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2010 KIP Award Winners

The 2010 KIP Award winners at the
2011 Annual Convention & Exposition

This year’s contest drew 52 entries from across the United States and abroad. Communications and marketing professionals from outside the cemetery and funeral service profession performed the judging.

The ICCFA congratulates the winners and all who entered the 2010 KIP Awards. The winners are as follows:

 

 

MOST PERSONALIZED SERVICE OR MEMORIAL
First Place & Grand Prize Winner
Schoedinger Funeral and Cremation Service
Columbus, Ohio

A community in central Ohio was stunned when a mom, her son and a family friend were murdered. The family turned to Schoedinger Funeral Home, who saw it as their challenge to help the healing process begin for the remaining daughter, family, friends and neighbors.

They planned a service that reflected on the lives of Tina, the mother, and Kody, the son, and not on the circumstances of their deaths. Schoedinger's staff displayed matching red rose sprays atop each casket and used large photos of Tina and Kody as the focal point in the room. A DVD reflecting memories of happier times played while people struggled to make sense of the loss. Kody's favorite sport was baseball and his mother loved sunflowers, so baseballs decorated by cheerleaders from Kody's school and sunflowers were handed out to all who attended. 

A bereavement care specialist helped children write messages on baseball cutouts and place them on a memory board during visitation periods. The family received hundreds of special memory cards. More than 220 visitors lit candles and shared memories on the funeral home's website. Balloons were released at the cemetery. 

In his closing remarks the minister emphasized the need for the town to keep carrying on in honor of Tina and Kody, saying "We still need to pick up the ball, and we still need to throw it. They would want us to."

www.schoedinger.com

 

Honorable Mention
Pray Funeral Home
Charlotte, Michigan

Dorwin "Dade" Schultz was a gentle giant known as a horseman across the Midwest. For his funeral, Pray Funeral Home arranged for a wagon train from the funeral home to the cemetery with Dade's own mules carrying his wooden casket, which was made by his Amish craftsmen friends. The procession attracted a great deal of media attention, allowing his family and friends to further share memories of Dade with those who may not have known him.

www.prayfuneral.com


Honorable Mention
Omps Funeral Home
Winchester, Virginia

Patrick Harrison was a devoted husband, loving father and loyal Anheuser-Busch distributor who was struck down at just 39 years of age. Patrick spent his career owning and managing distributorships throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. To express his longtime dedication, in just three days Omps Funeral Home was able to work with Anheuser-Busch to insert a special cap panel inside of his casket and to arrange for a retired Budweiser Clydesdale to be present outside of all services. This was only the seventh time one of the horses has appeared at a funeral for someone outside of the Busch family. The Anheuser-Busch chief executive officer was in attendance for the services and later that year, at an annual stockholder meeting, he spotlighted Harrison's services as an impressive expression of the life of a fallen comrade.

www.ompsfuneralhome.com


 

BEST PRACTICE
First Place
White Haven Memorial Park
Pittsford, New York

White Haven Memorial Park is experiencing a large increase in the number of families choosing cremation, which means a decrease in the number of services requiring a funeral director's assistance. In response, they have put into place "Ours" Services. An on-staff arrangements counselor and a certified celebrant now work with the family to perform functions such as planning the service, making arrangements for clergy, music and military honors, coordinating receptions, providing for escorts to the burial site and making sure everyone knows what to do before, during and after the service. Customer families have lavished many words of gratitude upon the staff since they instituted the practice.

www.whitehavenmemorialpark.com


Honorable Mention
Heritage Park/Rosehills Memorial Management
Taguig City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Heritage Park offers a press-quality coffee table book to families that documents what transpires during the family's stay at Heritage Park and also honors and attempts to tell the story of the decedent. The book is intended to sit on a coffee table, thus inspiring conversations about the late family member. The pages consist of mainly photographs and illustrations accompanied by captions, letters, poems and quotes used during services.

 

www.heritagepark.com.ph/dnn


 

EVENTS
First Place
Royal Oak Burial Park
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Royal Oak Burial Park held an event they called Summer So[u]lstice in June 2010 that invited the public to visit the cemetery and see the burial park's newly opened traditional interment area as well as the Woodlands, Canada's first urban green burial site (now recognized as a certified natural burial provider by the Green Burial Council of North America). Poets, musicians, a local historian and other artists were on hand to create a friendly, non-threatening and upbeat environment for those who attended. Some of the volunteers assisted families in creating a personal remembrance banner for those who already had family members buried in the park or had family buried elsewhere but just wanted to leave a personal message at the event. The goal of the event was to connect the cemetery to the community in a positive, upbeat manner and demonstrate the valued role cemeteries have as sacred spaces in the community.

www.robp.ca


Honorable Mention
The Wilbert Foundation
Forest Park, Illinois

The Wilbert Foundation, a 501c(3) organization, has donated more than $420,000 and delivered 2,500+ Teddy bears to children's chaplaincy programs throughout the United States and Canada. In 2007, Wilbert partnered with the Pediatric Chaplains Network to create the Pediatric Chaplains Institute and donated $50,000 to underwrite the development of a grief training curriculum. Since then, Wilbert has donated $5,000 each year in scholarships for chaplains in need of financial support to attend the institute. The program has enabled more than 60 chaplains to receive training for providing spiritual, bereavement and other age-specific support to children and their families.

www.wilbertfoundation.org


Honorable Mention
Sunset Memorial Park, French Family of Companies
Albuquerque, New Mexico

The French Family of Companies has created a semi-annual U.S. flag retirement ceremony in partnership with the Great Southwest Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The event serves many purposes, including: teaching new generations about flag etiquette and protocol; providing a vehicle for local organizations such as the VFW, police and fire departments to properly dispose of worn flags; and serving as one of the key Memorial Day and Veterans Day events in the local community. In addition, the cemetery buried a vault where metal hardware from retired flags and flagpoles may be permanently entombed.

www.sunset-memorial.com


INNOVATIVE/PERSONALIZED PRODUCT (SUPPLIERS)
First Place
Alternative Solutions USA
Spring Valley, California

Alternative Solutions USA is a non-profit program that recycles implants left after cremation and generates substantial funds for numerous U.S. charities such as The Unforgettables, which has so far received over $16,000 to assist low-income families in providing a dignified and appropriate burial for their children who have died.

www.alternativesolutionsusa.net


Honorable Mention
Signature Series
Madison, Wisconsin

Signature Series provides families with limitless personalization options on memorial products. Family photos and text may be applied to personalize virtually any casket, urn or vault. Ideas that reflect their lifestyle, a passion for a favorite sports team, a religious viewpoint or a branch of service they so proudly served are a few options clients have chosen to appear on products.

www.signaturecasket.com


Honorable Mention
Love Ashes
Lakewood Ranch, Florida

Love Ashes infuses cremains into beautiful pendants, earrings and framed memorials. They may be custom-designed based on the customer's preferences and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

www.loveashes.com



MOST PERSONALIZED PET SERVICE/MEMORIAL
First Place
Two Hearts Pet Loss Center
Greenwood, Indiana

Cherokee was a beloved St. Bernard and played the roles of daughter and big sister in her family. When she passed away, Coleen Ellis with Two Hearts helped the family express their gratitude for the time they had Cherokee in their lives, holding a home-based memorial service that allowed the family to share just how much Cherokee enriched their lives. Reception items included all the favorite "human food" Cherokee liked to eat. Two Hearts also helped the family's son set up a drive in honor of Cherokee for items that were needed at the local Humane Society animal shelter. Two trucks were needed to deliver all the donated items to the shelter.

www.twoheartspetlosscenter.com


Honorable Mention
My Bob Rocks
Roseburg, Oregon

My Bob Rocks fuses ashes into smooth, jewel-colored glass discs designed to be shared among family and friends. While the company primarily works with human remains, this past year they were asked by pet owners to expand their market. When a family lost their beloved Rhodesian Ridgeback named Tess, the Oregon-based business was able to make "Tessrocks" with the ash in a paw print pattern, cradled in red-brown glass to match her beautiful coat. Pet memorials now account for 20 percent of the company's business.

www.mybobrocks.com

 

 

 

2009 KIP Award Winners

This year’s contest drew 27 entries from across the United States and abroad. Communications and marketing professionals from outside the cemetery and funeral service profession performed the judging.

The ICCFA congratulates the winners and all who entered the 2009 KIP Awards. The winners are as follows:

MOST PERSONALIZED SERVICE OR MEMORIAL
First Place & Grand Prize Winner
Miller-Jones Mortuary & Crematory
Sun City, California
When Betty Billings, beloved wife and mother and admirer of the work of painter Thomas Kinkade, passed away suddenly, her family turned to Miller-Jones Mortuary & Crematory to arrange a meaningful celebration of her life. They said that they will “always remember her in her favorite La-Z-Boy chair adorned with Kinkade art, with her Kinkade blanket, Kinkade painting and personal bedside poem.” Miller-Jones arranged for all of these things to be transported to the mortuary and included in the viewing presentation, with Billings lain out in her favorite chair instead of a casket, with her blanket and other favorite artwork near her. The family was comforted by the innovative idea and appreciated the opportunity to create a final family photo in this setting.

Honorable Mention
Reichmuth Funeral Homes
Elkhorn, Nebraska
Jack Rittenhouse was 38-year-old man whose heritage was deeply rooted in rural life, farming and volunteer firefighting. To memorialize him, Reichmuth Funeral Homes incorporated ears of corn, fire department emblems and miniature farm implements into the bouquets and decorations. Reichmuth also coordinated with various fire departments from around the state, and 23 fire apparatus vehicles led the procession from the funeral home to the cemetery. Rittenhouse’s local fire department formed a corridor for the walk to the grave, and more than 100 guest firemen formed an honor guard near the grave. The Nebraska Fire Fighters Response Team provided a burial flag, which was folded by six members of the Waterloo Fire Department; two bagpipers played “Amazing Grace;” and the local 911 center issued a “last call” over the entire system commemorating his death.

 

BEST PRACTICE
First Place
Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home
Klamath Falls, Oregon
In an effort to personalize services for every family they serve, Eternal Hills created an extensive interview guide to find out the life history, special events and important details that lead to a more personalized service. A service arranger along with an arrangement counselor plan and coordinate all personalization and order of service with the celebrant after he/she meets with the family. Eternal Hills uses an extensive interview that focuses on six areas of life: family, work/profession, community involvement/clubs, hobbies, church/religion, and vacations/special activities. After this information is gathered, a meeting is arranged with the clergy or celebrant to parlay the specific details. The service director is the master of ceremony introducing all participants, the order of service, and the wow factor—the special personalization planned for each service. In addition, Eternal Hills requires each service arranger to be a certified celebrant.

Honorable Mention
Kranz Funeral Home
Cass City, Michigan
Kranz Funeral Home provides a personalized blanket with the deceased’s name and dates and a custom-embroidered design specially chosen for each person. Kranz hires an embroiderer who goes online to the funeral home’s Web site and reads the obituary to decide on the design. Each one is displayed on a quilt rack during visitation. Families tell them time and again that the design is right on target in capturing the spirit of the deceased.

 

EVENTS
First Place
Speaks Family Legacy Chapels
Independence, Missouri
Speaks Family Legacy Chapels hosted its Fourth Annual “Lest They Be Forgotten” Veterans Program at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. The program featured the premiere of “Vietnam—Remembered” by documentary filmmaker Larry Cappetto; a recounting of the heroic actions of two Vietnam War Congressional Medal of Honor recipients; a firsthand account of the war and homecoming of the founder of the Heart of America Stand Down Foundation; and a Huey helicopter that was shot down four times during the war. Speaks Chapels also sponsored a movie presentation on public television, a one-hour discussion on public radio, and presenting the Cappetto movie at nursing home veterans programs.

Honorable Mention
Fu Shou Yuan Cemetery
Shanghai, China
The Shanghai Cancer Rehabilitation Club holds an annual Commemoration Day in their “Forest of Hope and Love” that they built in 2005 in the Fu Shou Yuan Cemetery. The April 16, 2009, event attracted more than 900 members to remember those who have passed away. There was also a “Baptism of Life” celebration for 50 club members to remember their five years of “rebirth” since their cancer went into remission.

Honorable Mention
Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services
White Plains, New York
Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services held a special seminar with speaker, therapist, life coach and author Ron Villano titled “Embrace the Power of Change.” The event was free and open to the public. The funeral home garnered attention via social networking and through an article in the local newspaper about the upcoming event. MKJ Marketing created a newspaper ad, community poster and Web site banner ad. About 130 people attended and learned how to work through change and cope with the loss of a loved one.

 

INNOVATIVE/PERSONALIZED PRODUCT (SUPPLIERS)
First Place
Heartsong Memory Beads
San Diego, California
Heartsong Memory Beads creates custom jewelry with cremated remains infused in glass beads. Customers say they find comfort in feeling that their loved one is always with them.

Honorable Mention
Shine on Brightly
Asheville, North Carolina
Founded in 2008, Shine on Brightly is a group of 25 affiliated artists who create personalized memorial art for humans and pets in such mediums as memorial urns, jewelry, paintings, handmade books, glass objects, poetry, pottery, textiles and more.

Honorable Mention
Hainsworth USA
Glenwood, Maryland
Hainsworth USA’s line of The Natural Legacy caskets and presenters are made in the United States from British wool. They may be used for traditional vaulted burials, cremations and green burials, and are acceptable for Christian, Jewish Orthodox and Muslim burials. The caskets and presenters are available in natural or brown wool and there are options on the embroidered plates for personalization such as decorations, designs or religious symbols.

 

Grand prize winner Miller-Jones Mortuary & Crematory receives a free registration to the ICCFA 2010 Annual Convention & Exposition, March 10-13, at the San Antonio Convention Center & The Grand Hyatt San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas.

All first place and honorable mention winners will be recognized at the Convention, in ICCFA Magazine and are being provided promotional news releases to submit to their local media.

2008 KIP Award Winners

This year’s contest drew 22 entries from across the United States and abroad. Communications and marketing professionals from outside the cemetery and funeral service profession performed the judging. The winners are as follows:



 

Best Practice

 

 

First Place & Grand Prize Winner

Cheektowaga, New York
In a joint program with the Erie County Veterans Services Department and the County Burial Division, Mount Calvary Cemetery Group’s Pine Lawn Cemetery created a program in which honorably discharged veterans who are cremated and cannot afford a proper burial may be buried for free. Mount Calvary staff assists in securing the veteran’s granite military marker and arranges for a military forces honor guard and a celebrant if needed.

 

Honorable Mention

Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
McKenzie & Blundy partners with the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority to plant a tree in memory of each deceased customer. Each family receives a sympathy card informing them a tree has been planted, a commemorative tree notice with the obituary of their loved one, a brochure about the McKenzie & Blundy Memorial Forests, an invitation to the annual dedication ceremony and a letter of gratitude for supporting reforestation. In addition, plaques bearing the customers’ names are placed on a memorial wall at the funeral home.


 

Events

 

 

First Place

Morrison, Colorado
Olinger Mt. Lindo Cemetery hosts as an annual 5K race, the Hike for Hospice. Now in its 12th year, the purpose of the event is to raise funds and increase awareness of hospice. The hike begins at Olinger Mt. Lindo Cremation Nature Garden & Mausoleum. Olinger employees assist rest stops, provide a personalized dove release in memory of a loved one and provide goodie bags at the finish line. This year’s event had 350 participants and raised more than $10,000 to benefit two hospices.                  

 

Honorable Mention

Independence, Missouri
Speaks Family Legacy Chapels’ hosted its Third Annual “Lest They Be Forgotten” Veterans Program at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. During the event, a packed auditorium gathered to watch the premiere of “Korea, The Forgotten War,” by documentary filmmaker Larry Cappetto. Cappetto had spent two days capturing on film the personal stories of families left behind by fallen veterans. David Speaks served as chairman of the event. The colors were posted by the local American Legion post, and following the film, an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol was presented to a survivor of the only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from Independence, Missouri. A panel discussion followed. Speaks also sponsored a two-month local public television film series titled “Lest They Be Forgotten.”


 

Most Personalized Service or Memorial

 

 

First Place

Thornton, Colorado
Known as “the life of the party,” David Byerly wanted to go out in style. Olinger Highland Mortuary & Cemetery helped his family arrange a service that included music from Phantom of the Opera, Kid Rock and Motley Crue, along with cigars, Denver Broncos paraphernalia, huge floral displays, skiing and golf equipment and guitars. Byerly’s final resting place is a handpainted martini glass that serves as an urn.

 

Honorable Mention

Cleveland, Ohio
Capt. Michael Medders was killed while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq. The funeral home arranged for video footage to be taken of the processional route to and from the airport and through the town where his father was chief of police. Local news covered the events. The two-hour funeral mass was broadcast via the Internet to Capt. Medders’ fellow troops in Iraq and at the Army base where he was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas. More than 3,000 attended his visitation at a local high school while more than 1,500 attended his mass. Over 80 agencies, organizations and communities assisted the funeral home in their efforts.

 

Honorable Mention

Hemet, California
Veronica Calderon was a member of an equestrian group and an avid horse rider. Following a chapel memorial service, her equestrian troupe presented a “Spanish Walk” march in parade formation, carrying flags and accompanied by a “banda” style brass band and an elaborately dressed vocalist. Charro attire was worn by performers. Her horse performed a “piaffe” dance to say goodbye. Family and friends returned to the reception house and memorial park to enjoy traditional Spanish foods.



 

Innovative Personalized Product (Suppliers)

 

 

First Place

Charlestown, Massachusetts
Tributes.com provides a single national resource for online obituaries and memorial tributes that allows families to easily share information about the funeral/memorial services as well as the person’s life.


Grand prize winner Mount Calvary Cemetery Group receives a free registration to the ICCFA 2009 Annual Convention & Exposition, April 20-23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
 
All first place and honorable mention winners will be recognized at the Convention and in ICCFA Magazine, receive discounted registration to the Convention, and are being provided promotional news releases to submit to their local media. 
 

2007 KIP Award Winners

Best Practices/Personal Touch

First Place & Grand Prize Winner
Cedar Memorial
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Regina Nassif, Director of Sales & Marketing
Cedar Memorial revamped its approach to providing "service after the service" and developed an AfterCare program to improve contact with families. In creating the program, Cedar Memorial addressed overlaps and gaps with regard to services being provided by other community groups such as churches and support groups. It also surveyed families to learn what types of services they desired and what expectations they had regarding timing after the service. As a result of its research, Cedar Memorial hired a retired family services counselor to administer its AfterCare program. She provides exceptional hands-on service to address families' needs, requests and complaints, and she delivers an AfterCare basket two weeks after each service has been performed. The basket contains reading materials on grief and loss as well as assorted food items and gift cards.


Most Personalized Service or Memorial

First Place
Schoedinger Funeral & Cremation Services
Columbus, Ohio
Michael Schoedinger, President
Schoedinger Funeral & Cremation Service in Columbus, Ohio, helped to facilitate the funeral for Harold Runnion at the Ohio Theatre—the first for the theater—due to Runnion's life-long dedication to the theater after four decades of service. The theater’s historic 1928 organ was brought to life to play show tunes and a video tribute was shown in the theater lobby featuring Runnion's many contributions to the restoration of the facility. Toward the end of the ceremony, Runnion's name appeared in lights on the Ohio Theatre's marquee, simply stating, "Celebrating Harold Runnion."

Honorable Mention 1
Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary and Cemetery
Littleton, Colorado
Shannon Maestas, Location Manager
Olinger Chapel Hill in Littleton, Colorado, personalized a moving memorial service for self-proclaimed cowboy, 20-year-old Luke Tiger, who died in a tragic accident at work. Olinger Chapel worked closely with Tiger's family to personalize the service, creating a "cowboy" environment with upbeat cowboy/Western songs that were Tiger's favorites. A video tribute and Tiger's personal cowboy items were used to create a loving display along with flowers, photos and childhood belongings.

Honorable Mention 2
Darroch Memorial Chapel
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
Robert E. Barret, Funeral Director
Darroch Memorial Chapel created a highly personalized atmosphere to emulate as best as possible the deceased mother's home in Pacentro, Italy. The funeral home paid attention to every detail to recreate the home's ambiance, using photos to build a look-a-like room model. Funeral attendees commented on how touching this was, claiming the reproduction looked just like the woman's home in Italy and that they felt as if they were in her home vs. a funeral home.


Events

First Place
Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers
Indianapolis, Indiana
Bruce W. Buchanan, Co-owner
Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers of Indianapolis, Indiana, collaborated with Family Service Advisor Bert Pettygrove to create a welcome home reception for Indiana National Guardsmen returning home from duty in Bosnia. The Buchanan organization planned to create a memorial not only to honor fallen heroes but also to recognize the sacrifices these citizen-soldiers and their families make. This memorial is unusual as memorials of this stature tend to be reserved for the main military branches of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. After five years of planning and fundraising, the Hoosier Patriot Memorial was dedicated November 8, 2007.

Honorable Mention 1
Keystine Group
Tampa, Florida
James D. Price, COO
Keystone Group's 217 funeral homes and cemeteries held events to encourage individuals to support our troops with "A Little Piece of Home." Individuals stopped by one of any 217 locations and dropped off needed/recommended items for American soldiers in Iraq. Once collections boxes were full, Keystone arranged for shipment of over 15,000 boxes to make certain troops received their own "little pieces of home." This community service program benefited U.S. troops and cast Keystone funeral homes in a positive light in the communities they serve.

Honorable Mention 2
Sunset Memorial Park
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Paul F. Layer, Jr., VP of Development
Sunset Memorial Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, created a centennial urn garden—the first of its kind in New Mexico—to celebrate 100 years of community service. The garden took over two years to plan and showcases a Southwestern theme environmentally designed for more than 1,500 urn placements in a variety of settings.

Innovative Personalized Product

First Place Winner
A Touch From Beyond
Denver, Colorado
Toni Noel, Owner
A Touch from Beyond offers a variety of cards used in pre-arrangement planning. The cards allow the pre-planner to provide personalized expressions of love, joy and gratitude one final time after passing to help comfort and heal the family, friends and others left behind. The branding of the back of the cards can be individually customized by hospices, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, senior centers and funeral homes, making them powerful sources of referrals to the company.

Honorable Mention
Oregon Memorials
Hillsboro, Oregon
Lee Nielsen
As a wholesale company, Oregon Memorials rarely works with grieving families. However, on this specific occasion, the firm extended its personal services to the bereaved parents of young Kain Phomphakdy to personalize a memorial for the deceased child. Working closely with the parents and internationally acclaimed artist Hibiki Miyazaki, Oregon Memorials produced a teardrop-shaped memorial with a custom illustration memorializing Phomphakdy with all the toys and things he held dear, including racing cars, a tiger and a dragon. The lettering on the back - a compilation of notes from the boy's classmates - required extra detail touches.

2006 KIP Award Winners

Most Personalized Service or Memorial

First Place and Grand Prize Winner
Bringhurst Funeral Home/West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Deborah Cassidy, Director, Family Services
Bringhurst Funeral Home provided extensive personalized service for the family of a young girl who died in a car accident. Staff extended their hours to assist the family and provided additional rooms for family and friends to eat, sleep and grieve. Message boards, memory cards, and notebooks were made available for family and friends to write thoughts and memories.

Honorable Mention
Miller-Jones Mortuary Inc.
Hemet, California
Charlotte Jones, Marketing Manager
After the tragic deaths of four Forest Service firefighters battling the Esperanza Wildfire, Miller Jones Mortuary erected temporary memorial walls on the front lawns of their six mortuaries and created an online memorial Website. The funeral home also provided a personalized service for one of the fallen firefighters, incorporating a popcorn machine, memorial t-shirts, a stuffed bear and quilt.


Events

First Place
City of Surrey Cemetery
Surrey, British Columbia
Debbie Sproule, Cemetery Services Coordinator
The City of Surrey Cemetery partnered with the community to implement an "Operation Remembrance" program with the purpose of acknowledging, naming and honoring the veterans who rest in unmarked graves. Markers were placed on more than 30 unmarked graves, and the year-long effort ended with a dedication ceremony.

Honorable Mention
Suhor Industries/SI Memorial
Overland Park, Kansas
Dennis, Welzenbach, CEO/CFO
and InQuest Marketing
Leawood, Kansas
Alan Chapman, Consultant
(In conjunction with Hixon Funeral Homes and Johnson Funeral Home, Lake Charles, Louisiana)
SI Memorial and two local funeral homes joined forces to provide a dedication ceremony commemorating the year-long restoration of the city's cemeteries that were damaged by Hurricane Rita. The ceremony included speakers, a choir and a shrimp boil. SI Memorial and the funeral homes donated a time capsule and a stone memorial for the occasion.


Best Practices/Personal Touch

First Place
Eternal Hills
Klammath Falls, Oregon
Tim Lancaster, Executive Vice President
Eternal Hills offers families a variety of packages with extended services, including heaters for winter, fans for summer, beverages, a sound system and more.



Innovative Personalized Product

First Place Winner
Inevitable Exodus
Ottawa, Ontario
Corinne LaVictoire, President
Comfort Cub, created by Inevitable Exodus Inc., is a teddy bear with a customizable locket/urn inside. The locket can hold photos, a lock of hair, cremated remains, flower petals, earth from a burial site and more.

Honorable Mention
Cremation Solutions
Arlington, Vermont
Jeff Staab, President
Cremation Solutions offers Birdhouse Memorial Urns. The wooden urns store ashes, but can be opened up with ease for those who wish to scatter the remains. The urn can then be turned into a birdhouse memorial.

2005 KIP Award Winners

Most Personalized Service or Memorial

First Place and Grand Prize Winner
St. Michael's Cemetery
East Elmhurst, New York
Edward Horn, director of sales, marketing and community relations
St. Michael's Cemetery created a memorial for the Queen's firefighters who died on 9/11. Inscribed with Memory Medallions containing the stories and photos of all those listed, the memorial is a tribute to the lives of the firefighters lost on that day. With the push of a button, visitors to the memorial can see photos of their loved ones and their personal histories.

Honorable Mentions
Anderson McQueen Funeral and Cremation Centers
St. Petersburg, Florida
William McQueen, president
Anderson McQueen Funeral and Cremation Centers provided a personalized service for Dr. David K. Davis by incorporating all aspects of his life: banker, investor, aviator, golfer, Mr. Fix-it, artist, dad and husband. They created a gallery of Dr. Davis's life by removing all furniture from the chapel and replacing it with many of his items of memorabilia, including his golf cart, oil paints, tools, uniforms and other items.

Bronleewe Inc., Oregon Memorials
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hibiki Miyazaki
Artist Hibiki Miyazaki created two beautiful memorials that tied for honorable mention. The first memorial was designed for a couple's young daughter, Brittany, and was a replica of a needlepoint project she and her mother created together, depicting an angel with a flowing gown reaching her hand out to a girl. Miyazaki straightened the girl's hair to look more like Brittany's and placed the two figures on the edge of Heaven, with the angel leading her there.
The second memorial is a diamond-etched pictorial narrative of a young man's life, using family photos as a guide. On the center of the memorial is the scene of Cory fishing at his favorite spot. On either side are pictures of him with the first and last deer he had caught and the dates.


Magic Moment

First Place
Eternal Hills
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Tim Lancaster, CCFE, executive vice president
Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens, Funeral Home and Crematory offers a Twilight Service to families at no extra charge to better meet the needs of the community. The company created three teams of staff which include a unit manager, two family service counselors, two grounds staff and one or two office staff operating on rotating shifts. The Twilight Service allows everyone to attend the service without financial penalty or disruption of work.

Honorable Mentions
Krause Funeral Homes and Cremation Services
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mark Krause, owner
and MKJ Marketing
Largo, Florida
Marilyn Jones Gould, President
Krause Funeral Homes saw a need in the community for a facility to hold funeral receptions and built a room for this purpose at each of its locations. With the help of MKJ marketing, Krause created brochures to showcase its offerings. The firm has found that families appreciate the convenience and value of having the service and the reception at one location.

Nelsen Funeral Homes-Loving Pet Crematory
Richmond, Virginia
Blair Nelsen, president
and MKJ Marketing
Largo, Florida
Marilyn Jones Gould, President
Nelsen Funeral Homes and Loving Pets Crematory and MKJ Marketing created an online Memorial Candle program allowing families to post candles and write special tributes to their pets. Each family that is served receives a notification informing them that a candle has been placed for their pet at www.lovingpetscrematory.com.

Pinelawn Memorial Park
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Carolyn Schroeder, office manager
Pinelawn Memorial Park developed a "Garden of Angels" section for individual infant burials for families who have lost fetuses under 20 weeks. In this section, families can bury their baby at little cost to them. Pinelawn also has created a "Little Angels Fund" to help families ease the burden of purchasing something significant in memory of their infant such as a memorial, tree of remembrance, etc.


Events

First Place
Montelena Complejo Funerario
Antiguo Cuscatlán, La Libertad, El Salvador, Central America
José Alberto Samayoa Rivas, executive director
Montelena Complejo Funerario held an outdoor mass following the death of Pope John Paul II with over 2,000 people in attendance. The service included giant screens with a photographic presentation in the Pope's memory. The company offered free copies of the presentation to anyone who requested it. Balloons, paper flags and bookmarks were given away at the event.

Honorable Mentions
White Haven Memorial Park
Pittsford, New York
Andrea Vittum, CCE, president
White Haven Memorial Park provides unique quarterly remembrance services for the recently bereaved. Years ago, the cemetery started offering a holiday memorial service with music and poetry. It was so popular that it now offers these services on a quarterly basis, with approximately 250 people attending each event.

Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery
Kelowna, British Columbia
Dennis Radford, CCE, cemetery manager
As part of Kelowna's centennial celebrations, the cemetery implemented a community-based program, "Marking our Past - 100 Markers for 100 Years," to install markers on 100 of the 700 unmarked graves in its pioneer section.


Innovative Personalized Product

First Place Winner
Funeria LLC
Graton, California
Maureen Lomasney, president
"Offerings" by Funeria provides families with a beautiful artifact of their loved one's hands crafted in fine silver which can be used as a scattering vessel and passed down from generation to generation.

Honorable Mentions
Assurant
Atlanta, Georgia
Tom Barnard, vice president, development
and MKJ Marketing
Largo, Florida
Marilyn Jones Gould, President
Assurant introduced a memory booth for funeral homes called Remembrances, which allows friends and family of the deceased to record thoughts or stories of their loved one during the visitation. The video can be turned around in 24 hours to be shown at the funeral or memorial service.

Candle Perfection
Scottsdale, Arizona
Phyllis James, owner
Candle Perfection's 'Light of Life' Candle Cremation Urn and Keepsafes features a memorial candle that rests atop the urn base and never melts or changes shape. It is a beautiful permanent candle attached to a compartment that can hold a symbolic amount of ashes or a small cherished item.

2004 KIP Award Winners

Product That Personalizes

First Place and Grand Prize Winner
Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Tim Lancaster, Executive Vice President
Eternal Hills has implemented an open-ended question process designed to elicit details about a loved one's interests and priorities during the arrangements conference. This results in a life appreciation service that can encompass six elements of focus: family, religion, hobbies, organizations, work and special events. The greater depth of information resulting from this process has led to innovative and expanded services.


Innovative Personalized Product (Supplier)

First Place
Renaissance Urn Company
San Francisco, California
Mary Hickey, Co-Founder
Renaissance Urn has designed a silk remembrance urn package that serves as both an urn and a storage place for memories. It includes a photo frame, note cards on which to share memories, a pen/flower holder and a padded silk slipcover.

Honorable Mentions
Making Everlasting Memories
Cincinnati, Ohio
Phyllis Hershman, Director of Business Development
A leading Internet-based memorial archive and tribute movie production company, Making Everlasting Memories provides families with a password-protected Internet site to post biographies, sign guest books and store photographs and moving images.

Integrity Burial Boxes
Roanoke, Virginia
J. Pat Green, President
Integrity's publication of "The ABCs of Building and Marketing a Columbarium Wall" provides a step-by-step guide for anyone considering building a columbarium wall. The book includes designs, photographs, pre-construction and construction check lists, cost estimate forms, niche specifications, box-urn information and a free customizable marketing brochure on CD.


Magic Moment

First Place
Nelsen Funeral Homes
Richmond, Virginia
Blair Nelsen, President
and MKJ Marketing
Largo, Florida
Marilyn Jones Gould, President
Realizing the need to memorialize pets in a dignified personal manner, Blair Nelsen has introduced Loving Pets Crematory. MKJ Marketing was commissioned to develop a Web site, an ad campaign and brochures. Personalized pet merchandise such as urns, keepsakes and memorials have been offered to a wide market.

Honorable Mentions
Warren County Memorial Park
Warren, Pennsylvania
Ruth F. Seebeck, Secretary-Treasurer and Co-Manager
Warren County Memorial Park commissioned a local ceramics shop to make hearts in a variety of colors and designs. The keepsake hearts are about 2 inches across and are unglazed on the back so that a family member or friend can pen a personal remembrance. This not only provides a remembrance of a loved one, but reminds friends and family of services available.

D'Esopo Funeral Chapel
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Michael Klett, President
and MKJ Marketing
Largo, Florida
Marilyn Jones Gould, President
The D'Esopo Life Tribute Center was created as a special place away from the funeral home setting that allows a family to make unique funeral arrangements in a less stressful atmosphere. Offering a single site for music, floral and catering planning has created interest among both the service provider community and families.


Most Personalized Service

First Place
Bringhurst Funeral Home at West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Cala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Nevin W. Mann, President and CEO
In November 2004, "Mrs. W." died on a Thursday morning. The visitation was on the following Monday, and a church service followed on Tuesday. The arrangements organized during this short time frame included obtaining a pen-and-ink drawing of the mausoleum to be displayed at the service, displaying art created by Mrs. W., distributing calla lilies and pink breast cancer ribbons to attendees, taking photographs of all the floral arrangements and creating 25-slide personal DVDs with audio, which were played during the visitation on three televisions.

Honorable Mention
Cypress Lawn Cemetery Association
Colma, California
Ken Varner, President and CEO
The remains of 97 unidentified men, women and children who were buried in the mid-1880s in San Francisco's first public cemetery were discovered in the late 1990s by construction workers erecting the city's Main Library and Asian Art Museum. Cypress Lawn donated a $56,000 burial plot to the city and re-interred the remains in their Pioneer Garden. The service in November 2004 was attended by state and local dignitaries.


Special Events Over $1,000

First Place Winner
Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery
Kelowna, British Columbia
Dennis Radford, Cemetery Manager
Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery partnered with the local chapter of The Compassionate Friends to design and build a memorial for those whose children have predeceased their parents. The Compassionate Friends is an international support organization open to all bereaved parents and family members. The project includes a plaza with memorial walls, a dedication monument, a life-sized bronze statue and landscaping. Families were offered the opportunity to put a child's name on the memorial walls. Interest was so great that The Compassionate Friends had to cut off the names at 160. More than 500 family and friends attended the dedication.

Honorable Mentions
Nelsen Funeral Homes
Richmond, Virginia
Blair Nelsen, President
and MKJ Marketing
Largo, Florida
Marilyn Jones Gould, President
A free flag exchange was organized for Veterans Day by Nelsen and MKJ Marketing. People were encouraged to bring in old American flags for dignified disposal, and they received a new flag in exchange. A ceremony honoring local veterans also was held.

Chippiannock Cemetery
Rock Island, Illinois
Gregory M. Vogele, Superintendent
In conjunction with the celebration of the Grand Excursion of 1854, Chippiannock Cemetery held a Grand Epitaphs historical event. Costumed re-enactors performed historical vignettes revolving around 10 individuals buried at Chippiannock who were planners or had a part in bringing rail service to the Mississippi in 1854. The event included live period music and 'epitaffy,' a salt-water candy packaged in a bag, each featuring one of a series of original epitaphs gathered from cemetery memorials.


Special Events Under $1,000

First Place Winner
Keystone Group
Tampa, Florida
Jim Price, Chief Operating Officer
After the death of Ronald Reagan, the 100 Keystone affiliated funeral homes erected temporary memorial walls in honor of the former president. The public was invited to visit and sign condolence books, which were later forwarded to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. People also left candles, jellybeans, photos, drawings and memorabilia.

Honorable Mention
Wyuka Funeral Home and Cemetery
Lincoln, Nebraska
Bryan K. Block, Director of Cemetery Operations
Wyuka Funeral Home partnered with a local church to stage a Living Nativity in their historic stables building during the Christmas holidays. Choral/drama productions were presented in the chapel, animals were available for petting, food and monetary donations were collected for the local food bank, and gifts were purchased and wrapped for the People's City Mission.

2003 KIP Award Winners

Product That Personalizes

First Place Winner
Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, Klamath Falls, Oregon
Eternal Hills creates a video CD for clients. The family is asked to provide photos, which are scanned and set to music, creating a video eulogy that can be played during visitation and the service...

Honorable Mention
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Seattle, Washington
Evergreen-Washelli has designed an online Personalized Funeral Planner at www.evergreen-washelli.com--a program that allows one to record personal thoughts and wishes pertaining to a memorial service...



Innovative Personalized Product

First Place
Celebritas!, Mill Creek, Washington
Celebritas! designs and produces Moving Lives custom remembrance documentaries. Each is based on imagery and information supplied by families and is created using documentary film techniques...

Honorable Mentions
Trigard, Danville, Illinois
Trigard has created Storybook Collection engraved bronze memorials, precision engravings made from high-quality photographs and recreated in detailed 3D contour relief images telling the story of one's life...

Zachary Douglass LLC, Orem, Utah
Zachary Douglass LLC creates customized memorial programs, archival-quality prints and glass tributes. Families select a custom setting and provide favorite photos and verses, poems or scriptures...



Magic Moments

First Place
Nelsen Funeral Homes and MKJ Marketing, Richmond, Virginia
Nelsen Funeral Homes provides a camera to families prior to the visitation and arrival of friends, along with free developing. This gives the family an opportunity to take pictures with loved ones they may not see on a regular basis...

Honorable Mention
Krause Funeral Home and MKJ Marketing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Krause Funeral Home has created a Remembrance Services book that displays the many extra personalization choices available through the funeral home. Each family is invited to look through the book, discuss any options that interest them...



Most Personalized Service

First Place and Grand Prize Winner
Schoedinger Funeral and Cremation Service, Columbus, Ohio
Schoedinger held an individual memorial service for a Native American, working with the family to arrange the ceremony on the deceased's land following a home visitation in his cabin...

Honorable Mention
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park Co., Seattle, Washington
Evergreen-Washelli held a personalized memorial service by incorporating the deceased's 30-year tow truck career and love of John Deere tractors into the ceremony. Evergreen-Washelli used their fully restored 1938 John Deere tractor and caisson to lead the funeral procession...



Special Events Over $1,000

First Place Winner
Buchanan Group Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Buchanan Group Inc. held its "Play It Safe, Life Awaits" children's bicycle helmet giveaway on April 15, 2003. Over 5,000 bicycle helmets were given away at 18 locations in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Tampa, Florida...

Honorable Mention
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park held its Chung Yeung Festival of Remembrance, a Chinese festival for the dead, October 4-5, 2003. Buddhist monks performed special ceremonies in a large tent where the service was performed...



Special Events Under $1,000

First Place Winner
The Tribute Co./Pinelawn Memorial Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In spring 2003, Pinelawn Memorial Park held a "Grief Garden" theme remembrance service for all families who had a burial in the cemetery during the past year. Grief and bereavement support group speakers based the service on the symbolism of the grieving process recognized through nature...

Honorable Mention
Chandler Funeral Home and MKJ Marketing, Wilmington, Delaware
For several years, Chandler Funeral Home has hosted many community seminars dealing with estate planning, grief and cremation. Seeing a need to address the pain of pet owners following the loss of a family pet, Chandler held a Pet Loss Seminar in 2003...

2002 KIP Award Winners

Special Event Under $1,000

First Place Winner
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, Washington
Evergreen-Washelli holds an annual memorial service for those who have donated their bodies to medical science...

Honorable Mentions
Anniston Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, Anniston, Alabama
Anniston Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home used 2,000 luminary candles to line its cemetery roads and held a Christmas memorial...

White Haven Memorial Park, Pittsford, New York
White Haven Memorial Park held a dedication for a monument to military, law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel

Additional Entries
Anniston Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, Anniston, Alabama
Anniston Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home invited all property owners to a Memorial Day cookout...

Lakeland Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens provided a light picnic for Veterans Day visitors to the cemetery...

Miller-Jones Mortuary & Menifee Valley Memorial Park, Hemet and Sun City, California
Miller-Jones Mortuary & Menifee Valley Memorial Park commissioned a monument to honor 9/11 victims...



Special Event Over $1,000

First Place & Grand Prize Winner
Michigan Memorial Park, Flat Rock, Michigan
Michigan Memorial Park held a 9/11 remembrance service in conjunction with other community organizations...

Honorable Mention
Keystone Group Holdings
100 Keystone funeral and cemetery properties each held 9/11 ceremonies featuring a memorial wall...

Additional Entries
Capillas Senoriales Funeral Home, Mixco, Guatemala
Cappilas Seniorales funeral home stages a passion play Easter week...

Miller-Jones Mortuary & Menifee Valley Memorial Park, Hemet and Sun City, California
Miller-Jones Mortuary & Menifee Valley Memorial Park holds an annual Veteran of the Year program.


Magic Moment

First Place Winner
Lakeland Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland Funeral Home takes two photos of all flower arrangements received and gives them to the families...

Honorable Mention
Santa Rosa Memorial Park, Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rose Memorial Park includes a photo of the memorial (grave marker) when it sends letters to families...

Additional Entries
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, Washington
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park uses a label machine to add the individual's name to the nameplate identifying the visitation room...

Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, Washington
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park puts the name of the deceased and the time of the service on a sign placed near the grave site...

Miller-Jones Mortuary, Hemet and Sun City, California
Miller-Jones Mortuary makes personalization suggestions to families after interviewing them at the arrangements conference...

Mount Hope Cemetery, Webb City, Michigan
Mount Hope Cemetery sends each family a plaque as a keepsake...

Riverside Cemetery Association, Norwalk, Connecticut
Riverside Cemetery Association sends each family a sympathy card with a list of bereavement support groups and the manager's personal business card...

White Haven Memorial Park, Pittsford, New York
White Haven Memorial Park offers personal sessions with its director of chapel events for those who need more time to get over their loss...


Product That Personalizes

First Place Winner
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, Washington
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park creates personalized funeral holders and registry books...

Additional Entries
Lakeland Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens has a staff member who uses memorabilia from the deceased to create a personalized cremation urn...

Prairie Home Cemetery, Waukesh, Wisconsin
Prairie Home Cemetery's newest garden mausoleum has relaxed regulations on inscriptions and sells custom artwork for benches, crypt fronts, etc.

2001 KIP Award Winners

Special Events Over $1,000

1st Place and Grand Prize Winner

Fernando Aguilar and Francisco Valencia
Los Parques Cemetery (Cementerio Los Parques)
Guatemala

Los Parques cemetery celebrates the Day of the Dead with a tradition based on local Indian (Mayan) myths. Families create giant kites and fly them in the cemetery to block evil souls from disturbing the good souls.

Judges' comments:

  • Good combination of fun, tradition and remembrance.
  • Good marriage of culture and cemetery.
  • Great! Meets customer needs on a variety of levels, builds awareness and reinforces community's culture.
  • This one is my favorite! I wish we had more cultural festivites like this one. It is very creative, and encourages others to get involved, remembers loved ones and celebrates.
  • I like the fact that they made it a fun occasion, kept statistics of the number of invitees, etc.

Special Events Under $1,000

1st Place

John R. Herzig, CFSP
Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes
Dover, Ohio

Toland-Herzig Funeral Home's Gift From the Heart Program was a Valentine's Day blood drive for people to donate blood in memory of a loved one.

Judges' comments:

  • Excellent. Remember the dead, help the living.
  • Extremely related. Makes sense. Nice connection that reinforces caring image of company.
  • A wonderful public relations opportunity, as well as a good opportunity to give life back into the community. Though not original these days, I like that they did it.
  • Excellent idea.
  • A way to invite families to come in, give blood and renew the connection with the funeral home and staff.


Honorable Mentions

James Quinn
Bluff City Cemetery
Elgin, Illinois

Bluff City Cemetery co-sponsors a memorial walk for families who have experienced miscarriage or still birth and were unable to bury their infant or buried their baby out-of-state.

Judges' comments:

  • Great concept! These people are often not recognized or easily forgotten.
  • Nice concept. Good response. Very effective for investment.
  • Good public relations opportunity for cemetery.
  • Great idea for people who really need it.


Kathleen Purdie
White Haven Memorial Park
Pittsford, New York

White Haven Memorial Park's Valentine's Service is a non-religious, casual support service for those who have lost loved ones during the previous year and the community at large.

Judges' comments:

  • Nice touch and important to remember.
  • Hits the bullseye. Broad appeal, personalized, good response, unique.
  • This is the perfect time to remember loved ones -- though not original -- I do like the intentions at Valentine's Day.
  • Good idea, the more diverse and secular the better.

Magic Moments

1st Place

Slivy Edmonds Cotton
Perpetua Holding/Wade Funeral Home & Florist
St. Louis, Missouri

As a gift and memento, Wade Funeral Home sends a crystal egg to each family three months after the service, at the point when families feel their loss has been forgotten.

Judges' comments:

  • Love the idea! To follow up three months later is very thoughtful.
  • Very classy and thoughtful.
  • The idea of showing concern when a family thinks it is gone is great.
  • Nice after-service program.


Honorable Mentions

Suzanne Van Cura
White Haven Memorial Park
Pittsford, New York

White Haven Memorial Park suggests that families light a memorial candle as part of the funeral service, and keep the candle to light when thinking of the deceased.

Judges' comments:

  • Highly effective practice, interactive, simple, low/no cost. Appears to be common practice, but this group takes it to the next level.
  • Thoughtful and not too "sappy." Helps the person to grieve in their own way.
  • This one touched me personally, much more than the others. I think the lighting of a candle and holding a lit candle are significantly meaningful for depicting the emotions of the situation. I also very much like the concept of the candle being lit whenever the sadness becomes too much (personal and creative). And, the candle "lighting the way for tomorrow" also is great and perhaps White Haven could use that.


B. David Daly, CCFE
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park and Funeral Home
Seattle, Washington

Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home asks all attending a service to write down a memory of the deceased to leave for the family.

Judges' comments:

  • Nice remembrance.
  • Expected, but very personal and "touching." Effective in its simplicity.
  • Wonderful way to share moments.
  • This is very good, and appropriate as a magic moment.
  • Nice. Simple. Easy to do. Nice "leave behind" for the family.

Products That Personalize

1st Place

Mike Johnson
Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park and Funeral Home
Seattle, Washington

Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home has developed a detailed guideline to help people who are preplanning their funerals record their autobiography to leave to descendants.

Judges' comments:

  • Great way to remember the past and paint a portrait of an individual's life.
  • A lot of work, but nicely organized.
  • Exremely personalizaed. Relatively low cost. Very touching, high value product/service.
  • A very nice, thoughtful way to help those "pre-planning" cope with life and celebrate it, and leave something personal to memorialize them.
  • This is the most creative entry, and, of course, has the potential to be highly personal and meaningful.
  • I like this very much ... A wonderful way for people to capture their life and leave it for the loved ones. Plus, it's something that is cost-effective and easy to carry on.


Honorable Mention

Slivy Edmonds Cotton
Perpetua Holding/Wade Funeral Home & Florist
St. Louis, Missouri

Wade Funeral Home is building "sets" to encourage families to be creative about visitations. Sets so far include "traditional parlor funeral," "sports theme" and "Big Momma's kitchen."

Judges' comments:

  • Interesting.
  • Celebrates life.
  • This sounds hilarious -- a little on the outrageous side -- but would definitely be an event to remember, while making the ceremony a little easier to handle.
  • This is a great idea and quite personal, meaningful and creative.
  • Nice way to bring "warmth" to the event. Think about expanding the selections to represent various cultures. Nice way to generate ongoing business from various groups.

KIP Awards

The KIP (Keeping It Personal) Awards for the best in personalization were created by ICCFA's Personalization Committee to recognize outstanding examples of personalization of services or products in the death care profession. Categories are:

  • Innovative Personalized Product (suppliers-only category): Product that memorializes in a personal and meaningful way. The product may be physical or virtual and may include, but is not limited to, memorials, monuments, urns, art, printed material and Web-based tributes.
  • Most Personalized Service or Memorial: An outstanding example of a personalized funeral for a particular individual, or a very personalized memorial. Explain how your staff provided a particular family with a funeral service or memorialization that really told the story of their loved one’s life.
  • Event: For the most personal and creative workshop, seminar or holiday event sponsored by your cemetery or funeral home. The even must include the participation of your clients and/or the general public. Such events may include, but aren’t limited to, themes that are educational, commemorative, charitable, celebratory, financial or psychological in nature.
  • Best Practice: A "best practice." Something that you do for every family, or every family in a certain situation (examples: when the deceased is a veteran, or a baby). Note: An event such as a Christmas program is NOT a best practice, it’s an event.
  • Most Personalized Pet Service or Memorial: An outstanding example of a personalized funeral for a particular pet, or a very personalized memorial. Explain how your staff provided a particular family with a pet memorialization or tribute service that really told the story of their beloved pet’s life.

 

Past Winners:

 

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KIP2011_Suppliers.pdf297.73 KB
KIP2011_PetService.pdf296.88 KB
KIP2011_PersonalizedService.pdf296.61 KB
KIP2011_Event.pdf318.71 KB
KIP2011_BestPractice.pdf296.21 KB
Complete_2011_KIP_packet.pdf340.96 KB