Joseph Andrew "Andy" Thompson
Heritage
Funeral Service, Valdese, NC
1. What is
your experience and business history?
I started in the funeral business
at 16 years of age, in my hometown, while a junior
in high school. I worked there until graduation,
then served my apprenticeship and went to Gupton-Jones
to mortuary college. After graduation I returned
back home to work, until 1999 when my partner and I
opened Heritage Funeral Service. Since then we
opened our own crematory.
2. Why did
you decide to run for the Crematory Authority?
As a crematory operator, manager,
and co-owner of a funeral home, I feel like my input
and ideas from day to day issues and operations
would be beneficial to the Crematory Authority. Also
I feel like I may learn a lot from the Crematory
Authority to help me professionally and my company
be more effective.
3. What are
the issues you face as a funeral director/crematory
operator?
Some issues would include having
proper authorization by next of kin, having the
death certificate signed in a more timely manner by
the physician; and more stringent identification
policies to reduce liability on the funeral home and
or crematory.
4. With
cremation on the rise, what concerns or changes do
you see on the horizon for funeral service?
With more cremations, we will
definitely have more liability. I think one of my
greatest concerns is the cremation authorization
form having more emphasis on proper identification
of the deceased.
5. Other
comments you may have that were not addressed in the
preceding questions.
Although I feel that we should
have a signed death certificate before cremation, I
also feel like North Carolina should tighten up the
policy on getting death certificates signed in a
timely manner. Example- In NYC, you must have
a signed death certificate before the body is
removed from the place of death.
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