CFSA-Member-News

Selected Independent Funeral Homes Declares Board Members

From a press release.

Selected Independent Funeral Homes has announced the appointment of new Board Members to lead the world’s oldest association of independently-owned funeral homes. Selected’s Board Member Appointment Committee chose the new Directors who, together with the newly-elected Officers, will be installed later this year at the 99th Annual Meeting, September 10-13 at the Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago.

Arthur I. Erickson of Beecher & Bennett Funeral Service in Hamden, Connecticut, will represent Group 1. Erickson is a third-generation funeral director licensed for 32 years and is proud to have two sons licensed and working at his firm, which has been a Selected member since 1921.  He attends Annual Meetings, is a member of the Selected Study Groups Program and served on Selected’s Preferred Partner Selection Workgroup. He has been President of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association and served on the NFDA Policy Board. He is currently on the Board of the Evergreen Cemetery Association, is Treasurer of the Greater New Haven Funeral Directors Association, and is active in numerous other professional and civic organizations.  “I appreciate the opportunity to serve as the Group 1 representative and look forward to working with members as well as the Selected Board and Staff,” said Erickson.  

Jake Johnson of Menke Funeral Home & Cremation Center in Sun City, Arizona, will serve as the new Group 6 representative. Menke Funeral Home has been a Selected member since 2008. Johnson describes Selected meetings as “enlightening, and opportunities for forward-thinking discussions”. While he is the Owner/General Manager of Menke Funeral Home, he has been involved in all aspects of funeral service including management of large cemetery grounds operations, technology, funeral arrangement/planning, accounting, finance, loan underwriting, and more. He also is President and CEO of Johnson Consulting Group and FDMS Funeral Case Software.  “It is an honor to be associated with such a fine group of forward-thinking funeral operators,” said Johnson. “I look forward to contributing to the further growth and enrichment that the association provides to its members.”

The entire 2017 Board of Directors includes President Neil O’Connor, Laguna Hills, Calif., Group 6; Secretary-Treasurer Ann Ciccarelli, Saugus, Mass., Group 1; President-Elect Charles “Chip” Billow, Akron, Ohio, Group 2; Kim Farris-Luke, Abingdon, Va., Group 3; Secretary-Treasurer-Elect Lisa Baue, St. Charles, Mo., Group 4; Joe Jackson Jr., Laredo, Texas, Group 5, and Ex Officio Mark T. Higgins, Durham, N.C., Group 3.