Pictured-John O. “Jack” Mitchell, NFDA President and Steven L. Johnson, Partner and Licensed Funeral Director at H.E. Turner. Photo Credit: NFDA.
Press release
Batavia, New York – H.E. Turner & Co., Inc. Funeral Home with locations in Batavia, Bergen, Oakfield, Warsaw, Perry, and Attica was one of only 104 funeral homes from throughout the U.S. and around the world honored with the 2023 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Pursuit of Excellence Award, placing it among an elite group of funeral service professionals. Pursuit of Excellence Award recipients raise the bar on funeral service excellence by adhering to the highest ethical and professional standards and providing unsurpassed service to families and communities.
To earn an NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Award, a participating funeral home must meet or exceed business standards set forth by the program and 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 within 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.
“This year’s Pursuit of Excellence honorees are a truly exceptional group. Not only are they serving grieving families with dignity and compassion, but they are finding meaningful ways to support and give back to the community,” said NFDA Director of Public Relations Jessica Koth, who manages the Pursuit of Excellence Award program. “The Pursuit of Excellence Work Group was very impressed by this year’s entries and enjoyed reviewing each and every one. The Work Group applauds H.E. Turner & Co, Inc. Funeral Home for their hard work and dedication to providing a superior level of service to families and communities. We are proud to have them as part of our NFDA family.”
“We are extremely proud to have been recognized by NFDA. We work hard every day to provide the very best in funeral service in Western New York and to receive this prestigious award is proof positive that what we’re doing really is exceptional. We couldn’t accomplish any of what we do without the support of our amazing team and the communities we serve” said Steven Johnson, a partner and funeral director at H.E. Turner.
More information about the NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Award program can be found on the association’s website, www.nfda.org/pursuitofexcellence.
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because 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.
H.E. Turner & Co., Inc. Funeral Home was founded in January of 1910 by Harry E. Turner. Since that time the firm has grown from its combination furniture store/undertaking shop on Main Street in Batavia to multiple locations in Genesee and Wyoming Counties serving the communities of Batavia, Bergen, Oakfield, Warsaw, Perry, and Attica. The firm is locally owned by second generation funeral directors Justin D. Calarco-Smith and Joshua J. Smith; along with first generation funeral director, Steven L. Johnson.