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NOVEMBER 2014
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
®
Child Caskets & Vaults
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NEWS
Educational
CONTINUED
Ritchie Speaks at FNA
Bi-Annual Conference
Brammer Joins Foundation Board; Sales Conference
Scholarship Available
STERLING,VA—
Jay Bram-
mer,
president of
Gibral-
tar Remembrance Servic-
es
in Indianapolis, IN was
elected to serve as a trustee
on
ICCFA’s Educational
Foundation Board
during
the 2014 Fall Management
Conference, September 17-
19 in Amelia Island, FL.
Brammer joins ICCFA
Educational
Founda-
tion president,
Jim Price,
CCFE, CCrE, CEO,
Mid-
west Memorial Group,
and fellow trustees
Jay
Dodds,
CFSP, owner,
The
Signature Group;
Rob-
ert A. Gordon, Sr.,
CCFE,
owner/managing
direc-
tor,
Eternal Hills Memo-
rial;
Rich Darby,
COO,
Trigard,
Danville, IL;
Ken
Varner,
CCFE, president
and CEO,
Cypress Lawn,
Colma CA; and
KimRyan,
president,
Batesville Cas-
ket Company, Inc.,
Bates-
ville, IN in their efforts to
encourage educational and
professional development
within the industry.
The International Cem-
etery, Cremation and Fu-
neral Association provides
a variety of scholarships to
attend ICCFA educational
programs through the IC-
CFA Educational Founda-
tion, a tax-exempt 501(c)
(3) charity that was created
in 2002 to advance excep-
tional educational oppor-
tunities within the progres-
sive cemetery, funeral and
cremation industry.
The application process
has opened for the IC-
CFA Education Founda-
tion and the ICCFA Next
Generation
Committee
scholarships to attend the
2015 Wide World of Sales
Conference in Las Vegas,
NV, January 14-16, 2015.
Three or more scholarships
will be awarded to sales
professionals in order to
offset the cost of registra-
tion, hotel, travel and oth-
er expenses. Both scholar-
ship application deadlines
are November 14, 2014.
Founded in 1887, the
International Cemetery,
Cremation and Funeral
Association is the only in-
ternational trade associa-
tion representing all seg-
ments of the cemetery,
cremation, funeral and
memorialization profes-
sion. Its membership is
composed of more than
8,900 rooftop locations
and 15,000 profession-
als in the cemetery, funer-
al home and crematory
industries, as well as sup-
plier and related businesses
worldwide.
Shane A.S. Ritchie
SPRINGFIELD,MO—
Shane A.S. Ritchie,
CFSP, em-
balmer and certified post-mortem reconstructive spe-
cialist at
Beard Mortuary,
Huntington, WV was a
featured speaker at the 2014 Bi-Annual Internation-
al Conference on Embalming and Post Mortem Re-
constructive Surgery. The conference attracts the
top minds in the funeral profession from all over the
world for four days of intense education and fellow-
ship with the goal of promoting technical knowledge
in advanced embalm-
ing and restoration tech-
niques to allow the resto-
ration of those who have
suffered traumatic inju-
ries that were formerly
considered un-repairable,
thus allowing families the
important opportunity to
view their loved one and
say goodbye.
The ultimate goal of
the conference was pro-
moting education for the
public on the importance
of the open casket view-
ing in relation to healing
the grief of those who have lost a loved one. Ritchie’s
speech was entitled: A Father’s Reflections on the Val-
ue of Viewing, which was inspired by the 2007 death
of his twenty four year old daughter, Felicity, from
acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and the
tremendous healing benefit he and his family experi-
enced as a result of an open casket viewing which gave
them the ability to say goodbye. Ritchie is available to
speak to civic, church, and private groups by calling
304-522-8253.