A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO PRESTON AND MORRIS-BAKER ON NATIONAL AWARD!

Morris-Baker Funeral Home has received a national, prestigious award for innovative programming and outstanding community outreach.  

Morris-Baker Funeral Home 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.

In addition to receiving the 2023 NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Award, Morris-Baker Funeral Home was one of nine funeral homes that received the Best of the Best Award in recognition of their development and execution of an innovative program or service that had a positive impact on the families and communities they served this year.

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.

Morris-Baker Funeral Home earned the Best of the Best Award for creating a workshop offering seminarians, chaplains, and local clergy the chance to have a deep dive and conversation about the needs of people in grief, the value and power of the funeral process, and how to develop the skills to create healing and restorative tributes for their members or those they serve, as well as developing collaboration and communication with funeral professionals.  

“Our goal was to support seminarians, pastors, ministers, chaplains, and local clergy to give them more tools in their toolbox to create meaningful funerals for families, “ said Preston McKee, owner of Morris-Baker. “I’ve had a vision since 2019 for this kind of program, and I was so pleased to hear what kind of impact it had. We hope it is only the beginning.”

The workshop, called "The Sacred Journey: A Conversation Between Clergy and a Celebrant in Partnership,” was developed in partnership with a local seminary as well as Glenda Stansbury, Co-Founder and Dean of InSight Institute Certified Celebrant Program. The program took place in May, 2023.

“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 Morris-Baker 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.”

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.