Your Funeral Guy
R.Brian Burkhardt is known on the internet as your funeral guy. His book Rest in Peace an Insider’s Look at the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral is a ground breaking book on funeral arrangements. The purpose of this book is to simply help you Lower the Cost and the Stress of any Funeral you may be involved with. Your Funeral Guy – Professional Experience: R.Brian Burkhardt was born in 1952 in Berwyn,Illinois. He spent 30 years in a management career with various companies. His last management position was a certified newspaper manager with a national chain. He began his funeral industry career in 2001.
His acclaimed book “Rest in Peace Insiders Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral has gained international recognition. The work “Rest in Peace” published in May 2008 has been featured in the National Post and Otrib.com ”Rest in Peace” and his prestigious “Your Funeral Guy Blogs” have gained him worldwide funeral industry expert status.
In 2009 The Associated Press, Fox News, MSNBC, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, World Net Daily,and the Sentinel-Journal have featured his funeral expertise. His significant work as a funeral director in Washington DC,at Arlington National Cemetery, and in Central Illinois has inspired him to share his funeral experiences. Mr.Burkhardt is a licensed Funeral Director in Illinois and Virginia.
Your Funeral Guy 
I would like to talk to you personally. Thank you for the press with my response, and maybe we should join forces? CemOps.
I can be reached at (505) 918-8002.
I am about to meet with a US Senator, and think it is time to move this up a bit.
Let me know if you are interested.
Glad we have connected and made things better for consumers and the industry.
I look forward to reading your books.
Your Funeral Guy.
Mr. Burkhardt,
This is my first visit to your site and I find it extremely interesting. As I have read through many of your posts it looks to me like funeral homes in general are not doing well. What do you see for the future of funeral homes in the near future? The reason why I ask is that I make blown glass cremation urns which I sell to funeral homes for resale. From what I read here, it sounds like finding an alternate method of getting my product to the public might be the timely and expedient thing to be doing.
Thank you,
Mike Holberg
mholberg,
Funeral homes right now are in some tough times. The business model is shifting. Funeral Professionals are still needed but traditional funeral homes are not. Many are in the cremation | urn business. If You locate some of the pro consumer funeral homes and work with those that are making appropriate business model changes…you may find a welcome market for your product. Some cremation centers may be the place for your product.
Your Funeral Guy
Mr. Burkhardt,
Thanks for the advice.
Best regards,
Mike Holberg
http://www.personaltemples.com
Hello Mr. Burkhardt:
I’ve seen you quoted in several media outlets.
Are you still operating a funeral home in Illinois? If so, how does one contact you to arrange a pre-need/arrangements for cremation? My in-laws are both frail and in nursing homes, we live in the western suburbs of Chicago and need to start putting these things in order. Father-in-law is a WWII vet with a burial plot on Long Island, NY and wife can be interred there as well for no cost. That is there wish.
But we need to plan the other things. If you’re not operating a funeral home currently, can you recommend one in these parts that “thinks” the same way you do?
Thanks. We all appreciate your candor.
Thank you for your comments. I am not operating a funeral home or cremation facility at this time. In the Western Suburbs this is a reasonable facility-http://www.dupagecremations.com/ with no preneed fee. No need to prepay for the whole thing , just register and avoid the registration fee with these folks.
If the burial is to occur in New York, the ashes need to be transferred to NY, which can be done by you or the post office.
Thanks for reading the blog.
RBBurkhardt
I’ve been so worried about unemployment that I accepted a sales position (pre-arrangement) from SCI/Dignity here in San Diego. I have yet to start training, though I’m studying for my state Life-Limited license. Now I’ve found such disturbing things (not just from your site) re: SCI, I’m actually sick to my stomach… Should I run in the other direction? I hate to think of working for a company I cannot stand behind ethically, but I’m also deeply worried by the fact that there are absolutely no other job prospects on the horizon… Thanks in advance for your response, and for the work you do! –Laura
If you need the job to survive. maybe you should take it. If you are paid by commission only, which i suspect is the case please do not. You should never have to pay to take a job. Commission only jobs many times are not jobs at all. As for the moral side of SCI, the corporation is motivated by greed to an extreme. If you cannot stomach it do not work there.
Your Funeral Guy
Mr. Burkhardt,
Thank you for your response, but I already declined the position. I just can’t in good conscience represent a company involved in such repugnant acts. The man who hired me, incidentally, seems a very good man with a strong sense of ethics, but he also has a certain cognitive dissonance that allows him to work for SCI. He’s been in the industry at all levels for almost 20 years, so he’s seen it all. He truly believes the good done by SCI outweighs the bad, which is played up by the media and is the fault of a few bad apples at the various funeral homes. He seems genuine, and I believe this defense of SCI is necessary for him to stay in the industry. I just know, though, that I can’t fool myself to the same degree…
Thanks again,
Laura
No offense but the last thing I want is my very own “funeral guy.” I’d hope to never have any dealings with you…ever.
Hello, I recently created a website that offers professionally designed free funeral program templates. This seems like something that would be of interest to your readers. I would really appreciate it if you checked me out at http://funeralprogram-templates.com You can contact me at funeralprogramtemp gmail com
Thank you very much for your time,
The templates look really useful in helping folks come in under the average cost of a funeral. Thanks for posting this for our readers
Hi,
I have been reading your blogs… and I am not surprised to read about SCI and greed. I worked for them in Houston, Texas Forest Park Lawndale all of 2 months. What a joke. I was hired as a Funeral Director when I should have been hired as a Funeral Director/Sales person. The person that was my training manager was basically drilling the new employees to sale as much as we could to the grieving families. The trainer actual said that my 90 days of training included learning how to act and remembering scripts and door to door sales. I TRULY HATED WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY.
We will miss you 😦 Sending prayers your way…
I also worked for SCI, a complete nightmare. We had a safe filled with jewlery that never got placed with the loved one. The management just laughed at it…