NFDA-member funeral homes earn Pursuit of Excellence Award for outstanding service to families, communities

Brookfield, Wis. – Today, the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) announced the 2010 award recipients of its Pursuit of Excellence^® program. Out of 181 registrants, 166 firms have been recognized with the Pursuit of Excellence Award for their commitment to raising the bar on funeral service excellence by adhering to strict ethical and professional standards and providing outstanding service to families and communities. Award recipients will be honored on October 11 at the All-Star Recognition Ceremony and Reception during the 2010 NFDA International Convention & Expo, October 10-13, in New Orleans, La.

Interest in NFDA's premier recognition program continues to grow. This year, an increased number of program participants earned the Pursuit of Excellence Award for the first time – 21 first-time participant firms earned recognition, an increase of 23% over 2009. Additionally, the number of international program participants (NFDA-member funeral homes outside the U.S.) increased from one in 2009 to three in 2010. NFDA also noted that more firms applied online to the program in 2010. Nearly 50 participants took advantage of the improved online application process, which brings greater convenience to program participants.

To achieve the Pursuit of Excellence Award, participants must evaluate components of their business against standards set forth by the Pursuit of Excellence program and demonstrate proficiency in key areas of the funeral service profession. Participants are required to fulfill criteria in six categories of achievement that demonstrates their commitment to: complying with state and federal regulations; providing ongoing education and professional development opportunities for staff; offering outstanding programs and resources to bereaved families; maintaining an active level of involvement within the community; participating and actively serving in the funeral service profession; and promoting funeral home services through a variety of marketing, advertising and public relations programs. The complete list of 2010 Pursuit of Excellence Award recipients can be found at the end of this news release.

Eight Pursuit of Excellence Award Recipients Recognized with "Best of the Best"
In addition to receiving the 2010 Pursuit of Excellence Award, eight funeral homes received "Best of the Best," an award that recognizes funeral homes for their development and execution of an innovative program or service that had a positive impact on those served. No more than 10 Pursuit of Excellence Award recipients are chosen each year for having the most innovative programs and services. The 2010 Best of the Best honorees are:

• Cannon-Cleveland Funeral Directors, McDonough, Ga.
• Funeraria San Vicente S.A., Medellín, Colombia
• Heritage Funeral Home, Spokane, Wash.
• Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home, Litchfield, Minn.
• Joseph Vertin & Sons Funeral Home, Breckenridge, Minn.
• Littleton & Rue Funeral Home & Crematory, Springfield, Ohio
• Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary, Cemetery & Arboretum, Denver, Colo.
• Shuler Funeral Home, Hendersonville, N.C.

The Best of the Best award-winning ideas, along with many other innovative programs, services and activities from Pursuit of Excellence Award recipient firms, can be found by visiting www.nfda.org/pursuitofexcellence.

Record Number of Firms Inducted into NFDA Hall of Excellence
Created to recognize long-standing participation in the Pursuit of Excellence program and a consistent display of service excellence, NFDA-member funeral homes are inducted into the Hall of Excellence upon receiving their 10th Pursuit of Excellence Award. This year, a record 17 Pursuit of Excellence Award recipients were inducted into the NFDA Hall of Excellence, making this the largest class of inductees since the inception of the recognition in 2006, when all past program participants that had earned 10 or more Pursuit of Excellence Awards were inducted. The 2010 Hall of Excellence inductees are:

• Bring Funeral Home Inc., Tucson, Ariz.
• David C. Brown Funeral Home, Belleville, Mich.
• DeMoney-Grimes Countryside Park Funeral Home, Columbia City, Ind.
• D'Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel, East Hartford, Conn.
• D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, Wethersfield, Conn.
• French Funeral Home, Brazil, Ind.
• French Mortuary, Albuquerque, N.M.
• Gunderson Funeral Home, Madison, Wis.
• Humphrey Funeral Service Inc., Russellville, Ark.
• Hunt-Stellato Funeral Home, Fort Lee, N.J.
• Ippolito-Stellato Funeral Home, Fairfield, N.J.
• Linnemann Family Funeral Homes and Cremation Center, Erlanger, Ky.
• Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors, Clawson, Mich.
• Memorial Funeral Home, San Juan, Texas
• Newington Memorial Funeral Home, Newington, Conn.
• Staab Polk Memorial Home – Cremation Services of Central Illinois, Chatham, Ill.
• Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes & Crematory, Dover, Ohio

NFDA is the world's leading funeral service association, serving 18,500 individual members who represent more than 9,900 funeral homes in the United States and internationally. From its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis., and its Advocacy Division office in Washington, D.C., NFDA informs, educates and advocates to help members enhance the quality of service they provide to families. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

2010 Pursuit of Excellence Award Recipients

• Adair Funeral Home, Tucson, Ariz.
• Affiliated Family Funeral Homes LLC/Kohls Community Funeral Home, Waupun, Wis.
• A.H. Peters Funeral Home of Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.
• A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Directors, Troy, Mich.
• Anderson & Sons Mortuary Inc., American Fork, Utah
• Arnett & Steele Funeral Home Inc., Pineville, Ky.
• Aspen Mortuaries, Lakewood, Colo.
• A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, Decatur, Ga.
• Bailey Funeral Home, Plainville, Conn.
• Baird Funeral Home, Troy, Ohio
• Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services, White Plains, N.Y.
• Bartley Funeral Home, Minerva, Ohio
• Bartolomeo & Perotto Funeral Home Inc., Rochester, N.Y.
• Bayliff & Son Funeral Home, Cridersville, Ohio
• Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals, Tifton, Ga.
• The Branch Funeral Home, Smithtown, N.Y.
• Bring Funeral Home Inc., Tucson, Ariz.
• Brucker & Kishler Funeral Home, Newark, Ohio
• Burritt Hill Funeral Home, New Britain, Conn.
• Caldwell & Cowan Funeral Home, Covington, Ga.
• Callaway-Jones Funeral Home and Crematory, Bryan, Texas
• Cannon-Cleveland Funeral Directors, McDonough, Ga.
• Carlson Funeral Service Inc., Rhinelander, Wis.
• Carmon Funeral Homes, Windsor, Conn.
• Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral & Cremation Service, Alliance, Ohio
• Cobb Funeral Home, Blytheville, Ark.
• Coston Funeral Homes Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Cottonwood Memorial Mortuary, Holladay, Utah
• Cozean Memorial Chapel, Farmington, Mo.
• Cozine Memorial Group, Wichita, Kan.
• Crist Mortuary & Mountain View Cemetery, Boulder, Colo.
• Cunningham-Becker, Poland, Ohio
• David C. Brown Funeral Home, Belleville, Mich.
• Davis Funeral Home, Nashua, N.H.
• Deiters Funeral Home & Crematory, Washington, Ill.
• DeMoney-Grimes Countryside Park Funeral Home, Columbia City, Ind.
• Deseret Memorial Mortuary, Salt Lake City, Utah
• D'Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel, East Hartford, Conn.
• D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, Wethersfield, Conn.
• Dobratz-Hantge Chapel, Hutchinson, Minn.
• Dodd & Reed Funeral Home Inc., Webster Springs, W.Va.
• Ducro Services Inc./Zaback-Ducro Funeral Home & Cremation Service/Greenlawn Memory Gardens, Ashtabula, Ohio
• Dwayne R. Spence Funeral Home, Pickerington, Ohio
• E. Blake Collins Funeral Home, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
• Eggers Funeral Home & Crematory, Chesnee, S.C.
• Enea Family Funeral Homes of the Mohawk Valley, Herkimer, N.Y.
• Erlewein Mortuary, Greenfield, Ind.
• Evergreen Mortuary, Cemetery and Crematory, Tucson, Ariz.
• Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home PA, Easton, Md.
• French Funeral Home, Brazil, Ind.
• French Mortuary, Albuquerque, N.M.
• Funeraria San Vicente S.A., Medellín, Colombia
• Gamble Funeral Service, Savannah, Ga.
• Gardinier Funeral Home Inc., Franklin, Pa.
• Garnand Funeral Home Inc., Garden City, Kan.
• Geisen Funeral, Cremation & Reception Centre, Crown Point, Ind.
• Glende-Nilson Funeral Home, Fergus Falls, Minn.
• Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Lansing, Mich.
• Grace Funeral & Cremation Services, Rockford, Ill.
• Gunderson Funeral Home, Madison, Wis.
• Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home, Fargo, N.D.
• Hauser-Hantge Chapel, Fairfax, Minn.
• Henderson Funeral Home Ltd., Pekin, Ill.
• Heritage Funeral Home, Nipawin, SK, Canada
• Heritage Funeral Home, Spokane, Wash.
• Higgins-Reardon Funeral Home, Youngstown, Ohio
• Hightower's Memorial Chapel, Douglasville, Ga.
• Holman-Howe Funeral Home, Lebanon, Mo.
• Hooper-Huddleston & Horner Funeral Homes and Cremation Services, Cookeville, Tenn.
• Humphrey Funeral Service Inc., Russellville, Ark.
• Hunt-Stellato Funeral Home, Fort Lee, N.J.
• Ippolito-Stellato Funeral Home, Fairfield, N.J.
• The Island Funeral Home and Crematory, Hilton Head Island, S.C.
• Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home, Litchfield, Minn.
• Jones and Son Funeral Home, Richton, Miss.
• Jones-Wynn Funeral Home, Douglas Chapel, Douglasville, Ga.
• Jones-Wynn Funeral Home, Villa Rica Chapel, Villa Rica, Ga.
• Joseph Vertin & Sons Funeral Home, Breckenridge, Minn.
• Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home and Cremation with Confidence by Kapinos-Mazur, Ludlow, Mass.
• Kerrville Funeral Home Inc., Kerrville, Texas
• Kilpatrick Funeral Homes, West Monroe, La.
• Kok Funeral Home, Cottage Grove, Minn.
• Lachapelle Funeral Home, Pawtucket, R.I.
• Lake Hills Memorial Mortuary & Cemetery, Sandy, Utah
• Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries, New Orleans, La.
• Lancaster Morgan Funeral Home, Caribou, Maine
• Lentz Funeral Home, Algona, Iowa
• Linnemann Family Funeral Homes and Cremation Center, Erlanger, Ky.
• Lippert-Olson Funeral Home, Sheboygan, Wis.
• Littleton & Rue Funeral Home & Crematory, Springfield, Ohio
• Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors, Clawson, Mich.
• Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors of Milford and Brighton, Mich.
• Martin Funeral Home, Fairgrove, Mich.
• Martin Funeral Home, Vassar, Mich.
• Mattson Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Forest Lake, Minn.
• Memorial Funeral Home, Edinburg, Texas
• Memorial Funeral Home, San Juan, Texas
• Memorial Mortuary Mountain View, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Miles T. Martin Funeral Home, Mount Morris, Mich.
• Milward Funeral and Cremation Service, Lexington, Ky.
• Moloney Funeral Home, Central Islip, N.Y.
• Moore Funeral Home, Brazil, Ind.
• Morman Funeral Home, Wakeman, Ohio
• Murray Memorial Mortuary, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Myers Mortuary, Brigham City, Utah
• Myers Mortuary, Layton, Utah
• Myers Mortuary, Ogden, Utah
• Myers Mortuary, Roy, Utah
• Newington Memorial Funeral Home, Newington, Conn.
• Ochiltree Funeral Service & Aftercare, Winterset, Iowa
• Olinger Andrews Caldwell Gibson, Castle Rock, Colo.
• Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary & Cemetery, Littleton, Colo.
• Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary, Cemetery & Arboretum, Denver, Colo.
• Olinger Hampden Mortuary & Cemetery, Denver, Colo.
• Olinger Highland Mortuary & Cemetery, Thornton, Colo.
• Olinger Moore Howard Chapel, Denver, Colo.
• Olinger Woods Chapel, Golden, Colo.
• Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home, East Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Paul-McBride Funeral Chapel, Norwood, Minn.
• Pray Funeral Home Inc., Charlotte, Mich.
• Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes & Crematory, Pekin, Ill.
• Redwood Memorial Mortuary & Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Reeves Funeral Homes Ltd., Coal City, Ill.
• Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home, Traverse City, Mich.
• Robertaccio Funeral Home Inc., Patchogue, N.Y.
• Roland Funeral Home, Atlantic, Iowa
• Roller-Ballard Funeral Home, Benton, Ark.
• Roller-Chenal Funeral Home, Little Rock, Ark.
• Roller-Crouch Funeral Home, Batesville, Ark.
• Roller-Daniel Funeral Home, Searcy, Ark.
• Roller Funeral Home, Mountain Home, Ark.
• Roller-McNutt Funeral Home, Conway, Ark.
• Roller-Owens Funeral Home, North Little Rock, Ark.
• Rose Mortuary Inc., Knoxville, Tenn.
• Routsong Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Kettering, Ohio
• Sanderson Funeral Home, Carthage, Tenn.
• Savage Funeral Service, Binghamton, N.Y.
• Sharer-Stirling-Skivolocke, Alliance, Ohio
• Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home, Fairfield, Conn.
• Shuler Funeral Home, Hendersonville, N.C.
• S.K. Schultz Funeral Home, Clinton Township, Mich.
• S.K. Schultz Funeral Home, Eastpointe, Mich.
• Smith Family Mortuary, Derby, Kan.
• Southern Utah Mortuary, Cedar City, Utah
• Spencer Family Funeral Home, Athens, Mich.
• Staab Polk Memorial Home – Cremation Services of Central Illinois, Chatham, Ill.
• Strode Funeral Home, Stillwater, Okla.
• Tetrick Funeral Home, Elizabethton, Tenn.
• Thomas McAfee Funeral Home – Downtown Chapel, Greenville, S.C.
• Thomas McAfee Funeral Home – Northwest Chapel, Greenville, S.C.
• Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes & Crematory, Dover, Ohio
• Tom M. Wages Funeral Service LLC, Lawrenceville, Ga.
• Tom M. Wages Funeral Service LLC, Snellville, Ga.
• Tubman Funeral Homes, Ottawa, ON, Canada
• Twiford Funeral Homes LLC, Memorial Chapel, Elizabeth City, N.C.
• Waid Funeral Home, Merrill, Wis.
• Waller Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Oxford, Miss.
• Wappner Funeral Directors, Mansfield, Ohio
• Weeks' Dryer Mortuary, Tacoma, Wash.
• Weeks' Funeral Home, Buckley, Wash.
• Weeks' Funeral Homes, Enumclaw, Wash.
• West Funeral Homes, West Fargo, N.D.
• Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home, Royal Oak, Mich.
• Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home, Utica, Mich.
• Wonderly-Horvath-Hanes Funeral Home & Crematory, Fremont, Ohio
• Worlein Funeral Home, Austin, Minn.

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For Immediate Release: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536; Emilee High, 262-814-1547