Article Category: Magazine | SC38
Southern Calls - Issue 38

Issue 38 Available Now!

Posted Tuesday, Sep 27
Southern Calls, Vol. 38, December 2022


Featuring our exclusive article with the staff from Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home on the tragedy at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, Southern Calls Issue 38 brings you the details from a funeral director’s perspective. And, as always, our December issue of Southern Calls is chocked full of exceptional photography and writing, with three amazing People, Places and Passions articles and so much more – you’ll read it cover to cover, again, and again! Don’t miss Southern Calls Issue 38, purchase a subscription today or pre-order your individual copy of this incredible issue today!

PEOPLE
NFDA Treasurer, Chris Robinson, CFSP

Robinson started in the profession at the bottom, literally. “There isn’t a job I haven’t done,” Chris says, reflecting on his time in the profession. “Every aspect is important. People take for granted arranging flowers on a grave. That’s as important as anything we do.” As we talk, it becomes clear that Robinson is mindful of details. They’re important to him. Which is reassuring given that he will scrutinize a fourteen-million-dollar NFDA budget for the 2022-23 year.

PLACES
Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home in Uvalde, Texas

Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home is located directly across from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. On May 24, 2022, the day of the mass shooting, the funeral home sheltered many of the students as they ran for safety from the school. In this issue LeRoy Briones and his staff share their powerful and heart wrenching story of the events of that day and the days that followed.

“I’m so glad LeRoy Briones finally shared his story, and who better than to Southern Calls.

What Leroy and his staff did on that tragic and somber day is nothing less than heroic.”
  – Auden B. Cabello, Photographer and Friend

PASSIONS
Velma Sue DeLeon, CFSP

When Velma Sue De Leon speaks, people listen. Her confidence and command during conversation is refreshing as she eagerly embraces vivacious discussion. De Leon immediately exhibits a gentle presence through her naturally kind and pleasant demeanor. The native Texan displays an inherently magnetic personality that offers endless energy and a contagious enthusiasm for life.

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