Southern Calls 43

Journal of the Funeral Profession 

Issue 43 Available Now!

Daylight Savings Time is here but the Big News is the Spring issue of Southern Calls is now shipping! If you have received a complimentary issue in the past or if you have never been a reader, we encourage you to subscribe today so you won’t miss stories like our People, Places and Passions or special features. As always, our Spring Issue of Southern Calls is chocked full of exceptional photography and writing – you’ll read it cover to cover, again, and again! Don’t miss Southern Calls Issue...

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Vernie Fountain, CFSP

Chris Robinson, CFSP, CCO

Denny, Helen & John Northcutt

J. Aaron Ellison

Tom Lord

Lee A. Flora

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People, Places, Passions

Mitchell’s Journey

Mitchell’s Journey

I drove by your building a hundred thousand times and never once noticed it. Why would I? Death is what happens to other people. And when you have young children, mortality is the last thing on your mind. Instead, we're focused on young life and the promise of a...

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Snyder Funeral Homes

Snyder Funeral Homes

More than 100 years ago, Ora O. Snyder worked as a horse keeper for undertaking establishments. Known as Orrie to friends and colleagues, his early exposure to funeral service consisted of accompanying the local undertaker into the family home instead of waiting...

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After Life Mortuary Services

After Life Mortuary Services

The year is 1961. The Soviet Union has just successfully put Yuri Gagarin into space—and brought him home again. The Soviets are winning the space race. President John F. Kennedy immediately begins exploring ideas to re-take the lead, settling on reaching the moon....

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The Pillars Articles

Each issue of Southern Calls has three main stories: People, Places, and Passions.

Rhonda Keyes Pleasants

Rhonda Keyes Pleasants

Before reading any further, pause for a moment and reflect on your career, regardless of your age or your job title. Reminisce about opportunities that were afforded to you, both past and present. Consider equally decisions you made with the excitement of future...

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Bibber Memorial Chapel

Bibber Memorial Chapel

The air smells briny and gulls caw overhead. In the distance, against the backdrop of an iron-colored horizon, a few hearty lobstermen trawl the sea, braving the frigid temperatures. It’s snowing again, but that’s not newsworthy. It’s winter in Maine. Three miles up...

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Jim Kurtz

Jim Kurtz

We probably have never met, but you may have seen me before. I was that little guy watching funerals from the steps of the Catholic school across the street from Galloway & Sons Funeral Home in Beeville, Texas. I especially loved seeing the big cars that led the...

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Funereal Fridays

The Charleston Nine

The Charleston Nine

Southern Mourning | from Southern Calls Issue 16, September 2017 (Opening Image: June 22, 2007 – Charleston 9 Firefighters ServicePresident, Mike McDaniel,1999-00 (head), President Thomas E. Baker II, 2007-08 (foot) Photographer – We are very appreciative to SCFDA...

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Man O’ War’s Funeral

Man O’ War’s Funeral

Southern Mourning | from Southern Calls Issue 9, September 2015 (Opening Image: As visitors look on, legendary thoroughbred Man O’ War lies in state in a casket lined with his racing colors at owner Samuel Riddle’s Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, Nov. 3, 1947....

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The Art of Undertaking

The Art of Undertaking

Here are three powerful images that I believe capture the essence of our beloved Profession - Mike Squires ABOVE: The Recessional | Mac Brown, Photography “Red clay fills the hole left in our hearts. Only flowers remain as guardians of the grave, until they too wither...

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Check back frequently for new Funereal Fridays!

Recent Stories

COVID-19 in Rural Alabama

COVID-19 in Rural Alabama

Everything’s changed. We’re now living in a world we didn’t expect a month ago, a week ago, or even yesterday. It’s a world of constant flux with changing mandates and directives coming from the state and federal level. And yes, it’s a world of fear. Masks and gloves...

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Billy Graham | Funeral & Eulogies

Billy Graham | Funeral & Eulogies

Leading up to the day of the funeral, feelings of anxiety and uncertainty abounded. Although receiving media passes for the visitation had been fairly streamlined and straightforward, obtaining credentials to attend the private funeral service was a highly-...

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Additional Recent Stories articles can be found in our archives.

Events

Learn more about some of the top upcoming events in the funeral profession, or book Mike Squires, Editor/Publisher of Southern Calls, for an upcoming speaking engagement.

From the Past

Presidential Passings | Eisenhower

Presidential Passings | Eisenhower

The Solemn Journey to AbileneA Look Back at the Eisenhower Funeral Train By Bob Boetticher, Sr. Chairman, National Museum of Funeral History The first of an 8-Part Series focused on the History of Presidential Funeral Trains On March 28, 1969, the world learned that...

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Sunnyside Magazine, January 1900

Sunnyside Magazine, January 1900

This is "The Sunnyside," a magazine for the funeral industry, dated January 1st, 1900. It contains fabulous old ads for hearses, caskets, embalming fluid, etc. from advertisers such as National Casket, John Marsellus Mfg. Co., Champion Chemical Co. and many others....

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NFDA State Association Officers from 1900

NFDA State Association Officers from 1900

Here's an interesting look back at the 1900 National Funeral Directors' Association roster of officers from the state associations. This comes from a point in history when there were only 45 states in the United States, and we were just 35 years removed from the Civil...

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An industry with rich history, see more relics and stories from the past here.