Hebrew Funeral Association Inc

03/27/2026

We live not in years but in deeds and our deeds live long after us.

03/18/2026

Across every culture and every period of history, humanity has shared a common practice. We care for our dead.

Anthropologists and sociologists recognize funeral rites as a cultural universal. Every society develops ways to honor those who have died and to support the living who remain. These rituals help families grieve, remember, and begin to find their way forward.

In modern communities, funeral directors help carry out this responsibility. When a family calls, often in the most difficult moment of their lives, we are there to answer questions, provide guidance, and help them navigate decisions that most people never expect to face.

Sometimes that means helping plan a full service that brings a community together to remember a life. Other times it means something much simpler.

At the very least, funeral directors are there to come when the call is made, to bring someone into our care with dignity and respect, and to see that their final disposition is handled properly according to the wishes of the family.

However a family chooses to say goodbye, the responsibility to care for the dead and to support the living remains an important part of every society. Funeral service exists to help carry out that responsibility with compassion, professionalism, and respect.

03/18/2026

03/16/2026

Mediators, arbitrators, facilitators, officiators, responders......

One of the often-overlooked yet essential roles a funeral director must step into is that of a mediator. A death can bring out a range of emotions in family members and sometimes conflicts can arise, but funeral directors are especially adept at being the calm in the storm.

03/09/2026

In the chill of winter, we remember them.

03/08/2026

🙏❤️ Teenagers doing what no one else shows up to do.

At University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, students run a quiet but powerful program known as the St. Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry. When homeless individuals or military veterans die without family, these students step forward to serve as pallbearers, ensuring that no one is laid to rest without dignity, presence, and respect.

Founded in 2015, the initiative is inspired by the school’s mission of service and by a similar ministry at St. Ignatius High School. Before each funeral, students receive training, gather in reflection or prayer, and learn what they can about the person they are honoring, transforming an anonymous death into a recognized life.

What a powerful act of community service. What are your thoughts on this initiative?

Note: The information presented here is for general knowledge and discussion.

03/08/2026

Ten years old. That's how young Katie Prior was when she started racing against time.

Her great-grandfather, a World War II veteran, had entered hospice. Katie had just picked up the trumpet that year. Her family whispered about beautiful it would be if she could learn Taps before he died. Twenty-four notes. That's all. A melody older than her grandparents, passed down from Civil War battlefields to modern cemeteries.

She practiced every day. Her fingers cramped. The notes came out shaky, then clearer. But time moved faster.

He died before she was ready. At the funeral, speakers played a digital recording of Taps. Katie stood there, trumpet case in hand, drowning in regret. She'd wanted to give him something real. Something human. Not a file someone pressed play on.

Five years passed. Katie got better at trumpet. She also learned a statistic that felt like a punch to the chest.

Over 1,500 veterans die in America every single day. The military doesn't have enough buglers. Most families get exactly what hers did. A recording. A compromise. A digital ghost of a tradition that's supposed to be flesh and blood.

Katie Prior, now fifteen, decided she was done with acceptable losses.

She launched the Youth Trumpet & Taps Corps through her Girl Scout Gold Award project. The concept was beautifully simple. Train young trumpeters across the country to volunteer at veteran funerals. Give families live music. Give veterans the honor they earned. Charge nothing.

But Katie didn't just hand kids sheet music and send them out. She built a real program. Workshops on military funeral protocol. Online courses teaching when to salute, how to stand, what to say to grieving families. This wasn't a recital. This was sacred ground.

Today, 120 young musicians spanning 30 states have joined her mission. Teenagers standing at graves, playing for strangers, understanding that some debts can only be repaid in service.

Katie has played at dozens of funerals herself. Every time, she thinks about the great-grandfather she couldn't play for. Every performance is partly for him. Every note she plays is the one she wishes she'd gotten to play five years ago.

One girl's heartbreak became a movement. One missed goodbye became thousands of proper farewells. Right now, somewhere in America, a teenager is standing in a cemetery because Katie Prior refused to let budget cuts decide who gets honored with dignity.

She was too late for him. But she made sure she'd be right on time for everyone else.

03/07/2026

For well over a century, the University of Minnesota’s Program of Mortuary Science has excelled in training students for a unique occupation serving families in the hardest of situations.

03/05/2026

March 11 is Funeral Director and Mortician Day, and throughout March we’re celebrating the remarkable professionals who guide families through some of life’s most difficult moments with compassion, creativity, and care.

This week, we’re highlighting a powerful episode of the Remembering A Life podcast featuring Lanae Strovers, a trainer for the National Funeral Directors Association and a first‑generation funeral director whose innovative approach is transforming the way we honor loved ones.

Lanae entered funeral service after attending a friend’s funeral that didn’t reflect his vibrant personality. Determined to offer families something more meaningful, she now helps create services that truly tell a person’s story—whether that means turning a funeral home into a Little League baseball field, building a runway to showcase a former model’s designs, or adding small, heartfelt touches that reflect a loved one’s life.

Her belief is simple but profound: when a funeral is personal, it becomes a space for healing, connection, and shared remembrance.

🎧 Listen to Lanae’s episode https://hubs.li/Q043QrSh0 and join us in celebrating the funeral directors who make a difference every day.

03/02/2026

Hartford's Jewish Civil War Veterans built the Jewish community. Herman Holtz established Congregation Ados Israel on Market Street in Hartford.

03/02/2026

Miltary honors for U.S. Army veteran, Captain Myron Pisetsky, M.D.