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FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
Funeral Directors Research,Inc.
“the shorter the supply line the better off you are”
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be it for the climate industry under the “Clean Air
Act” or for the workplace safety industry. Regard-
less of how you feel about “climate change,” this is
no way to tackle the issue.
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Ramona D. Ellis
Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home, Dallas, TX
Ramona D. Ellis
Kimberly Irvin Silas
Ramona D. Ellis
is a Longview, TX native. She grad-
uated from the
Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science
in
1998, where she was inducted into the mortuary fra-
ternity, Pi Sigma Eta. Ramona joined the staff of
Ever-
green Memorial Funeral Home,
working wakes and
services in the evening.
She moved up into vari-
ous positions throughout
her career, such as death
certificate specialist, lead
arranging director, direc-
tor of safety and is cur-
rently serving as director
of operations. Ramona is
a member of the
Nation-
al Funeral Directors and
Morticians
Association,
100 Black Women of Fu-
neral Service, DFW Lady
Undertakers, The Selective
Service Board, Indepen-
dent Funeral Directors of Texas,
where she serves as a
board member, and the
Dallas Local Funeral Directors,
where she serves as vice president. Ramona enjoys ren-
dering superior service to families in the Dallas/Fort
Worth area and surrounding communities. Ramona is
committed to excellence in all areas of her profession-
al, community and personal relations.
Kimberly Irvin Silas
Paradise Funeral Home, Houston, TX
A Floridian native,
Kimberly Irvin Silas
is a first
generation funeral director and embalmer at
Paradise
Funeral Home
where she has served as the general
manager the last sixteen years.
Curious about the funer-
al industry, Kim did volun-
teer work with a local fu-
neral director in Tampa.
Upon relocating to Hous-
ton, she enrolled in the
Commonwealth Institute of
Funeral Service,
graduat-
ing with honors.
Kim has
received many recogni-
tion awards from through-
out her community and
the city for the communi-
ty service that she and her
East County Mortuary
Holds Viking Send-Off
Viking Ship built by the family for services of 22 year old
EL CAJON,CA—
Funeral Service is rapidly changing these
days, but the role of the professional funeral director should
remain unchanged. Even in a day and age where cremation
has become an alternative option for families, the role of each
funeral director should be to serve the needs of their families.
Helping to reinforce the significance of a life lived by bringing
together a collective group helps promote the required heal-
ing through an organized showing of love and support. The
funeral director ultimately bears the responsibility in making
this happen. Funeral directors need to guide families through
their dark time by creating a meaningful and respectful good-
bye built on the foundation of integrity, dignity and respect.
Brian Stout,
licensed funeral director and general manager
of
East County Mortuary & Cremation Service
in El Ca-
jon, CA firmly believes in his role of serving families. Talking
with a father, who had just lost his 22 year-old son after fall-
ing from a freeway overpass bridge, Stout knew this was going
to be a very delicate and sensitive meeting. Stout immediately
thought about preparing the family to view their son allowing
them to say their goodbyes. “After being in this business for
35 years, I’ve come to know that viewing a loved one and say-
ing your goodbyes is the best way to start the grieving process.
I tell families it’s a harsh reality and difficult to do sometimes,
but we need to face reality and know this event did happen
and face it, instead of running away from it.”
Milissa and Gene Lyons, the parents of Zachary Lyons of
Santee, CA, heard these words from Stout as they sat in the
arrangement office at East County Mortuary. The family al-