IFDF Welcomes New Board Members for 2024-2025

*Note - This article was first published in the August 2024 edition of Funeral Home & Cemetery News.

TALLAHASSEE, FL- The Independent Funeral Directors of Florida (IFOF) elected P. Cameron Naugle Jr by unanimous vote in its general membership meeting, installed two new board members, and presented several recognition awards during the Annual Conference & Trade Show, which was held at Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa in Palm Coast, FL, May 29-June 1, 2024. Naugle will serve a one-year term, 2024-2025.

Naugle, fourth generation licensed funeral director and president of Naugle Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Jacksonville, had previously served on the IFDF board of directors as President-elect, Vice President, and Region 2 Director.

Quinn Haisley-Wheeler, director of funeral service operations/pet services, Haisley Funeral & Cremation Service and Treasure Coast  Cremations, Fort Pierce, FL, was installed as the IFDF Region 5 Director. Jack Roland, general manager of Roberts Funeral Home, Dunnellon, FL, and funeral director in charge of both Roberts and Florida Cremation, Ocala, FL, was installed as an IFDF At-large Director.

The other members of the 2024-2025 IFDF Board of Directors include: David Rosenbalm, Immediate Past President, Director of Operations, Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory, Leesburg, FL; Tim Adams, President-Elect, Owner, Adams Funeral Home, Blountstown, FL; Peter Rene Martin, Vice President, Owner, Bernardo Garcia Funeral Homes, Miami, FL; Earline Blumhagen, Secretary, Licensed Funeral Director, Robert Bryant Funeral & Cremation Services, Orlando, FL; Brad Zahn, Treasurer, Owner, Tillman Funeral Home & Crematory, West Palm Beach, FL; Rocky Bevis, Region 1 Director, Owner, Bevis Colonial Funeral Home, Inc, Tallahassee, FL; J. Garrett Milton, Region 2 Director, Owner, Archer-Milton Funeral Home, Inc, Lake Butler, FL; Charles E. Davis, Region 3 Director, Owner, Charles E. Davis Funeral. Home, Inverness, FL; Kayla K. Alexander, Region 4 Director, Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer, Sunrise Funeral Home, Sanford, FL; William Schichtel Jr., Region 6 Director, Vice President, Heath 'Funeral Chapel & Crema-tory, Lakeland, FL; Mike Lewis, A1:-large Director, Co-owner, Lewis Funeral Homes & Crematory, Milton, FL; and Mark Taylor, Ac-Large Director, Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer, Hardin-Pauli Funeral Home, Eustis, FL.

Each year at the IFDF Annual Conference & Trade Show, IFDF presents its most prestigious award, the W. Clyde Lankford Distinguished Service Award, to a licensed funeral director who exemplifies the essence of funeral service to families, their community, colleagues, and the residents of the state of Florida. Added to this criterion, is a selfless dedication to this association and our member funeral directors. This award is named after one of their founding members who exhibited everything this award represents.

At this year's conference, IFDF presented the award to Charles McClellan, IFDF founding member and long-time supporter, and owner of Charles McClellan Funeral Home, Quincy, FL. A graduate of Gupton-Jones of Funeral Service, McClellan has been a funeral director for 63 years.

McClellan was there at IFDF's inception in 1992. Whether it was walking the halls of the Capitol or listening to the "Band of Bandits" funeral directors complain, reconsider, regroup or re-write legislation. He helped protect the public, promoted legislation that "leveled the playing field" for morticians, funeral directors, cemeterians, and monument dealers, worked out compromises that ensured fairness to all, but always made certain the public was informed and protected, which was the number one priority! Without McClellan, there quite possibly may not have been an IFDF, as the Senators McClellan worked with were long-term power brokers in the legislative process and were exceptionally close to the Florida Funeral Directors Association, which celebrated their 100th anniversary in 1992, the year the IFDF was formed.

After 33 years,  McClellan is still an IFDF member, contributes to the PAC. sponsors the conferences, lobbies at Legislative Days, comes to regional dinners, never misses an annual conference or leadership retreat and can always be counted on to work on the association's behalf.

The annual IFDF Exemplary Supplier Award recognizes the contributions made by all their sponsors and exhibitors. They award a supplier who is indicative of the spirit and commitment made by all suppliers in the profession. This year, they presented the 3rd Annual Exemplary Supplier Award to long-time IFDF business partner, friend, sponsor, and supporter, Eric McKenna, president of Gables Capital Management, Miami, FL. McKenna has been the IFDF I-Trust investment manager since the Trust's inception 30 years ago, when he also started his independent investment firm registered with the SEC, and IFDF became his first client.

McKenna is also chair of the IFD F Foundation, which has provided thousands of dollars co students at Miami Dade College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, and St. Peterburg College, to attend the IFDF Annual Conferences & Trade Shows as well as special training seminars at two of the colleges over the last three years. The IFDF Foundation helps attract qualified students, train and recruit them to work in independent funeral homes.

Since 1996, IFDF has recognized its members who perpetuate their business by bringing in the next generation of family co their profession. The "Generations Awards" acknowledges this while honoring their members who have chosen co re-main independent companies and continue to serve the communities in which they practice, in the same honest and professional manner their parents, and in some instances, their grandparents did. The firms they honor this year have been instilled with sense of purpose, commitment, and dedication to the funeral profession. They are proud to be independents and serve as role models.

Two Generations Award: Douglas M. Udell Funeral Home. Live Oak, FL

Three Generations Award: Maspons Funeral Homes, Inc, Miami, FL

An association can't prosper without dedicated long-term members, and they are fortunate at IFDF because they have so many. They honor those who have reached milestones and are celebrating their 20th or 30th anniversary as IFDF members in 2024.

30th Year Milestone Award: Anthony Allen, Allen-Beyer Funeral Home, Orlando, FL; Manny Adams, owner of Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, Orlando, FL; and Henry L. Postell II, Postell's Mortuary, Orlando, FL.

20th Year Milestone Award: Mandisa Tomlinson, Jude Lherisson, Jose Pedreira, and Isabella Pedreira, Grace Funeral Chapels, Lauderhill, FL; David Rickner, Swilley Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Inc, Tampa, FL; and Richard Trahan, Trahan Family Funeral Home, Pensacola, FL.

IFDF Executive Director Dr. M. Johan Mixon presented a special recognition award to former Associate Executive Director Michele Hood, who retired from the  IFDF in 2020, after 25 years of employment.

Dr. Mixon said, "Michele was a dedicated and valued staff member of the IFDF for almost as long as the association has been around, 25 of the IFDF's 33 years. You can't think of the IFDF without thinking of Michele. She embodied the association’s values of independence, community service, and families serving families. She was a constant and welcome presence within the association and a great source of institutional knowledge. Michele was our foundation for so many years."

The 2025 IFDF Annual Conference & Trade Show will be held on May 28-31, 2025, at the Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa, in Palm Coast, Florida.

The Association of Independent Funeral Directors of Florida (IFDF) promotes, preserves, and protects independent funeral home, crematory, and cemetery firms in the state of Florida. With 260 member locations, IFDF works tirelessly to support these businesses, their employees, and the families they serve. Their association cultivates strong bonds, deepens trust, and helps maintain the integrity of the funeral profession. For more information, visit www.ifdf.org or contact Heather Bernier, Associate Executive Director, at 850-222-0198.