December 2, 2022

It seems clear that you’ve made kindness your life’s work. What is the story behind that?
My father called me in April 2006 after his terminal lung cancer diagnosis. He was a family therapist, and he had just turned 70. I was 38, with two young school-aged children. We had a difficult relationship, but I flew to Burlington, Vermont, and we started working to heal our relationship. He lived eight months after that call. Those months and the healing process were a gift. We both found peace; he died Dec. 1, 2006, on my son’s sixth birthday.

Kindness is a soft skill. Since kindness can be hard to teach, measure or master, many people dismiss it as a nonessential nicety that won’t make or break your business. They value other capitalist-oriented skills more, such as ambition, grit and skill.

The Montana Department of Labor & Industry’s Business Standards Division (BSD) held informational and listening sessions beginning in August 2022. MFDA staff was especially interested in what the Department planned and appeared on behalf of the Montana Funeral Directors Association.

The funeral directors of the Royal Household are selected and appointed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office.

The first District Meeting was held in Billings, MT, at the Windmill Bar and Grill. District Governor Matt Coon of Medallion Vault and Casket held a cocktail hour followed by dinner with guest speaker, Sgt. Jay Nelson from the Montana Highway Patrol with an active shooter/incident training. Speakers also included MFDA President T.J. Stevenson and MFDA Executive Director Jim Brown with industry-related updates.

Is your metal recycling program having enough impact on your business and community? Recycling programs with Garfield Refining are built to drive sustainability and social impact through operational efficiencies and targeted metal capture.

The Cloyd Funeral Home opened Oct. 1, 1961, to serve central Montana. The building, built in the early 1950s, was the former home of the Georgian Theatre, owned by the Weidman Brothers. In the mid-1950s, it became the Fergus Theatre until its closing in 1960.

Members of MFDA attended the NFDA Convention October 9-12 and met up with thousands of funeral service peers for networking, education, and much more.

My Name is John O’Leary
I’m 43 years old. I’m married to my beautiful wife, Beth, and we’re raising four wonderful kids together. I’m a college graduate. I own a business that’s taken me all over the world doing a job I love.

But at one time, none of that seemed likely.

The commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously in favor of retaining the Funeral Rule and issuing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on potential updates to modernize the rule, including improvements to the public accessibility of funeral home price information. The Commission also approved the issuance of a staff report that summarizes the results of their review of almost 200 funeral provider websites.