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JANUARY 2015
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on B
Wilbert Funeral Services Dedicates
Miller Family Park
Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc., President Dennis Welzenbach (L) speaks at the Miller Family Park
dedication which was attended by friends and family of the Millers, Wilbert licensees and the en-
tire Broadview, Illinois office staff. Marlene and Rich Miller (R).
The monument at Miller Family Park outside
the Wilbert Funeral Services Broadview facility
BROADVIEW,IL—
Wilbert Funeral Ser-
vices, Inc.,
(WFSI) dedicated a park on its
grounds to members of a family that has
combined more than 100 years of service to
the company and the funeral industry.
Mill-
er Family Park
was dedicated to the Miller
family –
Marlene, Rich
and the late
Glenn.
Glenn Miller began his career at Wilbert
in 1974 and continued at the company un-
til his death in 2013. He performed vari-
ous positions within manufacturing, from
group leader of the weld shop to assistant
foreman, foreman and finally plant man-
ager. Marlene Miller, who is now WFSI’s
Inside Sales Manager, began her Wilbert
career in 1972 as a biller and order entry
specialist. The two were married for 18
years, and Glenn’s son, Rich, worked in the
weld shop for 20 years before taking over as
Metal Liner Department Leadman.
WFSI president
Dennis Welzenbach
pre-
sided over the park dedication, which was
attended by Marlene and Rich, their friends
and relatives, Wilbert licensees and the en-
tire Broadview staff. “As this little piece of
land has been in the middle of all the activ-
ity and commotion that went on here for so
many years, it seems fitting to have it ded-
icated today in the name of the Millers to
honor in a small way those years of care and
service,” said Welzenbach. The park is an
area of green space and a gazebo with pic-
nic tables located between the manufactur-
ing and office buildings. A monument hon-
oring the family’s commitment to Wilbert
will be on permanent display at the park.
“This family has done so much for Wil-
bert Funeral Services and has been a key
part of the Wilbert family for several de-
cades…a very unique situation in any
business,” noted Welzenbach.
The Millers have been a part of almost
every phase of production and service
over the years and that dedication to ser-
vice will now be permanently recognized.
“Glenn, Marlene and Rich Miller have
spent the better part of their lives work-
ing for Wilbert. They have made prod-
ucts, taken care of customers, guided and
befriended associates and watched over
this property day and night, good weath-
er or bad all year round. We hope that all
who work at or may visit Wilbert will ap-
preciate the memory of those who helped
make Wilbert a better company and a bet-
ter place to work,” Welzenbach said.
Batesville Receives Top Rating
in Product Quality, Service and
Innovation
Ace Caskets Become Preferred
Distributor for Millionaire Caskets
LAS VEGAS,NV—
Jim
Malamas,
president and
CEO of
ACE Caskets
has
announced that ACE Cas-
kets has become a preferred
distributor for
Millionaire
Caskets,
a leading manu-
facturer of wood caskets
near Shanghai.
Charlie Yang,
owner of
Millionaire Caskets said,
“We have been working
with ACE Caskets for sev-
eral years and find them to
be honorable people with a
good service record.”
ACE Caskets has been
importing caskets for over
10 years. Malamas has been
in China 27 years and is
well versed in the Chinese
culture and business cus-
toms. Jim said, “I’ve known
Charlie for several years and
we are pleased to strengthen
our partnership with such
an established casket man-
ufacturer. This will contin-
ue to solidify our founda-
tion to support our funeral
homes and offer America’s
best value for caskets™.”
Nantong
Millionaire
Casket Company, also
known as
Nantong Yong-
li Furniture Co., LTD,
is
a leading wood casket and
coffin manufacturer from
China mainland. Million-
aire Caskets offer an ex-
quisitely crafted line of all
kinds of solid wood cas-
kets, veneer caskets, crema-
tion caskets, rental caskets,
orthodox caskets, infant or
oversized caskets, and Eu-
ropean style coffins.
Ace Caskets is an industry
pioneer and successful im-
porter of metal and wood
funeral caskets. ACE sells
caskets worldwide and has
been doing so for 10 years.
ACE has top-notch quality
control to ensure that the
ACE funeral home cus-
tomers are completely sat-
isfied. In addition all ACE
caskets come with the ACE
BATESVILLE,IN—
Bates-
ville,
the leading provider
of comprehensive solutions
to the death care industry,
has received the industry’s
top scores in product qual-
ity, service and innovation
in the annual Casket Sur-
vey conducted by
Funer-
al Service Insider
(FSI), a
Kates-Boylston
Publica-
tion.
Funeral professionals
gave Batesville the highest
scores in each category, re-
inforcing the company’s
position as a value-added
partner to funeral homes.
This is the second con-
secutive year Batesville has
led in quality, and another
sequential improvement in
service. “We hold ourselves
to high standards – from
the first step in manufac-
turing through delivery to
a customer – so it’s good to
see that our commitment
and the efforts of dedicat-
ed associates throughout
our supply chain are mak-
ing a difference,” said
Troy
Turner,
chief marketing
officer for Batesville.
Batesville also dominat-
ed all other casket compa-
nies in product innovation,
with 83.1 percent of re-
spondents naming it as the
leader, an increase of near-
ly 30 percent over the pri-
or year. The company has
a legacy of innovation and
continues to invest in new
ideas, methods and prod-
ucts based on research with
funeral directors and fami-
lies.
“We’ve been at the top of
the leader board numerous
times over the past sever-
al years, but it’s especially
gratifying to be recognized
by our customers as num-
ber one in each of these im-
portant areas,” said Turner.
This survey, which covers
a wide range of issues facing
funeral professionals, drew
responses from 359 peo-
ple – the highest number
of participants in its his-
tory. Professionals shared
their insights on cremation
rates, pricing strategies, se-
lection rooms, personaliza-
tion offerings, and chimed
in on the things that are
most important in a sup-
plier relationship.
Turner notes, that the
things funeral directors val-
ue have not changed much
over time. “They want easy
access to a range of high
quality products, at price
points that meet the needs
of families they serve, with
delivery when promised,”
says Turner. “These are the
same guideposts Batesville
uses to manage our busi-
ness.”
Funeral Service Insider
is a
weekly subscription-based
publication that covers the
latest industry news, mar-
ket trends and business-
building tips and guid-
ance.
Batesville,
a
whol-
ly
owned
subsidiary
of
Hillenbrand, Inc.
(NYSE:HI), is the lead-
er in the North American
death care industry, offer-
ing a comprehensive port-
folio of burial solutions,
cremation options, memo-
rial solutions and technol-
ogy solutions. For more
than 125 years, Bates-
ville has been dedicated to
helping families honor the
lives of those they love®.
Batesville’s innovation has
changed the face of funer-
al service, from advance-
ments in manufacturing
and quality to patented
features and memorializa-
tion offerings, technology
and web-based solutions,
and profit-enhancing mer-
chandising systems. Their
history of manufacturing
excellence, product inno-
vation, superior customer
service, and reliable deliv-
ery has helped Batesville