A Performance Overview: Heavenly Grace Funeral Home & Memorial Park
One of the questions we commonly hear when speaking with business owners is: how will the firm perform once it is owned by SCI for a few years? Will success continue? Will associates be retained? We measure all of our acquisitions’ performance against expectations for the first three years after we partner. The results are very positive: 8 out of 10 firms exceed or meet our expectations.
Recently, we checked in with our team at Heavenly Grace Funeral Home & Memorial Park in La Feria, Texas to review performance metrics since acquisition in 2015.
Background
Heavenly Grace Memorial Park was founded and developed by the Loewen Group in 1999. Six years later, the Loewen Group divested the cemetery to Fred Elizondo who owned and operated Trinity Funeral Home in Harlingen, Texas. In April, 2007, Elizondo sold the cemetery to Dial Dunkin.
With both the vision and capital necessary to transform the property, Dunkin immediately made improvements to the cemetery grounds through new roads and landscaping. Additionally, he developed new property inventory offerings such as private estates and mausoleum spaces. Heavenly Grace was on its way to becoming one of the premier parks in the Rio Grande Valley.
In 2008, Dunkin built a funeral home to replace the existing mobile home office. In 2010, as the funeral home volume grew, the footprint was enlarged to add a large 300-seat chapel. Dunkin’s son, Doak, eventually joined his father in the operation. Continued growth led to the addition of yet another 185-person chapel, as well as a reception area to the funeral home.
Dial and Doak Dunkin decided in 2015 to embark on yet another new business endeavor, leading to SCI’s opportunity to acquire this reinvigorated combo operation.
Assimilation
While Heavenly Grace had developed into a premier combo property, the assimilation presented some up-front challenges. Not only did Dial and Doak Dunkin exit the operation to begin their new business venture in Bryan, Texas, their General Manager, who oversaw the combo’s operations, elected to remain with them to help lead their new business entity.
While we always prefer to keep the operational team intact in any transition, Heavenly Grace is a good example of SCI’s ability to continue the growth and positive business culture when circumstances dictate otherwise. Through the established support, training and leadership of SCI’s existing operational footprint in that area, the Heavenly Grace associates were able to successfully integrate and maintain high standards, all while providing exceptional service to their community.
Business Growth
Naturally, there were concerns that some of the growth momentum may be in jeopardy with the loss of the management team, as well as the transitions that were necessary in back office functions and reporting.
We are very pleased to say that since our partnership with Heavenly Grace in June of 2015, we have continued to experience growth in both the cemetery and funeral home segments due to the dedication and perseverance of the Heavenly Grace staff and market leadership. Cemetery interments have shown growth of over 17% and funeral volume has grown an additional 42 calls, or over 10% since acquisition.
We are honored that Dial Dunkin entrusted us to continue the operational success and vision for this exceptional property, and we look forward to continued market share growth through the ongoing dedication of our associates and leadership team here.
Recently, we checked in with our team at Heavenly Grace Funeral Home & Memorial Park in La Feria, Texas to review performance metrics since acquisition in 2015.
Background
Heavenly Grace Memorial Park was founded and developed by the Loewen Group in 1999. Six years later, the Loewen Group divested the cemetery to Fred Elizondo who owned and operated Trinity Funeral Home in Harlingen, Texas. In April, 2007, Elizondo sold the cemetery to Dial Dunkin.
With both the vision and capital necessary to transform the property, Dunkin immediately made improvements to the cemetery grounds through new roads and landscaping. Additionally, he developed new property inventory offerings such as private estates and mausoleum spaces. Heavenly Grace was on its way to becoming one of the premier parks in the Rio Grande Valley.
In 2008, Dunkin built a funeral home to replace the existing mobile home office. In 2010, as the funeral home volume grew, the footprint was enlarged to add a large 300-seat chapel. Dunkin’s son, Doak, eventually joined his father in the operation. Continued growth led to the addition of yet another 185-person chapel, as well as a reception area to the funeral home.
Dial and Doak Dunkin decided in 2015 to embark on yet another new business endeavor, leading to SCI’s opportunity to acquire this reinvigorated combo operation.
Assimilation
While Heavenly Grace had developed into a premier combo property, the assimilation presented some up-front challenges. Not only did Dial and Doak Dunkin exit the operation to begin their new business venture in Bryan, Texas, their General Manager, who oversaw the combo’s operations, elected to remain with them to help lead their new business entity.
While we always prefer to keep the operational team intact in any transition, Heavenly Grace is a good example of SCI’s ability to continue the growth and positive business culture when circumstances dictate otherwise. Through the established support, training and leadership of SCI’s existing operational footprint in that area, the Heavenly Grace associates were able to successfully integrate and maintain high standards, all while providing exceptional service to their community.
Business Growth
Naturally, there were concerns that some of the growth momentum may be in jeopardy with the loss of the management team, as well as the transitions that were necessary in back office functions and reporting.
We are very pleased to say that since our partnership with Heavenly Grace in June of 2015, we have continued to experience growth in both the cemetery and funeral home segments due to the dedication and perseverance of the Heavenly Grace staff and market leadership. Cemetery interments have shown growth of over 17% and funeral volume has grown an additional 42 calls, or over 10% since acquisition.
We are honored that Dial Dunkin entrusted us to continue the operational success and vision for this exceptional property, and we look forward to continued market share growth through the ongoing dedication of our associates and leadership team here.
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