Thank you for entrusting me to be MFDA’s president.

This issue’s President’s Message is a reprint of Joe Mahn’s speech at the 2023 MFDA Convention.

left behind and so will your funeral home. Besides convention there are other opportunities for professional development with education including the Certified Crematory Operators Certification, Insurance Continuing Education focusing toward preneed, Celebrant Training and a Leadership Program.

Good afternoon. My name is Joe Mahn from the Mahn Family Funeral Homes located in southeast MN. I am grateful and honored to be this year’s President of MFDA. Funeral service is a large part of who I am. Growing up with a dad and an uncle that were funeral directors, funeral service was a constant topic of conversation. Now that I am grown and have married a fellow mortician it continues to be a large portion of our lives just like it is for most of you.

The Minnesota Funeral Directors Association was something that I have been familiar with for a long time. In my youth, as a funeral director’s kid, I saw my parents go to convention. During my time at college while attending UMD I was able to attend convention when it was in Duluth (and as a broke college kid much appreciated the open bar and the nice meals vendors treated us to, as I tagged along with my family). In 2005 I even had the honor of having my U of M Mortuary Science graduation ceremony be a part of the convention at The Depot in Minneapolis. Throughout all this and even into the first 10 to 12 years of my career, I don’t think I fully appreciated or understood what MFDA did for its members. It wasn’t until joining the board representing District 1, that my eyes were opened and I started to understand all that the association does.

MFDA’s mission is simple but powerful, TO ENHANCE AND SUPPORT DEATH CARE EXCELLENCE!

What does this mean??? It means you are not in this alone. It means that MFDA is going to help and support you to be the best funeral director possible.

The MFDA can do this through education. Convention is a perfect example of this: A time to get together with your peers to bounce ideas off of each other; a time listen to powerful presentations that can inspire and educate you. Funeral service is changing every day and if you are NOT learning how to change with it, you will be

MFDA further helps to Support and Enhance Death Care Excellence, by helping create a positive public impact for funeral service through public awareness for MFDA firms and continuing relations with great organizations such as Healing Hearts Connection. MFDA also provides industry specific guidance through its general counsel. This assists members to stay compliant and understand your own rights when dealing with regulatory organizations.

Finally, one of the best ways that I believe MFDA helps Support and Enhance Death Care Excellence is through its ability to ADVOCATE for the members. Our Lobbyist, Joe Sellwood; the legislative committee, and our General Counsel, Michael Sharkey are key components for this. As we just heard from Brian’s Legislative Update things are constantly changing in the world of politics which greatly affects our everyday lives, and we have a great group to help lead us.

These few things that I have mentioned are just the beginning of how MFDA can help support and enhance death care excellence. Like many other things in life-- you get so much more out of it, if you contribute. I would highly encourage you all to get engaged, whether it’s picking up the phone and visiting with your district board member, going to your district/regional meetings this fall and enjoying the comradery of your fellow morticians, or even joining a committee to even more input on things to support the association.

If we have learned anything from the past couple of years is that we are in this together, we are stronger together than we are alone! As an association of over 100 member firms, along with the numerous roof tops that go with them, and over 600 funeral director/ morticians – We need to leverage that strength in numbers to keep Minnesota Funeral Service at the highest level.

Thank you for entrusting me to be MFDA’s president. I am excited to continue the mission to Enhance and Support Death Care Excellence! n

Joe Mahn MFDA President 2023-2024

MFDA District Meetings are now MFDA Fall CEU Conferences

Save the date to attend our full day of CEUs at our MFDA Fall CEU Conference, free of charge for all MFDA member staff (fee for lunch)! More details will be available on www. mnfuneral.org soon including registration. Watch your email, MFDA Online Community, and MFDA social media for an announcement.

Fall CEU Conference Dates & Locations

Tuesday, September 19

MFDA District 9 & 10 Meeting – Shooting Star Casino, Mahnomen

Wednesday, September 20

MFDA District 11 Meeting – Grand Rapids

Thursday, September 21

MFDA District 8 Meeting – St. Cloud area

Tuesday, September 26

MFDA District 3 & 4/5 Meeting – Redwood Falls area

Wednesday, September 27

MFDA District 1 & 2 Meeting – Owatonna

Thursday, September 28

MFDA District 6/7 Meeting – Minneapolis