Schedule +Link for 8pm Memorial Service-Tuscon Shootings Your Funeral Guy

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Here is the Schedule and the Link for the 8pm Memorial Service-

8pm Memorial Service Tuscon shooting- 01/12 2010-Live Video Link

Schedule:

Opening music
A Native American blessing
Welcome by University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton
The playing of the National Anthem
Remarks by President Shelton
Remarks by a University of Arizona Student
Remarks by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R)
Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
Remarks by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Remarks by President Obama
Moment of silence

funeral industry| funeral News Funeral Blog By Your Funeral Guy

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Arizona establishes Funeral Protection Zone-Your Funeral Guy

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Arizona has set up a Funeral protection Zone to prevent Picketing by the Westboro Baptist Church at an Arizona Girl’s Funeral who was avictim of the Arizona Shootings. Legisllaturers

Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed an emergency law passed to prevent picketing from the Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of a 9-year-old girl killed Saturday in the Tucson shooting rampage that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded.

According to ABC 15, the Arizona house and senate unanimously passed the law in response to plans from the antigay church based in Topeka, Kan. to protest the funerals of the shooting victims. T bn

via www.advocate.com

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Weddings at Funeral Homes Funeral Facilities A Trend-Your Funeral Guy

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Weddings being held at  at Funeral homes and Funeral Facilities are a continuing trend in the USA. It often is less expensive and bookings are much easier to get. This is simply a consequence of the Great Recession and a slow recovery.

Across the U.S., more funeral homes are building such centers and marketing them not only as places to mourn the dead, but as sites for events celebrating the living, including birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties, school proms and, yes, weddings.

The lure? It is often less expensive; there is greater availability; and the settings — inside and outside — can be nothing short of wedding-picture perfect.

via www.indystar.com

Weddings are similar to Funerals Both are event planning. folks can save money easily on a wedding by using funeral home facilities.

Funeral industry| Funeral News Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

It si also a great way Funeral home owners can comat against funeral industry decline

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Solution For Arlington National Cemetery appears to be the Department of Veterans Affairs-YourFuneralGuy

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A commentary and article in the Washington reveal that the answer for problems art Arlington National Cemetery in 2011 may be the Depatment of Veterans Affairs.

I have long thought there is scant logic for the cemetery to be assigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Army. That office is supposed to make policy, not manage operating entities. Managing cemeteries is not a proper Army mission. The Veterans Affairs Department is fully equipped and much better staffed to do such a job. It could take over the cemetery with hardly a ripple. And the employees would be part of a much larger workforce where supervision, training and opportunity are much better than in the smaller workforce of the cemetery.

Now is a good time to consider formally transferring ownership of Arlington National Cemetery from the Army to the Veterans Affairs Department. It would take congressional approval, and Congress should act.

Maury S. Cralle Jr., Burke

via www.washingtonpost.com

Arlington National Cemetery has recently enrolled its people in training at the Department Of Veterans Affairs(VA).

It will take an act of Congress to bring Arlington National Cemetery under The Department of Veterans Affairs but that may be needed to solve the problems that arose at the cemetery in 2010.

Funeral industry| funeral news| funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

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Funeral Webcasting grows in 2010-YourFuneralGuy

Computer being operated at a Funeral Home-Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Funeral Webcasting an innovation in 2009 has grown dramatically in 2010. This  is quite  interesting because some funeral homes are offering this service free.

A Video of a funeral can easily be posted on a FREE blog site such as blogger.com or wordpress.com.

Funeral Webcasting does provide an excellent service for those who cannot attend the funeral of a loved one

Funeral webcasts are one of the newest services offered by an industry increasingly focused on memory instead of mourning. With computer access easy to come by and cheaper than a plane ticket, webcasting is increasingly popular option at Chicago-area funeral homes.

“It’s not like it used to be, where you were raised in a community, lived in a community and died in a community,” said John Haben, owner of the Haben Funeral Home and Crematory in Skokie. “Families are spread throughout the world, and the Internet is one way of bringing them together.”

Funerals in the Chicago area have been witnessed electronically by friends and family members across North America, in Central America and as far away as the Philippines. Last month, the funeral of Cpl. Chad Young, a soldier from Rochester, Ill., who was killed in action, was streamed live to his unit in Afghanistan.

“It made us feel very good that they got to see it,” his mother, Brett, said. “I’m glad it was possible.”

In most cases, the funeral service is recorded on a high-definition camera, uploaded to the Internet and then either streamed live or posted later. The online funerals are generally kept private, with links to the webcasts sent to selected e-mail addresses.

Most funeral homes work with companies that provide the technical expertise, equipment and software to put together the webcasts.

All that’s needed to view the funeral are a computer with an Internet connection and an e-mail address, said Greg Bolan, owner of Delgado Funeral Chapels in Joliet.

Many local funeral homes charge $100 to $300 for the service, while Bolan does it for free.

via articles.chicagotribune.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral Blog by your funeral guy

Some though find this not needed with the recording of videos on cell phones. When broadcasting video live becomes available on cell phones  this service may be quickly outdated.

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Illinois Preneed Scandal Explodes upon Association-YourFuneralGuy

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The ongoing Preneed Scandal in Illinois has taken a turn that may effect the financial future of Funeral Directors in Illinois and especially those of former executive Board Members including the current NFDA elected Presitent Randal L. Earl

Board Members of the IFDA may be personally liable for up to 100 million in losses.

The scandal has been going on since 2007 and intimately involves the former Senator Roland Burris(D-IL),

The Fact that some of the  many associations losses will not be covered by their association may in fact be a death blow to the Illinois Funeral Association.

 

A federal judge ruled last week that the insurer for the Illinois Funeral Directors Association would not be responsible for claims resulting from litigation surrounding the association’s beleaguered Master Trust.

In March 2009, Federal Insurance Company, which has provided up to $5 million coverage in business insurance, including coverage for directors and officers of IFDA since 2005, filed suit against IFDA stating it should not have to pay the claims associated with the previous two lawsuits — one in Circuit Court of Kane County and the other by the six funeral directors in Cook County, which alleges mismanagement of the Preneed Trust the fund by IFDA that resulted in millions of dollars in losses. The insurer claimed that IFDA did not notify the company of claims in a timely manner.

In the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan sided with Federal Insurance Company ruling that IFDA failed to give the firm proper notice of claims against it.

 

via memorialbusinessjournal.wordpress.com

Your Funeral Guy has been covering this since February 2008  along with the State Journal Register in Springfield, Illinios. Extensive coverage of this subject can be found at yourfuneralguy.com and lowercost funeral.com

This indeed may be the final chapter of the current  Illinois Funeral Directors Association due to the IFDA Preneed Trust Scandal.

Funeral Industry|Funeral News | Funeral Blog By Your Funeral Guy

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National Prearranged Services Executives Indicted-Your Funeral Guy

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National Prearranged Services  (NPS) Executives have been indicted. These are responsible for 600-100 million dollars of preneed insurance funds.

ST. LOUIS | Officers at a prearranged funeral business defrauded customers, funeral homes and states out of as much as $600 million, according to a 50-count federal indictment announced Monday.

The U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis announced indictment on fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and other charges against Randall Sutton, 65; Sharon Nekol Province, 66; Doug Cassity, 64; his son Brent Douglas Cassity, 43; Howard Wittner, 73; and David Wulf, 58.

All six defendants are from St. Louis County, and all were controlling officers for National Prearranged Services Inc., based in Clayton.

Brent Cassity is listed in the Missouri secretary of state’s office as the owner of Mount Washington Forever Funeral Home in Independence, which closed in July.

via www.kansascity.com

This is an incriminate story preneed  funeral theft and fraud. Incredibly the main tool in this incredible insurance theft were bottles of white out.

Officers of this company are now part of the criminal Lawsuit.

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California Master Trust-Who owns preneed?-Your Funeral Guy

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A lawsuit has been filed in the California Master Trust Situation. At issue is who owns  a preneed Contract? Does the Funeral Home own the contract? Do the people who control the trust? Does the Funeral consumer.

Sacramento, California–On November 10, 2010, the Funeral Directors Service Corporation (“FDSC”) filed a lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court against the Department of Consumer Affairs, Cemetery and Funeral Bureau (“the Bureau”). The lawsuit asks the Court to resolve disputed findings contained in an audit report issued on March 18, 2010, following the Bureau’s audit of the California Master Trust.

Mark Kuhn, President of FDSC, stated: “The California Master Trust, which has been in business since 1985, meets the needs of families who wish to set aside funds to pay for funerals in advance, alleviating anxiety and decision-making at the time of a loved one’s death. The Bureau’s audit findings are damaging to the Trust’s reputation and its ability to serve the consumers whose investments are safeguarded within the Trust.”

Kuhn further commented: “We have made extensive efforts to resolve our dispute with the Bureau regarding these audit findings, but the Bureau has threatened to take action against the Trust and the licenses of the individual funeral establishments who participate in the Trust. We are seeking the Court’s assistance in determining that the Bureau’s audit findings are wrong and unenforceable. We believe the audit is based on improper interpretations by the Bureau of the applicable laws and regulations governing California pre-need funeral trusts.”

For further information, contact Grace J. Bergen of Knox, Lemmon, Anapolsky & Schrimp, LLP, attorneys for FDSC.

gbergen@klalawfirm.com

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Jewish Cremation Advertisement stirs things up-Your Funeral Guy

A cemetery has put out a Jewish Cremation Ad that has stirred things up. Cremation in the Jewish and Muslim community is taboo. For Jewish folks cremation is especially sensative because of the Holocaust

Now some Jewish folks have been forced into cremation because of the great recession and funeral cost.

Although he sensed potential provocation, the general manager of a local Jewish cemetery said he never imagined that his full-page advertisement touting cremation as an alternative to burial would cause such a backlash.

 

“Did you know … Jewish people are being cremated?” blared the banner in the full-page advertisement for Roosevelt Memorial Park in Trevose in the Oct. 28 issue of the Jewish Exponent.

But in a barrage of letters and calls to the cemetery, as well as to the Exponent, several rabbis and Holocaust survivors expressed outrage

via www.jewishexponent.com

Funeral industry|Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy……..



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Worlds largest Funeral Corporation Gaining more Negative publicity-YourFuneralGuy

The Worlds Largest Funeral Corporation, SCI, NYSE: SCI is getting more attention with a body mixup Scandal. The wrong body in wrong grave is every funeral directors nightmare.

I am not at liberty to discuss it right now,” said Kim Perry from Stanetsky Memorial Chapels.

Perry runs Stanetsky Memorial Chapels in Brookline, where state investigators said her staff mistakenly mixed up the burials of two women, both named Evelyn.

“If any family disappointed in our service we’re always remorseful,” said Perry.

“I gave her a full Jewish burial and then this happens,” said Zippin.

Zippin’s mother Evelyn died in late August. He trusted Stanetsky Memorial Chappels to handle the internment, but state investigators say they made a grave mistake.

“They should have called me and told me, at least apologized, but no,” said Zippin.

Investigators say Evelyn was buried in Woburn. She wasn’t supposed to be there. Workers apparently mixed up the bodies of two women, both named Evelyn.

via www1.whdh.com

Funeral Industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Kim Perry is a former state funeral leader in Massachucetts

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