The Funeral Service Foundation is proud to announce J. Mark Busch as the 2026 recipient of its prestigious Distinguished Service Award, honoring his decades of leadership, generosity, and dedication to advancing the Foundation’s mission and strengthening the funeral service profession.
Mark Busch’s connection to the profession runs deep. He spent his career at Busch Funeral and Crematory Services in Cleveland, Ohio, his family’s business, before retiring in 2020 at age 60. He is a 1982 graduate of Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, where he received the Alumni of Distinction Award for Career Excellence in 2008 and remains a member of the Heidelberg Heritage Society. To this day, colleagues across the profession continue to seek his insight and support.
Busch’s leadership with the Foundation spans nearly three decades, including two terms on the Board of Trustees from 1999 to 2002 and from 2017 to 2021. Throughout his tenure, he has been known for his work in fundraising for the Foundation, where his instincts for connecting donors to the mission helped shape how the organization raises support.
Busch has a way of summing up his approach to fundraising in one line: “Why did you give? Because I was asked.” It is a phrase that has resonated with the Foundation’s Fund Development Committee, of which Busch has been a member since its inception. It is a simple line, but it captures how naturally he made giving feel like an obvious choice. Busch also continues to serve on the Scholarship Review Committee.
This year, in lieu of a scholarship, Busch asked that funds raised in his honor go toward supporting mental health and substance abuse recovery within the funeral service profession, a cause that reflects his own journey. His request has become the foundation for Make Your Mark, a new initiative that will direct resources and support toward this cause across the profession.
“Mark taught me that the ask is really an invitation, a chance to bring someone into something meaningful. I’ve carried that lesson into every conversation I’ve had with a donor since, and it feels right to see it come full circle with a cause this close to his heart,” said John Heald, immediate past chair of the Funeral Service Foundation and former Fund Development Committee Chair.
Busch attends Journey Church in Avon, Ohio, and Keys Vineyard Church in Big Pine Key, Florida. His spiritual journey, along with everything he has accomplished and achieved in life, is by God’s grace.
Busch remains deeply active in volunteer service today. He mentors men through sobriety, supports fundraising for sober living communities, and volunteers with the Jesuit Retreat Center’s Pilgrims of Hope restoration project in Parma, Ohio. His volunteer work also extends to the Cleveland Metroparks Parker Sailing and Rowing Center on Lake Erie, The Edna House for Women in Cleveland, and, through the Ocean Reef Community Foundation, the Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Guatemala.
An accomplished racing sailor since age 4, Busch continues to have a passion for competition on the water. More recently, he has competed in saltwater fishing tournaments, winning multiple top male angler awards and heaviest fish honors. He continues to combine his love of the water and service by volunteering to help the Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament raise funds for Mission Fishin’ and the Marathon Special Olympics.
The Distinguished Service Award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the success and growth of the Funeral Service Foundation through acts of service or volunteer leadership. Busch joins a distinguished list of recent honorees, including Bob Horn in 2021, John Carmon in 2022, Todd Van Beck in 2023, Tom Johnson in 2024, and Bob Arrington in 2025.
The award will be presented on Monday, October 26 during the Funeral Service Foundation Donor Reception at the NFDA International Convention & Expo, taking place October 25 to 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In recognition of his contributions and his personal commitment to this cause, the Foundation is raising funds through the Make Your Mark campaign to support mental health and substance abuse recovery resources for funeral service professionals. Gifts and pledges may be made at App.BetterUnite.com/Make-Your-Mark.
About the Funeral Service Foundation
Since 1945, the Funeral Service Foundation (FuneralServiceFoundation.org) has served as the philanthropic voice of the funeral profession and has identified as the charitable arm of the National Funeral Directors Association since 1997. Donors and volunteer leaders profession-wide support the Foundation in its mission of lifting up grieving communities by investing in people and programs that strengthen funeral service.
