1-12-09 SPOTLIGHT EXPRESS

spotlight express - Monday, January 12, 2009

Have You Paid Your 2009 Dues?

The deadline for payment of 2009 WFDA, NFDA and District Association dues is January 31^st.  According to the WFDA By-Laws, membership in WFDA shall be forfeited if annual dues are not paid by March 1^st.  Also, if you pay your dues by January 31^st there is no increase in your NFDA dues portion; however, if your dues statements and payments are not postmarked by January 31st there will be a $15 increase added to your NFDA dues portion(Per NFDA 2009 dues policy.)

All members should have received a dues statement back in December.  Please call the WFDA Office to request another copy if you are unable to locate the one previously sent. 

2009 WFDA Annual Convention

Mark your calendars!  The 2009 State Convention will be held June 15-18 at The Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.  A detailed brochure containing all the information necessary to plan for the convention will be sent out later this spring.  We will notify you when you can start making hotel reservations at The Kalahari Resort with the WFDA room block and GREAT rates!

Calling All 25 and 50 Year Licensees

Due to the large number of funeral directors checking the “opt out” box on their license renewal, WFDA is no longer able to identify those members eligible to receive their 25 and 50 Year recognition award.  However, we still want to recognize you at our annual convention in June. Therefore, if you were issued a license in either 1959 or 1984, please call the WFDA Office at 1-800-648-5580.

Employment Opportunities

·         Licensed Funeral Director: Becker Ritter Funeral Home in Brookfield is looking for a licensed funeral director.  Duties will include all aspects of funeral service. Applicant must display a desire to work with families and be a good communicator. Other prep duties will be included along with funeral daily upkeep. Salary compensatory with experience.  We are a very progressive firm, and we will be looking for someone with that skill set.  Contact Paul Andrus at Becker Ritter Funeral Home at 262-782-5330.

Scam Phone Calls and Emails

WFDA has gotten phone calls from members alerting us that the scam phone calls and emails are circulating again.

Educate yourself!

If an American citizen has died overseas, you can contact the Overseas Citizens Office of the US State Department at (888) 407-4747 for assistance.  Remember when an American citizen dies overseas and remains are to be returned to the US, the nearest embassy or consulate must issue a certificate to accompany the casket.

Although there are a number of variations, the basic scenario has remained the same.  A relay operator contacts the funeral home, assisting someone with a phone call from overseas.  The caller says that their mother, father, brother, etc. has died and they need your assistance in bringing them home.  They want you to call a funeral home in Nigeria or the United Kingdom, always outside the United States, and send money via Western Union to the out of country funeral home.  They then try to give you a credit card to pay for the charges.  Variations have included contact through email and fax; however, the scheme is the same.

What can you do? 

WFDA cannot stress this statement enough; simply, DELETE and DO NOT RESPOND to ANY email and/or fax you receive that you feel is questionable.  Replying to this questionable correspondence only makes you more susceptible and targets you to continue receiving false claims in the future, as well as the potential for opening an attached computer virus and/or incurring long distance and international phone charges.

In addition, should you receive a relay call (operator assisted call) stemming from an INTERNATIONAL location, be persistent and ask that someone locally come in to make arrangements, otherwise simply HANG UP this is a scam.  The more information funeral directors request from these phone and email scam calls, the more authentic the scam correspondence is becoming.  These relay calls are used for the hearing impaired or in this case for those who do not want to have their call traced.

You should NEVER send any money even if they give you a credit card and tell you to charge the amount they ask you to send.  It is more than likely the credit card they are using has been stolen.  If you are given a credit card number, you should call and report this to the credit card company and local authorities, as the person whose card number was given may not even be aware of it being stolen.

Educate others!

Again, WFDA wanted to pass along this information and remind you to use your best judgment.  PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE with everyone in your firm and professional funeral community. 

In Memoriam

†  Jerome J. Mealy, of Eagle, Wisconsin passed away in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, December 7, 2008 while vacationing with his wife Karen.  Jerry was owner of Mealy’s Funeral Homes in Eagle and Palmyra.  He was a long-time WFDA member.  Jerry belonged to both the Milwaukee/Waukesha County and South Central Districts.  He was a member of the WFDA Board of Directors from 1998 to 2000.  Jerry was instrumental in the merging of the Milwaukee and Waukesha Districts back in 1999-2000.  He was a past board member of the South Central District and a current board member for the Milwaukee/Waukesha County District. 

†  Sylvester J. “Cy” Dernbach Jr., 70, of Sturgeon Bay, funeral director and former owner of Davis Mortuary passed away Saturday, December 20, 2008.   Cy was a long-time member of WFDA.  He became a licensed funeral director in 1962.  In 1963, he worked for Davis Mortuary for two years before going to Lyndahl Funeral Home in Green Bay.  In August of 1973 Cy returned to Sturgeon Bay and worked as a funeral director at Davis Mortuary, purchasing the funeral home in 1989. In 2001 Cy sold the funeral home to Todd Huehns and continued as a funeral director with Huehns Funeral Home.

†  Mrs. Jane E. Hemer, mother of J. Mark and Jeffrey L. Hemer, Hemer Funeral Service in Medford, passed away on December 25, 2008.  She was the former owner of Hemer Funeral Service from 1971 until her retirement in 1989.

† Jerome J. Kleczka, of Milwaukee, passed away on Saturday, January 3, 2009.  Jerry was the very proud owner of Prasser-Kleczka Funeral Homes and was a licensed funeral director since 1959. He was a long-time member of the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association, the Milwaukee-Waukesha County Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association.  Jerry served as President of the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association 1983-84.  His sons, Jay and Jeffrey, are WFDA members and serve in district and committee roles.

†  Mary Catherine Mueller, mother-in-law of WFDA President Paul Andrus, passed away on Wednesday, January 7, 2009.