NFDA Congratulates 2016 Best of the Best Award Recipients
Three funeral homes honored for innovative service to families and communities
The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is pleased to announce that the following funeral homes have earned the 2016 Best of the Best Award for innovation in the profession: Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Traverse City, Mich.; Seaver-Brown Funeral Service in Marion, Va.; and Tetrick Funeral Home in Elizabethton, Tenn.
Reynolds-Jonkhoff was recognized with the Best of the Best Award for its original Hannah Bear coloring book, which helps young children understand death, grief and funerals.
Seaver-Brown earned the award for quickly mobilizing its staff and resources to keep the funeral home’s doors open during a severe winter storm. The funeral home served as a place where first responders and the men and women working to plow the streets and keep the power on could rest, warm up and enjoy refreshments.
Tetrick Funeral Home was recognized for its Hospice Caregiver Award program, which shines a spotlight on the men and women who provide outstanding care to dying patients and their families.
These firms are among the more than 160 funeral homes that earned a 2016 Pursuit of Excellence Award. This award is presented by NFDA annually to firms that have demonstrated a 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.
All Pursuit of Excellence applicants submitted an essay describing the development and execution of an innovative program or service that had a positive impact on the families they serve or their community.
After carefully reviewing the essays, the Pursuit of Excellence Committee selected nine finalists for the Best of the Best Award. All NFDA members had the opportunity to read finalists’ essays and vote for the idea they thought was most worthy of recognition. The three firms that earned the most votes were named Best of the Best Award winners.
The other finalists for the Best of the Best Award were:
- Geisen Funeral, Cremation & Reception Centre, Crown Point, Ind.
- Morgan & Nay Funeral Centre, Madison, Ind.
- Morris-Baker Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Johnson City, Tenn.
- Pedersen Funeral & Cremation Service, Morris, Minn.
- Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Homes and Crematory, New Castle, Del.
- Worlein Funeral Home, Austin, Minn.
The essays submitted by the Best of the Best award recipients and the finalists can be found on the NFDA website, www.nfda.org/pursuitofexcellence.
NFDA will honor the 2016 Pursuit of Excellence Award Recipients, including the Best of the Best Award winners, on October 24 during the All-Star Recognition Ceremony, which will take place during the 2016 NFDA International Convention & Expo in Philadelphia.
Information about the NFDA Pursuit of Excellence program can be found by visiting http://www.nfda.org/pursuitofexcellence. Registration and application materials for 2017 will be available in late-October 2016.
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 19,700 individual members who represent more than 10,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.
