Member News Member News News from Golden Rule Funeral Homes OGR welcomes 3 new members Menke Funeral & Cremation Center in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, joined on February 19. Menke is owned by Jake Johnson, who members may know from OGR supply partner Johnson Consulting Group, and managed by Kelly Browder. Willow Ridge Funeral and Cremation Services merged with existing OGR member firm Cotrell Funeral Services. Cotrell remains a member, joined by new partner operations Willow Ridge and Fowler Sullivan Funeral Home. All three are in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Lynn Elliott of Worsham College of Mortuary Science joined as a student member. Join us in welcoming all three of our newest members to the OGR family! Oliverie named ‘Funeral Director of the Year’ Geri Oliverie, manager and owner of Oliverie Funeral Home in Manchester Township, New Jersey, was selected as “American Funeral Director” magazine’s 2020 Funeral Director of the Year. Oliverie became a funeral director in 1986. She opened her first funeral home in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1987, and joined OGR the same year. She moved her operation from Lakehurst to its current location in Manchester in the year 2000, and plans to open a 19,000 square foot second location with a banquet hall in Jackson this May. “I love helping families plan their passing and funerals,” Oliverie said. “I never regretted the field I chose and hope to continue helping families in Geri Oliverie of OGR member firm Oliverie Funeral Home in Manchester Township, N.J., on the cover of American Funeral Director’s December 2020 issue. (image courtesy Kates-Boylston Publications) their time of need for many years to come in new and different ways here in Manchester and in the new location in Jackson, which will have the grief counseling center and the banquet center, ‘The Wisteria.’ My dream is to help families in all phases of grief, before, during and beyond in many new ways that the future holds for us.” www.ogr.org | The Independent® 33
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