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ICFAU 2004 Faculty
Mark Ballard is Vice President and General Manager of Memphis Funeral Home, Cemetery & Crematory.
Kevin Bean, president, Bean Funeral Homes and Crematory, Reading, Pennsylvania. Bean is a second generation licensed funeral director since January 1983 and registered securities representative and holds a life and annuity insurance license. He operates a cluster of five funeral homes and one crematory, where he has maintained an active preneed sales program since 1985. Bean studied both liberal arts and pre-med curriculums at Albright College and Penn State University. He graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in 1981.
Barry Berlin holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University. He has over 43 years of experience in sales, marketing and operations for large national corporations. He is the chief operating officer and executive director of planning & development for Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary. Barry holds positions in numerous organizations, including 2002-2003 president of the California Funeral Directors Association, 2002-2003 ICFA board of directors, the director of CFDA, director and treasurer for the Funeral Directors Service Corporation (California Master Trust) and a member of the Interment Association of California and the Los Angeles Funeral Directors Association.
Mike Burke has over 20 years experience in cemetery/funeral operations and landscape architecture. As Regional Manager with Carriage Services, Inc., Mike oversees all operations in the Eastern United States. During his career, he has been the recipient of over 40 industry and architectural awards. Mike has been involved with the ICFA University as a professor and dean for eight years. His high energy level and knowledge of industry operations makes him a welcomed speaker at many industry seminars.
Julie Burn is cremation services manager for Wilbert Funeral Services Inc., Willowbrook, Illinois, where she is responsible for the marketing and sales of Wilbert's cremation products, along with the administration and promotion of its Cremation Choices program. Julie began her career with Wilbert in January 1991, as the Manager of Funeral Service Communications. She was promoted to the position of Regional Manager in September of 1996 where she served as a liaison between Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc., and its licensee network, as well as liaison between the licensees and their funeral professionals in the North Central Region. Julie is chair of the ICFA Personalization Committee and is a Certified Pre-Planning Consultant.
Tony Colson is director of National Accounts for Batesville Casket Company. He is responsible for providing and coordinating support in terms of merchandising, marketing planning and training and development. Tony has served a wide national account base for the last seven years and has extensive experience in many markets. During this time, he has been involved with over 1,500 funeral homes throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico designing selection rooms and target market product assortments that meet the specific needs of the marketplace and accomplish a planned financial result. Professionally, his background includes Sales and Marketing experience in the automobile industry with Mercedes-Benz. He also has Sales and Training experience in Life and Health Insurance and the Pharmaceutical industry, with Eli Lilly & Company. Tony has spoken to groups at the local, state and national level.
Patrick Downey, CCE, Patrick R. Downey is Vice-President Sales and Marketing, for Palm Cemeteries, Mortuaries and Crematories in Las Vegas Nevada and is ICFA President-Elect. Mr. Downey began his career in 1979 at Wisconsin Memorial Park as a preneed counselor. Since that time Patrick has directed the efforts of successful sales teams throughout the country. Patrick served as Vice-President of Sales for Memorial Park Inc. of Memphis TN from 1992 to 1997 and Vice-President of Marketing for Carriage Services of Houston TX. Patrick was the Chancellor of the ICFA University from 1996-2000 and has been a featured speaker at many industry conferences.
Jack Goodnoe, president, Jack C. Goodnoe Cemetery Planning and Design, Ann Arbor, MI. Jack has been involved in cemetery planning for 17 years. He began his career as Director of Site Planning for Harley Ellington Pierce Yee in the mid-1980s, and began his own firm in 1998. His company focuses almost exclusively on cemetery master planning, strategically bringing land resources and market opportunities together. He was invited by the Chinese Minister of Civil Affairs to speak at China's First Funeral Arts Exposition. Jack is a member of the ICFA and the National Catholic Cemetery Conference and has been a speaker at a number of industry conferences. He earned his B.F.A. at the University of Colorado and his Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia.
Robert Gordon Sr., CCFE, has over 30 years of experience in the industry and is currently the Owner and General Manager of Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Bob has held a number of positions at various properties including Executive Vice President of Mt. View Cemetery in Tacoma, WA; Executive Vice President of Oakdale Memorial Park & Mortuary in Glendora, CA; Vice President of LaVerne Cemetery Corporation in LaVerne, CA; and Executive Vice President/General Manager of Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary in Bakersfield, CA. Bob also does extensive work for ICFA. He is the Dean for the Executive Management Symposium and is Chairman of ICFA's Strategic Planning Sub-Committee for Funeral Director Education and Acquisition.
Jim Hammond is Director of Sales of Mountain View Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Tacoma, Washington.
Mike Hays is Vice President for Advance Planning with Keystone Group Holdings, Inc., Tampa, Florida. He is a licensed funeral director who has personally served hundreds of bereaved families. He is an experienced salesperson and sales manager having worked directly with more than 200 funeral homes and 40 cemeteries to install or improve preneed systems. In addition to his advance planning role, Mike serves the Keystone Operations Team in the areas of training and performance management. Mike holds a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary.
Ernie Heffner graduated March 1974 from Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, Pittsburgh, PA after attending York College, York, PA. Served internship in the family business and became a Pennsylvania licensed funeral director in 1975 at which time the family operated three locations that served 130 families per year.
Heffner is a second-generation funeral director who operates fifteen funeral home facilities and a crematory distanced up to 265 miles apart. Twelve locations are in Pennsylvania and three in the State of New York. Since March 1991, Heffner and his wife are the sole shareholders of the family business. The firm is currently staffed with approximately 120 associates including full and part-time and annually serves over 1200 families. Heffner has owned and operated other related industry businesses including a monument company, which was sold in 1987, as well as two memorial park cemeteries, which were sold in 1989.
Heffner has received national recognition and has been a featured speaker on numerous occasions for a variety of state and national industry organizations, related industry organizations as well as his local public speaking engagements for community education.
Heffner testified in Washington, D.C. at the Federal Trade Commission hearings in favor of the Funeral Rule, a national law that protects consumers. This was done at a time when the industry was spending a fortune to avoid this regulation, which included the requirement of itemized pricing, telephone price disclosure, authorization for embalming and other reasonable protection for the public. Heffner has also testified at both Senate and House of Representatives hearings in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania regarding pending legislation.
Since the mid '80's in one capacity or another, Heffner has been a member of the Cemetery Association of Pennsylvania (CAP) and active in educational efforts on behalf of CAP. On November 12th, 1996, Heffner had the honor of an appointment to become the first funeral director to serve on the Board of Directors of the re-named Pennsylvania Cemetery Funeral Association (PCFA) and currently serves as 1st V.P.
Heffner has served on the committee and participated in re-writing the testing requirements for interns seeking licensure in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The success of the Heffner family business is the result of exceptional people working with a sincere commitment to providing quality, innovative service to the public. In 1989, the firm became the first funeral home in Pennsylvania to offer an unconditional written guarantee to clients, "If you are not completely satisfied with any of our professional services or facilities, you will not be charged for that service."
In September 1996, Heffner was appointed to serve on the Board of Directors of the International Cemetery & Funeral Association, an organization with 6000 member firms. Heffner became the first funeral director, not affiliated with a public company, to serve on the ICFA Board. Heffner served as a V.P. of ICFA from March 2000 to March 2001 and has recently been elected to continue serving on the Board of Directors.
Heffner has a diverse background in the operation of both funeral homes and related businesses. His personal experience covers over 40 ownership transitions including, funeral homes, cemeteries, a monument company plus 10 funeral business relocations and 5 new replacement facility constructions. The company has consolidated these transactions into 15 locations.
In conjunction with continued growth, the company has successfully maintained a focus on introducing customer service enhancements. The firm has received national recognition as an industry leader. By invitation, Ernie Heffner is a frequent contributor to a variety of national industry publications.
Bob Horn, chief executive officer, Keystone Group Holdings, Tampa, Florida. Horn began his funeral service career more than 40 years ago with a small family-owned mortuary. During the mid-1960's, he was an organizer of International Funeral Services (IFS) and served as vice-president of the pioneer "multi-unit" funeral-cemetery company based in San Diego, California. Prior to co-founding the Keystone Group in 1996, Horn was chief operating officer and partner of Prime Succession, Inc., following ten years as executive-vice president of Pierce Brothers, Los Angeles. In addition to various industry memberships, he also serves as trustee of the Funeral Service Foundation and Loyola Marymount University Clavigerii Society.
Dave Jones is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Bronze Division of Matthews International Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA. In this position, he is in charge of sales, marketing, customer satisfaction and product design and development.
Prior to joining Matthews, Dave served in the chemical industry for 13 years, ten of those years with Proctor & Gamble's Industrial Chemicals Division. He has a BA in Chemistry from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, PA, and a Masters Degree in Management from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Dave has been with Matthews since 1993 and is a frequent speaker to our industry.
Jeff Kidwiler, CCE, is president of FuneralAssistant.com, a website that offers information on funeral homes, cemeteries, products, laws and other information needed when planning a funeral. He was also vice president of United Memorial Products, Inc., vice president of United Park Services, Inc. and on the board of directors with Heritage Park in the Philippines. Jeff is a 1988 graduate of Chapman University, a 1995 graduate of the ICFA University and earned the prestigious Certified Cemetery Executive designation in 1999.
Mark Krause is president of Krause Funeral Homes & Cremation Service and Informed Choice Funeral & Cremation Options in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A member of the cemetery, funeral service and memorialization profession for more than 20 years, Krause is vice president of the ICFA Products and Services Steering Committee and serves on its Board of Directors. He is also a vice president of Preferred Funeral Directors International and is past president of the Funeral Service Alliance of Wisconsin. Krause has dedicated time to his community as a former vice president of Family Support for the National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Foundation, Greater Wisconsin Chapter. He attended Worsham College of Mortuary Science and has a master's degree in Business Administration.
Matt Kreidenweis is a partner at Independent Funeral Planning Alliance (IFPA), a preneed marketing and management firm serving more than 100 independent funeral homes in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. As one of two owners of the company, he handles implementation of clients' marketing programs and coordinates all counselor training. Before joining IFPA in 1997, he was a national account representative with Forethought Financial Services. He is a graduate of Wilmington College of Ohio, with a major in marketing.
Tim Lancaster, CCFE, attended the Oregon Institute of Technology before he chose to join the funeral industry. He graduated from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1979 and worked as a Funeral Service Professional, Embalmer and Manager of Ward's Funeral Home in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Tim moved to Eternal Hills Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in 1989 and currently is the Manager/Chief Operating Officer. He is licensed as a Funeral Service Professional, embalmer and insurance agent in Oregon. Tim graduated from the ICFA University in 1999 and has been an instructor since 1997 in the Graduate College/Executive Management Symposium. He has also attended numerous seminars, including Life Appreciation Training by Bill Bates, Sales and Marketing meetings sponsored by ICFA and the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), and the Annual Conventions of ICFA, CANA. Tim is also a member of the National Funeral Directors Association.
Harvey Lapin is an attorney located in Northbrook, Illinois. He specializes in mortuary, cemetery, tax and corporation law. He is and has been general counsel or special counsel to various national, state and local industry associations. He is licensed as an attorney in Illinois, Wisconsin and Florida, and is registered as a CPA in Illinois. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, Northwestern University Law School and has a Master's in Tax Law from Georgetown Law Center. He has written numerous articles on the subjects of taxation, Funeral and Cemetery Law and is presently the Editor of, as well as the primary contributor to, the Cemetery and Funeral Service Business and Legal Guide.
Shale Lapping serves as President of IPEX, Inc. - Investment Performance Evaluation Xperts, a fee based investment-consulting firm located in Royal Oaks, Michigan. Shale has been actively involved in the investment-consulting field for the past 12 years. During this time he has specialized in developing trust fund investment programs for death care industry clients. Shale obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, his M.B.A. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and his law degree from the University of Chicago.
Christopher Layton has been an instructor at Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, Texas since February 1992. He teaches mainly in the area of Funeral Service Arts. Mr. Layton is the chairman of the Education Committee for the Texas Funeral Directors Association and is vice-president of the Houston Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association. He served as a board member of the Los Angeles County Funeral Directors Association. Chris was a Training Director for Pierce Brothers Mortuaries in Los Angeles and worked in the Training Department of Service Corporation International in Houston, Texas.
Besides daily classroom instruction, Mr. Layton has presented many continuing education programs at regional and state funeral directors association conventions. He is a licensed funeral director and embalmer holding licenses in Arizona, California, and Texas. He is a graduate of Cypress College Mortuary Science Department, and received a Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University and a Master's degree form the University of Houston.
Donald Matthews is President of Memorial Partners Inc, Reno, Nevada.
Blair Nelsen, CFSP, president, Nelsen Funeral Homes Inc., Richmond, Hopewell and Williamsburg, Virginia, and president, Cremation and Burial Society of Virginia. Nelsen oversees the operations of the 110 year-old family firm's four locations. A retired Air Force pilot, Blair holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia, a Master of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an Associate in Funeral Science from John Tyler Community College. He has served on many funeral service and non-profit association boards.
Gary O'Sullivan, CCE, is President of the Gary O'Sullivan Company, a consulting firm providing sales and marketing services to the cemetery and funeral industry. Prior to forming this company, Gary was the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Carriage Services in Houston, Texas. He is a Past President of the Southern Cemetery Association (SCA) and has been very involved in both SCA and ICFA for over 15 years. Gary entered the cemetery industry in 1971 and in 1990 received the American Cemetery Association's designation of Certified Cemetery Executive. He has served as instructor at several ICFA sales conferences and the ICFA University, and has been featured keynote speaker at numerous states, regional and national meetings. Gary has produced several audiocassette series, including "ServiceSelling" and "The Basic Approach to Preneed Selling." He is featured on several industry video-training tapes and has appeared nationally with such notables as Zig Ziglar and others.
Michael Pepperman, Esq., is a partner in the Labor Relations and Employment Law Department of the law firm of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP (ORM&H). Mike's practice is restricted exclusively to the representation of management in every phase of labor relations. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware and is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School where he was awarded his Juris Doctorate. Michael is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Georgia. He is a member of the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. Pepperman is co-author of "Securities Industry Leads the Way in Arbitrating Employment Disputes," New Jersey Law Journal, August 12, 1996, (145 NJLJ 648) and "Violence in the Workplace," Philadelphia Enterpriser, September/October, 1998. He has also authored several articles for the International Cemetery & Funeral Management magazine on topics such as termination of employees, workplace privacy, arbitration of employment claims and violence in the workplace.
Dick Perl is a veteran of the funeral service industry. He began his career in the early 1970s selling property and memorialization pre-need. He has been a manager of a funeral home/cemetery combination as well as a cemetery owner in Florida. Dick is President of Eagle Training and Communications Systems. An outstanding speaker and trainer, he is best known for his motivational style and is admired throughout the funeral service industry for his high level seminars and his untiring commitment to developing people.
Tom Roberts, CCE, has been with Allegheny Cemetery since March 1974, initially holding the position of Treasurer for the Cemetery. In June 1989, he was promoted to the position of General Manager and in October 1995, elected President. He was also one of the founders of the Allegheny Cemetery Historical Association 15 years ago and retains the position of Treasurer. Roberts is vice president elect of the Membership Steering Committee, a position that he also held in 2001. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from Susquehanna University (PA) and an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh (PA). He is a member of the PA Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a staunch supporter of cemetery association involvement and a national speaker for the industry.
Mitch Rose began his career in the industry in 1988 as an Assistant Area Superintendent. Following a steady series of promotions, Mitch joined Carriage Services and was named Area Manager for the City of Ft. Lauderdale Municipal Cemetery contract. Using his solid marketing expertise, he developed and coordinated a multi?layered lead procurement program using a targeted marketing technique and exceeded cemetery monthly quotas. In addition to his job duties, Mitch has been Chairman of the Moving Wall and the Florida Maintenance Rodeo programs. He also earned Fiscal Awards in 1992, 1994 and 1995. Rose has an Associate of Science in Horticulture from Santa Fe Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.
Tom Smith is Senior Vice President of Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joining the organization in 1972 as Assistant Horticulturist, he was elected to his present position in 1987. Tom holds Bachelors of Science in both Botany and Horticulture from the University of Cincinnati, and a Masters in Forest Science from Yale University. He has taught at various colleges in the greater Cincinnati area since 1973. Active in numerous professional organizations, he recently served as president of the national Professional Grounds Management Society. In 1999 Tom was awarded the Professional Grounds Management Society's highest honor, Gold Medal Award.
Robert Taylor is an Associate Professor of Management for the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis, where he teaches in the Executive M.B.A., International M.B.A. and PhD programs. Bob graduated with a B.A. in Behavioral Science from Rollins College in Florida and went on to Louisiana State University to complete his doctorate in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology with a minor in Management. He consults and trains extensively in the areas of management development, assessment centers, training needs analysis, employee theft, employee selection and appraisal, team building and motivation. Some clients include International Paper, Federal Express, Holiday Inns, Buckman Laboratories, St. Joseph Hospital and City of Memphis Government.
Todd Van Beck is president of Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, Texas. He is a consultant in the funeral service industry and a speaker in high demand who has spoken in Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada, Mexico and throughout the United States. He is an author known for his series of Funerals of the Future, as well as having published four books and 50 training manuals. Todd is a past director of the New England Institute of Mount Ida College. Prior to this, he was the director of education for the Loewen Group and was responsible for implementing programs of professional and managerial training for funeral homes, cemeteries, preneed programs and after care programs. Todd earned his undergraduate degree at Mt. Mercy College and his Master's of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from Mt. St. Mary's Seminary. He is a licensed funeral director and embalmer and is dean of the Funeral and Commemorative Services College and the newly created Embalming and Restorative Arts College for ICFA University.
John Welshons is the founder and President of Open Heart Seminars, an organization born in 1981 and dedicated to enhancing spiritual education and awareness in our society. Since the early 1970's, John has spent much time setting up lectures, workshops and retreats, many of which have been focused on people who are terminally ill and people in grief. He is a frequent lecturer to businesses, churches, hospitals, synagogues, colleges and universities throughout the United States. John is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Awakening From Grief: Finding the Road Back to Joy, published by Open Heart Publications on April 1, 2000. He is working on a number of other writing projects and has a series of cassette tapes and booklets on grief which are available to the general public. John holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of South Florida and an M.A. in History of Religions from Florida State University where he taught courses including "Death and Dying" and "Religion in America." He has also taught at Ramapo College in New Jersey. John is an active member of ICFA and is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Association of Death Education and Counseling.
Rick Wesner is a consultant, speaker and author that helps Cemetery and Funeral organizations develop and implement effective marketing and sales programs. Organizations that have used Rick's services have experienced an increase in sales, profits and market share. Sales and Marketing Executives International, the largest association for the sales and marketing profession in the world, has awarded Rick the dual designation Certified Sales and Marketing Executive. Rick is also a Certified Professional Values and Behavior Analyst. He holds degrees in Business Administration and Civil Engineering. Rick is the author of the highly acclaimed book "Complete Guide To Successful Family Services" and developer of MarketSystem 2000, the top selling marketing and lead management software system.
Nicole Wiedeman is approaching a 14-year career with Forethought Financial Services. She has partnered with many funeral firms to help them build an active pre-need program. Her current assignment is providing strategic and tactical guidance to two large national funeral firms.
Nicole is a graduate of Ball State University with a degree in Journalism and Marketing. She is a professionally trained facilitator and has received the Strategic Account Manager of the year with Forethought for the past two years.
Gregg Williamson, CCE, is Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales, at Rose Hills Co. in Whittier, California. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of Palm Mortuary, Inc. in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gregg earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University, and performed his graduate work at Cornell University in banking and finance. He is a licensed Funeral Director and a regular industry speaker. He has delivered talks at national conventions with the National Funeral Directors Association and the ICFA. Gregg has published articles regularly for industry magazines, including The Director (NFDA) and International Cemetery & Funeral Management (ICFA).
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