luck. Registration for the event will open on May 2, with discounted prices available until 5:00 p.m. August 6.

There are several options for registration:

3 Day All Access Pass: With this registration option, attendees can earn up to six elective continuing education credits, network and shop with vendors on the Exhibit Hall floor, including a cocktail reception and lunch, have all morning access to coffee and refreshments daily, socialize with other funeral professionals at a variety of gatherings and receive perks like drink tickets for the Tuesday night Funeral Directors Round-Up and VIP perks at Yacht Rock Night this year’s Convention Party (NOTE: The Convention Party requires a separate registration).

This pass also enters you into an NJSFDA-hosted raffle.  You could win upgraded VIP hotel accommodations and amenities contingent upon you booking your overnight stays at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City using the Convention room block with group code GNJF924.

Single Day Select Pass: This registration option gives you the flexibility to attend all Convention programming on the day of your choice.  You can earn up to three elective CEs, walk the Exhibit Hall, network with funeral professionals and experience one or more of our featured events. Register in advance and choose your day upon arrival. The features available depend on the day you choose to attend.

Exhibit Hall and Networking Pass: If you’re not in need of CE programming but would like to walk the Etess Arena and experience all the Exhibit Hall has to offer, this registration option is best for you. We have extended Exhibit Hall hours on Tuesday and Wednesday this year and eliminated Exhibit Hall hours on Thursday. Additionally, this registration option allows attendees to join us for the networking and social events of their choosing. Add a Yacht Rock Night ticket and join us for this year’s Convention Party.

Stay tuned to your email and The FORUM for more details on registration and features for this year’s Convention.

Catholic sisters are praying at the burial grounds for hundreds of unidentified migrants in California. And an article looks at some odd and interesting burial practices throughout history. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

At Burial Ground for Unidentified Migrants, Sisters Pray for the Dead

By Rhina Guidos (Global Sisters Report)
Sister Clara Malo Castrillón peered through the locked gate and the sight on the other side made her cry. Through a small opening, she could see the bricks, some clay-colored, others white, on the arid landscape. They were neatly lined in clean rows, hundreds of them. But unlike the other tombs in the main part of Terrace Park Cemetery in California, there were no names, no flowers, no grass, no words of love from family scribbled on the bricks that served as tombstones. The only greenery came from the “privacy fence,” the green plastic that kept out of sight the sterile-looking tombs with “Jane Doe” or “John Doe” written on them. Read more here.

Weaving the End: The Art and Soul of Burial Blankets
By Vasia Rigou (New City Design)
Intertwining the art of weaving with themes of death, dying and green burial practices, Anders Zanichkowsky offers an innovative approach to how we contemplate and prepare for our final journey. Drawing from a deep curiosity about death and a passion for religious art, he has transformed his observations and reflections into a unique business that not only challenges conventional perceptions of death but also celebrates life through the creation of handwoven shrouds. Read more here.

Woman Pleads Guilty to Preventing the Burial of Two Babies in the United Kingdom
By (ITV News)
A woman has pleaded guilty to preventing the decent burial of two babies at a home in Bridgend, United Kingdom, but her former partner will face trial later this year. Egle Zilinskaite, 30, and Zilvinas Ledovskis, 49, are charged with two counts of concealing the birth of a child and two counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body. Read more here.

Astonishing Ancient Burials, from “Vampire” Decapitations to Riches for the Afterlife
By Owen Jarus (Live Science)
Human burials are some of the most poignant and famous archaeological remains that survive from the ancient world. People were buried in a variety of ways, from being entombed within massive pyramids to simply getting dumped in a bog. In some cases, people feared that the dead would come back to life and cause harm–leading to their bodies being decapitated or driven through with a stake. Read more here.

OPINION

Burial Versus Cremation
By William R. Jones (The Korea Times)
I'm physically ready and mentally prepared to join the older sister of sleep. This final aspect of life should not be repellent or repulsive. I see it as leaving one home for another; and although there is an argument against it, there is much belief for it. Even though funeral rites are as old as human culture itself, I wish not to follow the usual American tradition and custom of a burial ceremony. I'm taking the option of cremation because it is the shortest and cheapest route. Read more here.

The wife of the former manager of the Harvard Medical School’s Anatomical Gifts Program morgue has pleaded guilty to her role in a scheme to traffic body parts from the morgue to collectors in several U.S. states.

Denise Lodge, whose husband is also facing numerous charges related to the scheme, appeared in U.S. District Court in Williamsport, PA, and admitted to interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors, in their initial indictment, charged Cedric Lodge, Denise Lodge and three others with the trafficking of body parts. Cedric Lodge, prosecutors said, plotted to illegally remove “heads, brains, skin, bones and other human remains” as part of a money-making scheme in which his wife and accomplices participated. Previously indictments had charged two others with taking part in the operation, which took place between 2018 and 2023.

Cedric Lodge, the indictment alleges, would bring body parts stolen from the Harvard morgue to his New Hampshire home, where he and his wife would help sell the parts with the assistance of their accomplices. In at least one case, skin taken from bodies was used to create leather, according to the indictment. The body parts were often shipped through the U.S. Postal Service.

The Associated Press reported that Denise Lodge’s attorney had previously argued in a television interview that the matter was less criminal and “more of a moral and ethical dilemma.” Denise Lodge had “just kind of went along with” her husband’s plans.

The operation also has led to at least one lawsuit, charging Harvard University with an “unconscionable breach of trust by an institution that holds itself out as the very pinnacle of excellence.” The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the families of three decedents whose bodies were donated to the medical school.

Two other accomplices have also pleaded to various charges.

State inspections of funeral homes in Pennsylvania could get a boost under a new bill that seeks to broaden the pool of qualified funeral directors able to serve as inspectors.

The bill would decrease the amount of experience, from 10 years to seven years that a funeral director is required to have before applying to become an inspector. The current law regarding the qualifications for an inspector was established in 1952.

The bill’s sponsor, state Representative Frank Burns said that an inspector’s position in Philadelphia recently went unfilled for more than a year, despite several attempts to find a qualified candidate. At one point, only three inspectors were serving the entire state.

“By reducing the number of years required before anyone can apply to become a funeral home inspector, we’re expanding the availability for more funeral directors to apply,” Burns said in a press release.

Burns called the inspectors “front line” employees when it came to ensuring that mortuary laws and regulations, including those addressing pre-planning and pre-paying for funerals, were followed.

It’s important that consumer protections are in place and followed appropriately,” he said.

The bill, H.B. 1819, was passed by the Pennsylvania House and has been assigned to the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee for review.