In The News
Our firm remains active in generating newsworthy events. We will post our public relations announcements and any link of the news story on this page.
July 2, 2011 Press Release
Governor Snyder Appoints Wakeman to Mortuary Science Board
On Wednesday, June 29, 2011, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed
The nine-member board is comprised of six professionals and three lay persons, and its powers are authorized under Article 18 of Public Act 299 of 1980 of the Michigan Occupational Code. The board’s function, through the assistance from the Licensing Division of the Bureau of Commercial Services of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, is to protect Michigan consumers from reported unlicensed activity, the administration of the training and testing of students at accredited mortuary colleges, and oversight of the state’s approximately 2,122 mortuary science licensees, 2 funeral directors, 88 resident trainees, and 747 funeral homes.
Snyder also appointed Stephen J. Linder of the Lansing area. Linder is managing partner of the Sterling Corporation, a Lansing-based public relations firm, and represents the general public.
"I am confident these two individuals will bring insight and innovative ideas to the board," Snyder said.
Wakeman’s four-year appointment expires June 30, 2015, and is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
“I am honored Governor Snyder appointed me to serve on the Mortuary Science Board,” Wakeman said. “I will work in the best interest of Michigan consumers on all matters that will come before me. My lifelong work in funeral service, board experience and history of advocating for the consumer will serve me well in carrying out my duties as a member of this board.”
Wakeman also currently serves as president of the Valley Lutheran High School Foundation; a member of the Michigan Mortuary Response Team (MI-Mort); research, development and maintenance consultant to WNEM TV5 for their on-air and online death notice service; and member of the Board of Elders at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. He is a life member of Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame, and is a contributing photographer for The Township Times community newspaper and University of Michigan Football. Wakeman has voluntarily received continuing education certifications from the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice and the American Academy of Bereavement. His previous boards and committee work includes, past president of the Michigan Funeral Directors Association (MFDA) District 7; past president of the Saginaw Downtown Lions Club; past chairman of the Valley Lutheran High School Alumni Association Scholarship Committee; past member of the Public Relations, Disaster, and Legislative Committees of the MFDA; and recently concluded six years of service on the MFDA Board of Directors.
Wakeman is co-owner, vice president and director of Wakeman Funeral Home, Inc.,
June 29, 2011 Press Release
LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder today, June 29, 2011, appointed Stephen J. Linder and Rodney C. Wakeman to the State Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science.
The board was created to license and regulate the practice of mortuary science and funeral establishments in Michigan.
"I am confident these two individuals will bring insight and innovative ideas to the board," Snyder said.
Linder, of Okemos, is managing partner of the Sterling Corporation, a national public relations, issues management and fundraising company based in Lansing. He previously owned Linder & Associates, a political fundraising firm. Linder has served as senior staff on several statewide campaigns as well as worked in executive positions for the Michigan Manufacturers Association, Michigan Chamber of Commerce and Auto Dealers Association. He earned a bachelor's degree in communication arts and sciences from Michigan State University. Linder represents the general public and replaces Donald Duford.
Wakeman, of Saginaw, is co-owner and vice president of Wakeman Funeral Home, Inc., and has been a licensed funeral director for 23 years. He is also a technical consultant for the Meredith Corporation and WNEM TV5, where he helped launch One Service, an on-air and online obituary notification service. Wakeman was elected to the Michigan Funeral Directors Association Board of Directors in 2005. He earned a bachelor's degree in mortuary science from Wayne State University. Wakeman represents professionals and replaces Thomas Lynch.
The appointees will serve four-year terms expiring June 30, 2015 and are subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
For several months our firm worked directly with the television station as a consultant. It was determined that the longstanding tradition of newspapers providing death notices and obituaries meant that senior citizens were especially affected by the lack of the daily publication. The oldest members of our communities were less likely to be able to retrieve the information from the Internet alone.
The project included building a brand new mechanism to allow funeral directors to upload specific elements of an obituary directly to the television station for airing in a secure way. The program also included more complete obituary information to be placed on a webpage. As the project moved forward, WNEM then used our firm as the initial conduit to help promote and demonstrate this new service to our colleagues across the WNEM broadcast area.
In August of 2009, the project went live as the first death notices appeared on air.
News of this new service reached across the state of Michigan and across the country as various business, news industry, and advertising communities ran stories of this new medium for obituaries. One such article appeared on dailyfinance.com as an emerging service for broadcast television operators.
More news outlets pick up our Funeral Webcasting story.
Saginaw funeral home offers Webcasts of services - Chicago Tribune
Funeral home offers webcast services - WXYZ-TV Detroit, Michigan
Several client families have experienced situations where other members of the family cannot attend the funeral of their loved one due to gas prices, airline costs, work schedules, and a variety of other reasons. In the fall of 2008, we began offering Funeral Webcasting, enabling these family members to participate no matter if they are on the other side of the state or the other side of the world by viewing the service over a private Internet connection.
Over the past several months Wakeman Funeral Home, Inc. in Saginaw has taken steps to upgrade their service offerings to their clients. Many of these new offerings come from requests made by consumers. While making a recent upgrade to the obituary section of their website, www.WakemanFuneralHome.com, it was determined to be the ideal time to integrate other new technologies into their service offerings.
The firm has established a whole new suite of technological services and is now available to their clients.
“These new services include individual, personalized Interactive Websites, which is in addition to our primary website,” said Funeral Director and Co-owner of Wakeman Funeral Home, Inc., Rodney C. Wakeman. “The Interactive Websites have five separate modules to encourage family and friend interaction, all to perpetuate the memory of the loved one,” he added.
“Once the site has been established it can be accessed via the Obituary page of our website where the public can view it,” said Brian D. Wakeman, Co-owner and Manager of the firm.
“If, however, the family wishes to keep interaction with the site private, only among family members, it can be done,” said Rodney Wakeman. “Otherwise, family, friends, business people, community contacts – anyone who knew the deceased can interact with the site accordingly,” he explained.
Some of the features include lighting a candle and providing a short message in memory of the deceased, uploading photos to a personalized Photo Album, writing a memory in the Share Memories module and accessing a Video Tribute – a slideshow of photos set to music if one was requested by the family.
“Soon, a Family Tree module will be available, allowing family members to build a family tree,” said Rodney Wakeman. “The family is given administrative control of the site. Any additions and deletions are administered by the family,” Wakeman added.
In addition to these services and at the foundation of this newly-offered technology, the funeral home is providing Webcasting through video streaming over the Internet.
“Technology is everywhere,” said Rodney Wakeman. “We are now uniquely positioned to further help our clients with the loss of their loved one through the use of this specialized technology,” he added.
“Consumers use technology in most every application in their lives; from televisions to computers to cell phones. Technology is no longer a luxury. It is a must-have. To include technology, even Webcasting, as an integral part of a funeral has already been identified by families as the piece that had tied absent family members together and brought them into the important family event," Wakeman noted.
“The same technologically savvy consumers who seek computers, cell phones and the like also have funerals. It is natural to incorporate what is already in our daily lives onto these services,” Brian Wakeman added.
The firm has used the new services for a number of funerals already. Each time the funeral directors have explained to their families what they are capable of doing for them they have been extremely receptive of it.
“It has been our experience that once our clients understand its purpose and how the technology can be applied to the service, they fervently embrace it,” Rodney Wakeman explained. “Nearly each family we have talked to about the technology had a situation where relatives or close friends were unable to make it to the service. When we told them of the Webcasting service and that we could record the funeral and upload it to a website for later viewing, the families were relieved to know the others could still participate,” Wakeman said.
"In one situation, a widow’s grandson, who is in the US Military stationed in Iraq, was unable to attend the funeral of his grandfather. In that instance we provided a live Webcast of the service in the event the grandson could log on at that hour and watch in real time. Otherwise he could view the recorded delayed webcast when it was more convenient," explained Rodney Wakeman.
“It is clear we are exceeding our clients’ expectations,” Brian Wakeman added.
“Some of these features have come from client suggestions. This is clearly business responding to consumer demand,” Wakeman noted.
The funeral home has embraced technology for many years. In 2001, Wakeman Funeral Home was the first funeral firm in Saginaw to offer a website for consumers, and the first funeral home to offer obituary listings online to their clients.
"The step up to Webcasting and the Interactive Webpage was just a matter of time – time to make certain we are providing a quality service to our clients,” concluded Rodney Wakeman.
Brian and Rodney Wakeman together own and operate Wakeman Funeral Home, Inc. They purchased the firm from their father, Harold, upon his retirement in 1999. The firm was established in 1911 by Balthus Gugel then purchased from the Gugel family by Harold Wakeman in 1965 before selling to his sons. Harold passed away in March 2008.
To view a sample of the Webcasting service you may log on to the Obituary section of the funeral home’s website at www.WakemanFuneralHome.com. You may also reach them at (989) 752-8531 for more direct information.
A sample of this new technology is available by viewing our video version of this press release here.
March 20, 2008
Former Saginaw funeral director Harold C. Wakeman dies in Florida
Source: The Saginaw News
