Media, PA—This year, ASD – Answering Service for Directors is celebrating their 40th Anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, ASD has recently updated their logo to reflect the company's growth and evolution over the years. The new logo, which will most commonly feature ASD employees, marks the official retirement of the ASD waiter who has served the company well since the 1970s when he was designed by the first generation of the Czachor family.

The Indiana Funeral Directors Association (IFDA) hosted a Preneed 101 Training seminar on May 8, 2012. This one day course, for owners, licensees and preneed sales people alike, touches on the history of funeral service, but was designed to teach the purpose of prearranging, and highlights benefits beyond "peace of mind" and guaranteed price. Attendees were given working knowledge of Indiana laws governing funeral service and preneed sales, and tips on how to generate leads, increase appointment percentages and close more effectively.

Des Moines, Iowa - Homesteaders VP-Field Sales Dan Lodermeier announced today the addition of two new account executives, Phillip Anglin serving funeral homes in Western Tennessee, western Kentucky and northern Mississippi, and Terri Bordenkircher who will serve funeral homes in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky.

Commencement exercises were recently held for the February 2012 graduating students of Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service at the Fairfield Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia. The graduation speaker was Dr. Carol Thomas Williams of Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Williams is the Executive Director of the National Funeral Director and Morticians Association. In addition, Dr. Williams is associated with the Carl M. Williams Funeral Directors funeral home in Atlanta. Her dynamic speech, entitled "Professionalism," offered great inspiration and encouragement to the graduating students as well as to all others.

San Francisco, CA - Carrier Mausoleums Construction, Inc. (CMC) is pleased to announce the completion of the "Hall of the Olympians" Glass Front Niches development at the Neptune Society Columbarium of San Francisco. The Neptune Society Columbarium is one of San Francisco's most iconic architectural treasures. Adding to the excitement of this development, these are among the finest Glass Front Niches in the United States.

Brookfield, Wis. - Every year, more than 450,000 people are injured or killed in automobile accidents caused by distracted driving. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has partnered with Federated Insurance to offer Association members an exclusive community outreach kit to educate the public about the dangers of distracted driving. The kit is available to NFDA members at no cost. Federated Insurance is NFDA's endorsed provider of business insurance.

PITTSBURGH, PA --Matthews International Corporation today announced it has acquired Everlasting Granite Memorial Co., Inc., of Elberton, Georgia. Everlasting is a supplier of granite memorials, columbariums, and private mausoleum estates. The acquisition expands Matthews' presence in the granite memorial segment, adding to its established West Coast operations. Greg Gunter, President of Everlasting, joins Matthews as President of Matthews Granite Company, where he will have responsibility for managing Matthews' full granite operations nationally.