Page A26 December 2022 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A www.vischerfuneralsupplies.com munity and professional resources. “I have been blessed during my time in the funeral profession to work alongside many leaders who have set a great example of giving back to the funeral profession by lending their time and experience,” saidWill Bischoff, Sr. Vice President, Strategic Markets for Homesteaders Life Company inWest Des Moines, Iowa. “It is by their example I look forward to serving alongside my fellow trustees, who I admire and respect, to continue promoting and supporting the great work of the Funeral Service Foundation.” “I joined Service Corporation International (SCI) more than 12 years ago and quickly developed a deep respect and appreciation for the funeral service profession and its important role in serving grieving families,” said John Faulk, Senior Vice President, Revenue and Business Development for SCI in Houston, TX. “I am honored to further serve the profession as a Funeral Service Foundation TrustContinued on page A27 Funeral Service Foundation Welcomes New Trustees and Elects its 2022-23 Executive Committee Will Bischoff John Faulk David Lee Hernández, Jr Beth Kmiec Todd Lumbard Todd Van Beck Lisa Baue 2022-23 Executive Committee Emeritus Trustees Kim Medici Shelquist and Joan Billman 2022-23 Board of Trustees (L to R) Top Row: Tim Schramm, W. Ashley Cozine, Bob Arrington, and Todd Lumbard. Second Row: Jenn Parvin, David Hernández, Jr., Todd Van Beck, and Will Bischoff. Third Row: John Heald, NFDA Liaison Chris Robinson, Treasurer David Falconer, 2022-23 Chair Lisa Baue, Jeff Smith, and John Faulk. Bottom Row: NFDA CEO Christine Pepper, Immediate Past Chair Allan Cole, and Chair-elect Mark Krause; Missing: Beth Kmiec, Matt Outcalt, and Thomas Pontone. BROOKFIELD,WI— The Funeral Service Foundation’s Board of Trustees welcomed six new trustees and elected its 2022-23 executive committee at its meeting held during the NFDA International Convention & Expo in Baltimore, MD. New Trustees Voted onto the board in July, Will Bischoff, David Lee Hernández, Jr., Beth Kmiec, Todd Lumbard and Todd Van Beck began three-year terms on October 8. Joining the board in July, John Faulk will complete the last 18 months of a threeyear term begun by Eric Tanzberger, who resigned from the Board after nearly five years of dedicated service. Funeral directors and allied professionals serve together on the 19-member volunteer board and offer their expertise and insight to advance to Foundation’s mission of investing in people and programs to strengthen funeral service and lift up grieving communities. Funeral service professionals and organizations throughout the United States and Canada benefit from the Foundation’s scholarship and grant programs, and free comee, and champion SCI’s strong relationship with the Foundation.” “I truly feel blessed to have found my calling in funeral service. My entire career has been dedicated to serving families and now I get to turn that attention to the profession in many meaningful ways through the Funeral Service Foundation,” says David Lee Hernández, Jr., Founder and CEO of Jersey Memorial Group in Old Bridge, NJ. I am honored to be on such a distinguished team of professionals and look forward to the work ahead to help our profession.” “I am honored to serve as a trustee on the Funeral Service Foundation board. I have always enjoyed using my education and experience to help people, and joining this Board is a fantastic way to lend my support to the industry that I’ve come to love,” says Beth Kmiec, Executive Vice President, Trust Administration at ClearPoint Federal Bank &Trust in Batesville, IN. “Over the last decade of working in funeral service, I’ve grown to appreciate the sense of community, and can’t wait to take an even more active role in helping those in this industry come together across generations to lift up grieving communities.” “The work the Foundation does— investing in people and programs to strengthen funeral service—is very close to my heart as a funeral director,” says Todd Lumbard of Speers Funeral Chapel/Anthem Partners in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. “The Foundation has a very positive impact on the funeral profession by encouraging people to enter our field through awareness and financial aid, and by supporting funeral professionals and the communities we serve with resources and programs. I look forward to working as a trustee, and together with the staff team, to continue the great work of the Foundation!” “Decades ago, I attended the former School of Management which was operated by the National Foundation of Funeral Service (NFFS). The educational experience was held in a grand building located in Evanston, IL. That experience changed my professional life and made me a believer in the worthy ideals of the good works of the NFFS, now known as the Funeral Service Foundation, and I am still a believer today,” says Todd Van Beck, Educator at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, in Cincinnati, OH and funeral service consultant and historian. “Our beloved profession is much better for the presence and work of the Foundation. When the opportunity arose for my involvement with the Foundation as a board member, I the wall coverings and the furniture. The repast area is right off the chapel and seats sixty people. The chapel holds 160 people. The floors throughout are not carpeted, but rather covered in an epoxy that looks like marble. “There are glitter swirls. It’s not overbearing, but has a nice calming effect. The building is composed of cinder block treatment, which is something different,” says Gary. “We’ve had very good comments on how everyone likes it.” “The other funeral home was calming. You could sit and relax there,” Gary adds. “That feeling, we were able to bring from the old facility into the new one.” The old building was a historic building that had additions built onto it approximately four times, according to Gary. “We built on it, too,” he says. “It used to be a Moose Lodge. There was a liquor store downstairs and upstairs was a church. Then we bought it.” The housing authority purchased the building from the Rollins family. They bought surrounding property as well and are going to put 153 units of affordable housing on the land and use the old funeral home as a daycare, fitness center, and office. The Rollins Life Celebration Center is just as helpful to the community with its nonprofit Whole Heart Grief & Life Resource Center. According to Denise, who is its Executive Director, “We work with people who are grieving both death and life. Gary didn’t want to leave people at the cemetery. We simply expanded that to help people through all types of loss.” The resource center, which operates out of the same building as the funeral home, offers one-on-one coaching, smallgroup facilitation, a monthly grief support group, and more. Denise holds a doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy and a master’s in the study of grief and death. The neighborhood has older homes, and building the funeral home and life celebration center there helped the community, says Gary. He describes the neighborhood as having “Dick Van Dyke houses,” and since the Rollins Life Center was built, he’s noticed that other people have been wanting to fix up their property. “It provides a whole new look to the area,” he says. “We wanted something completely different. When it was being built, people didn’t know us and thought it was a church. They were surprised to find out it was a funeral home. We were quick to tell them it’s a life celebration center. We celebrate lives here,” Gary says. “We have lively services…it’s not quiet. People are engaged in the service. It’s not an old, bland funeral. Because that’s what we do. We celebrate life.” For more information, visit their website at www.rollinslifecelebrationcenter.com. Rollins Center Continued from Page A25
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