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Pray Funeral Home Receives a “Keeping It Personal” Award

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STERLING, VA (February 10, 2011)—Pray Funeral Home based in Charlotte, Michigan, has won an Honorable Mention in the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association’s 2010 KIP (Keeping It Personal) Awards, recognizing the best in personalization in the cemetery, funeral service and cremation profession.

Created by the ICCFA Personalization Committee, the KIP program honors recipients in five categories. Pray Funeral Home was honored in the Most Personalized Service/Memorial category for its services for Dorwin “Dade” Schultz. Dade was a gentle giant known as a horseman across the Midwest. For his funeral, Pray Funeral Home arranged for a wagon train from the funeral home to the cemetery with Dade’s own mules carrying his wooden casket, which was made by his Amish craftsmen friends. The procession attracted a great deal of media attention, allowing his family and friends to further share memories of Dade with those who may not have known him.

The ICCFA’s 2010 KIP Awards contest drew 52 entries from across North America and abroad. Marketing and communications professionals from outside the cemetery and funeral service profession performed the judging.

Judges were impressed with the creativity and compassion displayed by Pray Funeral Home. One judge commented that the “amount of publicity generated must have made the family feel very special and proud of Dade.” Another judge described the service as “extremely touching and very well organized.”

“We were extremely pleased with the broad range and high quality of entries to the KIP Awards program this year,” said Steve Bittner, chair of the ICCFA’s Personalization Committee. “The staff at Pray Funeral Home demonstrate a strong commitment to personalization, to serving the community and to providing caring, meaningful services to families in their time of need.  They are true leaders within our profession and are very deserving of this prestigious award.”

The KIP Awards were recognized at the ICCFA 2011 Annual Convention & Exposition, March 8-11 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in ICCFA Magazine.

Founded in 1887, the ICCFA is the only international trade association representing all segments of the cemetery, cremation funeral and memorialization industry. Its membership is comprised of over 7,500 cemeteries, funeral homes, memorial designers, crematories and related businesses worldwide.

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