October 2023 President Message

With autumn quickly approaching, you can see the beauty of the nature slowly retreating to a dormant stage. The last few weeks have not entered the dormant stage for our association…

I had the pleasure to take part in my first NYSFDA Planning Session as President. We had two days of full meetings where we recognized the issues that need to be addressed this upcoming year and to plan not only for this year but future years. These sessions are the opening meetings for the NYSFDA Board and set the agenda for the year. The enthusiasm and effort the board and staff puts into these sessions make them so vital to the continued growth of NYSFDA.

An issue NYSFDA needs to address is Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) and how it will impact funeral service. The state legislative body has approved NOR as a form of disposition in New York State. These facilities seemed destined to be in cemeteries, either with the cemetery as operators or as a separate entity operating within the cemetery grounds. The biggest unknown is the role of the funeral director in the process. Are we only to deliver human remains to the facility and exit stage right? Are we responsible for the safe keeping of these remains as the NOR process goes through the stages of reduction, estimated to last in some instances for as long as nine months? Are we involved in the return of the organically reduced remains and the by-products of the process, estimated to be a few hundred pounds or so, to the family or help scatter in a designated spot in nature? I welcome your comments and thoughts on how NYSFDA can address this issue in all areas of the state. You can reach out to the NYSFDA offices, your local regional representative, or any of the officers. Your feedback is needed and welcomed.

I opened this message reflecting on the changing seasons and how even though a lot of things change, in a short while they come back to the way we always remember them. NOR is definitely a big change in funeral service. We can only hope that the funeral director remains integral to the whole process.

In partnership,

John O. D’Arienzo
President