Prion diseases and how to handle people’s deceased loved ones who have them is a difficult and misunderstood topic in funeral service and in medicine in general. Aaron Koethe and Danielle Jordan are both part of the team at the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (The Prion Center), who work with patients afflicted with prion diseases and their families as well as funeral homes nationwide to better understand the nature of their diagnosis.  Please be sure to rate and review this show!

Email Ben at [email protected]

Follow Ben @thefuneralcast

Visit the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center  Free Expo passes here! We are booth 1231!  

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and in an effort to raise awareness in how it affects both funeral service professionals and the families they serve, Ben speaks to Sara Murphy, a respected thanatologist and suicidologist about the topic.  

Find Sara Murphy and read her articles at deathdoc.com  

Email Ben at [email protected]   

Please be sure to rate and review the show! Mental health is such an important topic in funeral service, and everyone seems to be talking about it. Jade Dacus, one of this year’s Texas Emerging Leaders University Speakers, is both a licensed funeral director and licensed professional counselor joins the show to offer some guidance that will help us all.  Email Jade [email protected] Email me with your comments! [email protected]  Free Expo passes here! We are booth 1231!  Follow Ben @thefuneralcast  

Shop our selection of embalming fluids and prep room equipment  

It’s time again for Texas Emerging Leaders University! One of this year’s speakers is Dylan Stopher, who’s presentation “What Does It Mean To You?” is an examination of the motivation and drive within each funeral service professional.  

Be sure to rate and review The Funeralcast!

Follow Dylan on LinkedIn

Email me with questions! [email protected]

Follow Ben @thefuneralcast

Free Expo Passes! Booth 1231!

In The Funeralcast Episode 69. Online Mortuary School with Rebecca Gardner, three students reflect on their experience with mortuary school online and share information they wish they knew. This is their standalone segement.

Alkaline Hydrolysis is a dispostion you may have heard of but are not familiar with. Ryan Cattoni at the age of 23 years old brought alkaline hydrolysis as a legal form of disposition to Illinois. A visionary at a young age, he has led funeral service in this type of disposition through funeral industry presentations and local media appearances.  

Be sure to rate and review this show wherever you get your podcasts!  

Visit AquaGreen Dispositions website 

Follow @aqua_green dispositions on Instagram  

Email me with your comments! [email protected]  Follow Ben @thefuneralcast  Free Expo passes here! We are booth 1231!  

Over the summer, Ben made the speaker circuit and along the way he asked funeral directors in Indiana, Texas, and West Virginia what one positive change they have seen in funeral service since they started. You might be surprised at what they said!  Please rate and review this show!

Free NFDA Expo Passes, just use our company and booth 1231!

Email me with your comments! [email protected]  Find upcoming continuing education and take the test for Funeralcast Episode 58. Jewish Ceremonies for CFSP credit!  Follow Ben @thefuneralcast  

There’s a debate about online mortuary schools and their ability to produce capable funeral directors. Ben speaks with Rebecca Gardner, the program director at Northeast Texas Community College, a fully online mortuary school and three recent graduates from the program. Learn how Ms. Gardner designed the program in order to allay the concerns of the greater funeral directing public and how it benefited the graduates.  Please rate and review the show!

Free Expo passes here! We are booth 1231!  Email me with your comments! [email protected]  Check out Northeast Texas Community College's Program

Follow Ben @thefuneralcast  

In 2023, 74% mortuary school graduates were women, and that number holds steady today.  Dr. Lucia Dickinson did her dissertation on the experiences of ten women who are mortuary school graduates in order to learn more about their experiences as they integrated into funeral service.  Be sure to rate and review this show wherever you get your podcasts!  Email Lucia [email protected]

Find Lucia on LinkedIn

Email me with your comments! [email protected]  Follow Ben @thefuneralcast  Find upcoming continuing education and take the test for Funeralcast Episode 58. Jewish Ceremonies for CFSP credit!  Shop our selection of embalming fluids and prep room equipment  

Lanae Strovers is a funeral director and the trainer for the National Funeral Director’s Association. One of her most important professional missions is to locate families for people who have been cremated and remain unclaimed, which is a common funeral home problem. In this episode she offers her advice on how funeral homes can place their unclaimed cremated remains. She has been so recognized for her efforts in this capacity that they even made a movie about her, which you can check out here.  

Be sure to rate and review this show wherever you get your podcasts!  Email me with your comments! [email protected]  

Donate to The Final Salute! Email Lanae [email protected]

Follow Ben @thefuneralcast  

Follow Frigid Fluid @frigidfluid  

Find upcoming continuing education and take the test for Funeralcast Episode 58. Jewish Ceremonies for CFSP credit!Shop our selection of embalming fluids and prep room equipment