Todd Van Beck and Robin Heppell

Introduction: One of the most fortunate learning experiences I have had in my entire life was the time I was a student of the Rev. Dr. Edgar N. Jackson. He was on the faculty of the New England Institute and I took my education and training to become a funeral director at that old venerable …

Compare today with 1900. In 1900 children were expected not to survive birth, and even the mother’s life was suspect of being destroyed in the process. Today however children are not supposed to die, and most do not – Thank God – but still hundreds of children die everyday. The Problems: It reverses the “natural” …

(Presentation for the National Funeral Directors Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, October 27-28, 1998)   INTRODUCTION After all the frenzy of the “Titanic” movie, interest in the subject has shown no signs of abating. Books, seminars, videos and souvenirs concerning the sinking of the unsink­able White Star liner abound at every corner of life. With all …

One of the great blessings in my life is that by guess or by golly, by accident and certainly not by design, and to my own amazement and surprise I have been fortunate to work with thousands of funeral directors across the globe in my career, which is now long, and has not been totally …

The plane ran down the runway at about 6:30 p.m. I left the Epply Airfield in Omaha, for the two and a half hour flight back to my world. I had spent a long weekend visiting my hometown in Iowa to celebrate by father’s 80 something birthday. Iowa in October is a tray of sensations …