retired funeral director and former executive director, Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association, died August 26, 2021, at age 72. Baines graduated from Northwestern State University in Oklahoma and joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1971 as a pharmacist tech at Vance Air Force Base and later served at Tinker Air Force Base. He was honorably discharged in 1978.

Baines later attended Central State University and received his bachelor’s degree in mortuary science and worked for Guardian Midtown Funeral Home. He also started a career in mortgage lending, working for Mid-First and Liberty Mortgage from 1976-88.

In December 1988, he began working for the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association as its executive director, retiring in 2014 after 26 years. Baines was instrumental in heading up the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association Convention each year and helped many funeral directors become better directors.

He is survived by wife Carol and his cousins.

funeral director/owner, Adams-Green ­Funeral Home, Herndon, Virginia, died July 14, 2021, at age 56. Adams graduated with honors from Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science. He worked for several years with Everly Funeral Homes, becoming manager of the Falls Church facility, and later worked at Green Funeral Home. Adams and his wife became owners of Adams-Green Funeral Home in 2000.

Adams was a member of the Herndon Rotary Club and an extremely proud Washington Capitals fan, as well as a volunteer coach for youth sports.

He traveled with family all over the world, including Israel and Gibraltar and a recent mission trip to Ethiopia. It was on this trip that he discovered the Selamta Family Project, a program that brought orphans into small forever families. Adams was also a strong supporter of Rotary International, Foundation for Fighting Blindness and many other charities seeking to serve underprivileged and unreached groups.

He is survived by wife Kathryn; children Jack, Susanna and Daley; parents Dale and Jo; and three siblings.

funeral director and co-owner, Birch Funeral Home, Ash Grove, Missouri, died July 28, 2021, at age 80. Birch graduated from Drury College with a degree in geology. She worked at Northeast Public Library in Kansas City, Missouri, and for the Ozark Pioneer Library System in Springfield. Birch was a licensed funeral director and, with her husband, co-owned Birch Funeral Home of Ash Grove. Birch is survived by husband Jimmy, daughter Jennifer, son James and four grandchildren.

funeral director and president, Nardolillo Funeral Homes, Cranston and Narragansett, Rhode Island, died July 24, 2021, at age 67. Nardolillo was a graduate of New England Institute of Anatomy and Mortuary Sciences. He was an Executive Board member and past president of the Rhode Island Funeral Directors Association, a past NFDA Policy Board representative, past member of the Rhode Island Medical Examiners Commission and charter member of the Ethics Association of America. He was a certified disaster coordinator for the state (training sponsored by the Federal Emergency Training Center in conjunction with NFDA) and certified in eye enucleation.

Nardolillo served two six-year terms on the Rhode Island Board of Examiners in Embalming and Funeral Directing, and in 1999 was recognized by the Rhode Island State Medical Examiner’s Office for his volunteer services at the temporary morgue site after the EgyptAir Flight 990 disaster. He was also president of Park Avenue Investments Inc. and actively served his community.

Nardolillo is survived by wife Kim; sons Ryan and Robert A. III, former Rhode Island state representative; and two grandchildren.

retired funeral director and co-owner, Montgomery & Steward Funeral Directors, Pueblo, Colorado, died August 7, 2021, at age 77. Steward graduated from Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science and began his career at Rouch Funeral Home. In 1986, he and Gerry Montgomery purchased the firm and renamed it Montgomery & Steward Funeral Directors.

In 1996, the City of Pueblo awarded Montgomery & Steward the contract to manage Mountain View Cemetery, and it became one of their philanthropic missions, with the goal of the cemetery having the best maintained grounds. In 2012, Steward was honored when the funeral home received the Outstanding Small Business Award from the National Philanthropy Day in Colorado. He also served on the Pueblo Suicide Prevention Board for many years and was a member of Selected Independent Funeral Directors and the International Order of the Golden Rule.

Steward is survived by a cousin and longtime friends/business partners Gerry and Dian Montgomery.

retired funeral director and manager, J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Home, Charleston, South Carolina, died July 25, 2021, at age 85. Neumann was licensed as a funeral director in 1986 and was one of the first women to become a funeral director and the second licensed woman director to work for Stuhr. She also established the rules for cremations for the state of South Carolina.

Neumann served on the Administration Board, Trustee Committee and Pastor Parish Committee at Cherokee United Methodist Church and was a Sunday School teacher for most of her life. She was a member of the United Methodist Women and Anita Way Circle, where she held several offices, and a member of the Rotary Club of Goose Creek, where she was given Paul Harris Fellow recognition.

Neumann is survived by daughters Theresa and Katrina, and three grandchildren.

funeral director and owner, French Funeral Home, Brazil, Indiana, died August 6, 2021, at age 71. French graduated from Indiana State University and Indiana University School of Medicine and began the first family practice residency group at Union Hospital. Following his residency, he and colleagues began Northside Family Medicine. He retired from St. Vincent Medical Group in 2017 and in 2018 returned to the Family Practice Residency Program, staffing patients with the current residents.

French graduated from Carl Sandburg College of Mortuary Science and was licensed in Indiana and Illinois. He served as a district director for the Indiana Funeral Directors Association and later became association president. He currently served IFDA as the chairman of its Ethics Committee. Always an advocate for further education, French was a certified funeral service practitioner (CFSP) and an Isaac Ball Fellow, in recognition of his support of the Indiana Educational Foundation.

In 1995, French and his wife partnered in starting French Funeral Home, together restoring the building formerly known as Miller and Sons Funeral Home.

French was involved in many organizations and served on several boards, including the American Red Cross and Community Foundation. In years past, he provided medical screenings in Terre Haute for the Shriners Hospital. He was also a member of the Brazil Elks Lodge.

He is survived by wife Susie; children Nick, Justin, Katie and Shelby; and eight grandchildren.

funeral director, founder and CEO, Uganda Funeral Services, Kampala, Uganda, and country representative for FIAT-IFTA, died June 29, 2021, at age 65. Mukiibi and her late brother, Fred Katamba, started Uganda Funeral Services in 1997, with the funeral home being the first of its kind in the country. After training at Salzburg Funeral Science Institute in the UK, where she earned a diploma, she returned to Uganda and founded Uganda Funeral Services.

In a 2015 interview with the Daily Monitor, Mukiibi shared that “it was in America where we stumbled upon the idea of a funeral services business. I was awed by the way the Americans managed and buried their dead in a really respectable and gracious way. That is when my brother and I noted that we did not have such a service back home.”

Mukiibi received various international and local accolades in recognition of her outstanding service, one of which was the 2013 Phenomenal Woman of Funeral Services Trailblazer Award, bestowed by the U.S.-based 100 Black Women of Funeral Service, during the association’s convention in Austin, Texas, in October 2013. Last year, the Bible Society of Uganda awarded Mukiibi and six other female Christians for breaking barriers in a male-dominated sector and ending up at the top. In 2009, Uganda Women Entrepreneur Limited recognized Uganda Funeral Services with a regional award in sustained growth, and in 2008, the Uganda Investment Authority recognized Mukiibi’s funeral service company with the Best Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2004, Uganda Women Entrepreneur Limited also awarded her its the Best Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award.

mother of NFDA Past President John. C. Carmon, died June 23, 2021, at age 97. Carmon was co-founder, with her husband Frank, of F.W. Carmon Funeral Home in Windsor Center, where she supported the funeral home as bookkeeper until her retirement in 2018 as president emeritus.

retired funeral director and owner, Sutton Funeral Home, Pageland, South Carolina, died June 19, 2021, at age 86. Sutton graduated from Dallas Institute – Gupton-Jones Mortuary School. He was owner and operator of Sutton Funeral Home until his retirement in 2008. Sutton served on the State of South Carolina Funeral Service Board and was a member of the South Carolina Funeral Directors Association, as well as a past president. He also organized and constructed Greenlawn Memorial Park. Sutton is survived by wife Camille, son Carlyle, daughters Camille and Pamela, sister Celia, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.