Larnique Mickens is the executive director of Heritage Mortuary, Inc. in Las Vegas, Nevada. She shared her experiences with running a successful funeral home that recently won Best of Las Vegas by Vegas Review Journal in 2021.

Jim Rudolph started his career in 1980 working at local funeral home. In 2000 he founded Veterans Funeral Care (VFC) – the nation’s first branded funeral home focusing on serving veterans and their families. Through its provider network, VFC now provides services to veterans in 18 states.

OGR FUTURE LEADER SPOTLIGHT
Tricia Herzig-McKinnon is a 41-year-old licensed funeral director, embalmer and vice president of Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes & Crematory in Dover and Strasburg, Ohio.

The Order of the Golden Rule Foundation has granted scholarships to six graduating students as part of its 2023 Awards of Excellence scholarship program. These scholarships are awarded each year to mortuary students based on strong academic performance, community involvement and an essay exemplifying a commitment to serving grieving families with compassion, fairness and dignity.

The International Order of the Golden Rule (OGR) installed Christopher B. Miller on May 3rd as the organization’s new president. Miller is the owner of Thomas Miller Mortuary & Crematory with locations in Corona and Riverside California.

A second-generation funeral director, Miller began working in the family business as a teenager. After graduating high school, Miller left the family business to attend the California Polytechnic University of Pomona. He graduated in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Restaurant Management and worked in corporate management for the food service industry. Wanting to return to the family business, Miller received a Mortuary Science degree in 1992 from the Mortuary Science Program at Cypress College, also receiving the highest honor from the program, the Melvin Hilgenfeld Award.

OGR is proud to welcome Passages International as its newest Endorsed Supplier. Endorsed suppliers must meet exact requirements and complete an in-depth review process before an endorsement is granted by OGR. The products awarded an endorsement are identified with the OGR Endorsed Supplier logo. 

"We are so pleased that Passages has chosen to become an Endorsed Supplier with OGR. We value our members and want to give them the best possible experience with our association. In choosing to become an Endorsed Supplier, Passages has allowed us to support them in ways that bring us closer together as partners in our shared mission of making independent funeral homes exceptional,” said Wendy King, Executive Director/CEO of OGR. 

The International Order of the Golden Rule (OGR) is proud to announce the winners of the Golden Rule Community Service and Exemplary Service Awards. The awards were presented on May 3, 2023, at the Golden Circle Celebration Awards Dinner held in Indianapolis. These awards honor individuals and funeral homes that have displayed exceptional dedication, innovation, and commitment to excellence in the profession.

The International Order of the Golden Rule (OGR) is proud to announce that Rafael (Raffy) Jose is the winner of the 2023 Golden Light Award. The award was presented on May 3, 2023, at the Golden Circle Celebration Awards Dinner held a in Indianapolis. 

Get ready to mark your calendars because the event of the year is just around the corner! OGR's Annual Conference is the ultimate gathering of like-minded individuals who are passionate about the funeral profession. It's the perfect opportunity to reconnect with fellow colleagues and suppliers, and the best part is, it's happening in person! With an innovative educational program and exclusive networking opportunities, you won't want to miss out on the 2023 OGR Annual Conference. Here are five top reasons why you need to be there.

It feels like forever that we have been heads down, mired in the day-to-day tasks of running our business. We are all exhausted. We hear a lot about self-care, but who has the luxury to do that? And what does that mean anyway? Yoga, meditation, sleeping in? You’re probably thinking, “I don’t have time for that. I have a business to run.”

OGR will have three vacancies on its Board of Directors to fill this year. Voting opened in January and the winners will be inducted as part of the Golden Circle Celebration Dinner at the Annual Conference in Indianapolis this May. Below are the three employees of OGR-member funeral homes who have been nominated to fill those vacancies.

What would change if you could see the cremation process through your customer’s eyes? What if you had an unlimited budget and plenty of staff? What would your cremation offerings look like if you had no limits to what you could do? Find out by attending this facilitated problem-solving event based on the IDEO Human Centered Design Thinking approach.

OGR Study Groups are one of our most valuable member benefit programs. As COVID travel restrictions eased, two of our groups met in the fall of 2022. The East Coast Study Group met at Hummel Funeral Home in Akron, Ohio, and the West Coast Study Group met at Thomas Miller Mortuary & Crematory in Corona, California.

How many calls are you missing out on by ranking one spot lower than your competitor on Google?

Winter is officially here, and with the winter season comes the inevitable roller coaster of weather forecasts, winter storms and energy costs.

Andi Schmidtgall is a 34-year-old funeral director and embalmer at Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel in Watertown, South Dakota.

One of the most important changes we’ve seen in recent years is the shift from physical to virtual events. This shift has changed expectations for what “attendance” means for a funeral service. Now, more than ever, families are looking for ways to connect with their loved ones, even if they cannot physically attend a funeral.