eNews October 2021



Update

Any Personnel Changes for the Directory or eNews Subscription?

Kindly report any changes in your Licensee information to Susan Barry at sbarry@wilbert.com or call Susan at 708-865-1600 at your first opportunity when changes occur.  Thank you!



 

eNews Announcement - Now Available for Your Customers - WilbertEDU® Webinars from The Wilbert Group

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We are pleased to announce the following webinars are available for viewing anytime on Wilbert.com: 

 

  • Back to Basics – Burial Vaults
  • Better Communications with Families
  • Cemetery Development for Cremation

The webinars are located in the Funeral Professional section under > Tools & Resources > Education > WilbertEDU.  They can be viewed by funeral professionals at their leisure when it is convenient for them. CEU credits cannot be issued for these webinar recordings.  The web page has been created and can be viewed at 

https://www.wilbert.com/funeral-professionals/tools-resources/wilbertedu/.

We hope that these videos about Wilbert specific products and programs will be of benefit to you and to your customers.

Please feel free to share this information with your customers. 



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WilbertEDU Updates

WilbertEDU continues to be a huge success!  Thanks to all of you and your outreach to funeral professionals, we continue to see our webinar attendance rise each session and, to date, have seen over 10,500 attendees since we began in November 2020. We continue to have informative industry experts in October!



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Recapping the Sessions Sponsored in September

Doug Gober joined us on the WilbertEDU stage September 9th presenting “The Devil’s in the Details; Customer Loyalty is Not Built from 30,000 Feet,” which pulled together a variety of key branding considerations and how to apply them directly to funeral homes and cemeteries today. He looked at each potential point of customer contact within our businesses then delved into how each of these impacts our existing and potential customers. Helping to define the elements that comprise customer awareness and examining them in depth, he presented techniques that have been successful in other businesses. He also tackled each area from the perspective of how to differentiate yourself in your marketplace. Doug’s enthusiastic presentation was very well received by the WilbertEDU attendees.

Our second presenter in September was Frank Rosenacker who joined the WilbertEDU stage to speak about cremation liabilities.Frank grew up in a funeral home, and his funeral service career spans nearly 60 years starting with washing cars and writing mass and memorial cards. Frank is a fourth-generation funeral director/embalmer who still serves as the secretary of his family funeral home.  As the cremation rate rises each year, Frank posed the question, “Are funeral directors becoming a glorified disposal company, or are they functioning as funeral directors with cremation as just another form of disposition?” He spent his session talking about helpful tips to avoid cremation liability issues in your business. He shared real-life case scenarios that he is currently working on or has completed. Frank was able to offer some great advice about the cremation liabilities that funeral homes face in today’s world. 



 

WilbertEDU® Sessions for October

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Join in October 7, 2021 when Michael Nash, Director of Sales & Customer Support for Wilbert Funeral Services; Mike Forbes, Vice President of Wilbert Memorials; and Craig Neal, Regional Vice President of Wilbert Funeral Services, present “The Three Omegas: Interment, Inurnment and Entombment.” This presentation will be broken down into three separate sessions to concentrate on education of the interment, inurnment, and entombment processes. 

The first portion of the presentation will be a suggested overview of outer burial container terminology used daily by funeral professionals.  It will go over the importance of educating families about outer burial containers and how that factors into the overall satisfaction level they have with their selection. As a funeral professional, your knowledge informs and educates the families you serve.  Part one of the presentation will also discuss what happens at the cemetery during the interment process and how a Treasured Tribute will be such an important final honor to a family’s loved one.

Secondly, as more people choose cremation, today’s funeral professionals need to be prepared to provide or suggest options for final disposition. Rather than leave cremated remains to a surviving family member or friend, it is our duty to educate and help people make their wishes known so that cremains don’t end up on the closet shelf or left in a storage unit.  What are some other choices available today, and what are the benefits of these choices?

Finally, cemeteries spend millions of dollars to construct community mausoleums with high-end materials such as granite and marble. Families spend thousands of dollars on crypt spaces in these community buildings as well as in private estate mausoleums. What is being done to protect those buildings, their crypt spaces, cemetery employees, and the caskets of the beloved deceased that they hold in eternity? This course presents the challenges of mausoleum protection and how best to address them.  Join us October 7th for this three-part seminar!

On October 21st Pierce’s Rick Rork will present another educational webinar about embalming.  Rick works with Pierce serving the states of Missouri and Illinois and has served as a guest lecturer for many state, national, and international funeral service organizations as well as several mortuary colleges throughout the US and South America.

Rick’s topic is “Embalming the Jaundice Case.” In the realm of embalming cases classified as “difficult,” jaundice certainly ranks near the top. During this seminar he will discuss how the condition can adversely affect the presentation of the deceased. Further breakdown of the topic will include: health conditions where jaundice is commonly seen, possible safety concerns and misconceptions regarding “jaundice fluids,” embalming technique, solution volume, the importance of proper drainage, and the use of pre-injection chemicals and cosmetic dyes.

Jaundice is often a difficult condition to successfully overcome, therefore, the use of cosmetics will also be discussed, to include, airbrushing and the use of alcohol activated and latex-based cosmetics.  Another great topic for funeral service!



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Catholic Cemetery Conference 2021

Catholic Cemetery Conference held its 71st Convention in Miami, Florida at Trump National Doral Hotel and Convention Center. Over 100 cemeterians and 70 suppliers were in attendance for the event.

Wilbert was represented by Mike Forbes and Gary Mosier for Granite Choices and Craig Neal for Kryprotek®

The attendees were eager to discuss upcoming projects which have been delayed due to Covid. Many welcomed the opportunity to return to some semblance of normalcy by gathering for the convention in the beautiful city of Miami. All of us had great conversations with numerous networking opportunities with many of the attendees.

Pictured Left to Right: Gary Mosier, Mike Forbes, Craig Neal


 

 

 

The Wilbert Group Invites You to Visit Booth 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee at NFDA

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OVERLAND PARK, KS, September 20, 2021 – The Wilbert Group invites you to visit our booth (# 2023) in Nashville, Tennessee at the National Funeral Directors Association Convention this October 18th through 20th.   

Our guests this year are Karine Bouchard and her son Nicolas from Montreal, Canada. Karine is the creator of the exclusive Wilbert Four Seasons Urn collection, Wilbert Memorial Series Mementos, and her original creation, the Sapphire Seas. Karine found her calling in 1991 and was inspired to create these beautiful and artistic funeral urns. Her company has developed an uncommon expertise in the field of glass blowing funeral urns, and she is an artist in every sense of the word. Each glass urn is as unique as the person it commemorates, and each tailor-made piece receives the same attention and care. 
 
Another member of The Wilbert Group on display will be Wilbert’s Granite Choices showing the many ways you can create meaningful cremation spaces for families to permanently memorialize their loved ones. Whether it be a bench, a pedestal, or a beautiful niche columbarium, Wilbert can help with the design! 
 
Pierce will feature their XHALE Odor Control System featuring three different products designed for body cooler, air odors, and surface treatment.  It will treat up to 600 square feet of enclosed space per container. Also to be featured at NFDA is the NecroMetics® Restorative Art Cosmetic Kit. The NecroMetics line was created by a licensed embalmer, SPFX cosmetics enthusiast, and restoration expert, exclusively for his restoration practice. After many inquiries, he decided to make these products and techniques available to funeral professionals everywhere. Two of these products are NecroDerm™, a wax replacement that will not be disturbed by touch, and NecroPAX™, a sealing base that will cover ANY discoloration and will NOT rub off. Pierce has everything you need for flawless cosmetic work, even in cases of severe trauma. See for yourself at booth 2023.
 
Astral has listened to its customers and would like to invite all convention attendees to stop by the booth for a demonstration of their new custom bed design. The new bed design will accommodate the growing challenge of increased weight requirements, while being virtually effortless to raise and lower. Astral will also highlight the brand new high-resolution custom interior head panel offering that is now available, as well as their newly designed custom catalogs. These new custom catalogs can be personalized for your funeral home, directors, and pre-need staff in both a hard copy and a digital version at no cost to your firm whatsoever. 
 
There will also be a number of drawings and prizes given away during convention hours, come by and visit with our representatives to learn all the details.  
 
We look forward to welcoming you to The Wilbert Group booth 2023!  
 
For more information, you may call us at (913) 345-2120.
 


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Wilbert is Proud to Feature the Creator of the Exclusive Karine Bouchard Series™ of Glass Urns

Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc. will feature Karine Bouchard at their booth #2023 during the 2021 NFDA International Convention & Expo in Nashville, TN.

The Wilbert exclusive line includes the Karine Bouchard Series of Four Seasons Urns and Wilbert Memorial Series® mementos that offer families exquisite works of singular cremation art.

  •  An element of Earth, the Autumn Urn celebrates fall’s turning leaves and rich warming sun.
  •  An element of Water, the Spring Urn conveys peace, freshness and life renewal.
  • An element of Air, the Winter Urn captures light, purity, silence and snow.
  • An element of Fire, the Summer Urn radiates the colors and floral bursts of its season.

Karine Bouchard found her calling in 1991.  She was inspired to create funeral urns. Shortly thereafter, Verre Minuit Inc. was founded, with Karine at its helm.  The company has developed an uncommon expertise in the field of glass blowing funeral urns.  Now her son Nicolas is working with the company while building her legacy.

An artist in every sense of the word, she excels at her craft. She has a rare genius, a second sense, for the strengths and limitations of color, lighting and shape.  Each glass urn is as unique as the person it commemorates, and each tailor-made piece receives the same attention, the same care.

Wilbert and Karine Bouchard have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship over several years.  Merchandising manager, Mike Devaney states, “We are proud to offer this unique line of glass cremation urns to our customers, knowing each piece is a true work of art giving meaning to families.”

 

Commemorating First Responder Sergeant Brian Mohl

Sergeant Brian Mohl, age 50, of the Connecticut State Police, passed away on September 2, 2021, after his patrol vehicle was swept away in the Weekeepeemee River during Hurricane Ida. Upon graduating from the Academy in 1994, his first assignment was with Troop A in Southbury. Over the years he was stationed at Troop L in Litchfield, Troop B in North Canaan, Troop G in Bridgeport, and Troop H in Hartford before returning To Troop L in 2008. Brian was promoted to sergeant in May 2000 and served the Connecticut State Police for 26 years.

Sergeant Mohl is survived by his wife, three children, three grandchildren, parents, siblings, many nieces and nephews, and his Connecticut State Police family.

State flags were at half-staff to honor him. A procession and bagpipers and drummers assembled in the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford on Thursday, September 9th. Munson Lovetere Funeral Home in Southbury, CT assisted the family with arrangements.

Wilbert Funeral Services in Oakville, CT was honored to provide the family a SST/Triune® burial vault with a Treasured Tribute image, along with a graveside service.

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