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This article is about the nine funeral homes in Connecticut that have been honored with national awards for providing excellent service to families and communities. The funeral homes mentioned below have earned national 2017 Pursuit of Excellence Awards from the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). All nine are members of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association (CFDA). The national award is presented by NFDA annually to firms that have demonstrated a commitment to raising the bar on funeral service excellence by adhering to strict ethical and professional standards and providing outstanding service to families and communities.
Only 164 funeral homes in the world are being recognized with a 2017 NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Award for innovative community service programs, dynamic public relations efforts and professional integrity. The nine Connecticut recipients are: B.C. Bailey Funeral Home in Wallingford (first time recipient); D’Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel in East Hartford; D’Esopo Funeral Chapel in Wethersfield; Duksa Family Funeral Homes at Burritt Hill in New Britain; Duksa Family Funeral Home at Newington Memorial in Newington; Howard K. Hill Funeral Services in New Haven; Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home in Stamford; Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home in Fairfield; and Thomas L. Neilan & Sons Funeral Home in New London (first time recipient).
In addition, Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home in Fairfield will be inducted into the NFDA Hall of Excellence this year. NFDA-member funeral homes are inducted into the Hall of Excellence upon receiving their 10th Pursuit of Excellence Award, in recognition of their consistent display of professional and ethical excellence. Of this year’s Pursuit of Excellence awardees, D’Esopo East Hartford Memorial Chapel in East Hartford, D’Esopo Funeral Chapel in Wethersfield, and Duksa Family Funeral Home at Newington Memorial in Newington are already Hall of Excellence inductees.
All of the Pursuit of Excellence awardees will be formally honored by the NFDA on October 30 at an All-Star Recognition Ceremony during the 2017 NFDA International Convention & Expo in Boston from October 29 through November 1.
To earn an NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Award, a funeral home must demonstrate proficiency in key areas of funeral service, such as compliance with state and federal regulations; providing ongoing education and professional development opportunities for staff; offering outstanding programs and resources to bereaved families; maintaining an active level of involvement in the community; participating and actively serving in the funeral service profession; and promoting funeral home services through a variety of marketing, advertising and public relations programs. Participants are also required to adhere to a Pledge of Ethical Practices.
The 128-year-old Connecticut Funeral Directors Association (CFDA) is comprised of funeral directors at more than 220 funeral homes in the state. Based in Wethersfield, Conn., the professional organization is committed to the promotion and advocacy of high ethical standards in funeral service. This includes the development and presentation of ongoing professional training opportunities for practitioners and educational programs for association members and the public. For more information, call 860-721-0234 or 800-919-2332, or visit www.ctfda.org.
The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 19,700 individual members who represent more than 10,000 funeral homes in the U.S. and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest national advocate for the profession. It offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.
Release ID: 255468