2019-2020
MFDA President
FRANK ARB
THE MONTANA FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION is pleased to introduce its new officers
Frank Arb of Forsyth assumes the position of President
The Montana Funeral Directors Association (MFDA) recently held in Billings its annual state convention. The widely attended convention, which was conducted June 20th through 23rd, brings together leaders, representatives, and partners in Montana’s funeral industry. This year’s convention featured excellent presentations on embalming, organ donation, cranial and facial restoration, and mass fatality response.
Featured speakers included Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, Montana Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Kurtzman, and Dominick Astorino, faculty at the Wayne State University School of Mortuary Science.
During the convention, the MFDA recognized Dave Fulkerson for his 50 years of work in the industry. The Association also acknowledged John Hossfeld of Butte and Albert McGahan of Sidney for their 35 years in the industry.
What is more, during the convention, the membership of the Montana Funeral Directors Association elected its officers for the 2019-2020 time period.
Frank Arb of Forsyth was elected to serve as President of the organization. Frank recently completed a year term as vice president of the organization and looks forward to leading the association which has represented Montana’s funeral providers since 1901. Frank works at the Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Forsyth.
Frank succeeds Todd Carmichael of Great Falls as President. Todd works at the Schnider Funeral Home. Carmichael finished a very successful term as MFDA President and represented Montana’s funeral industry for many years on the Board. Todd will continue to serve the industry by serving on the MFDA Board as Immediate Past President.
Chris Holt of Helena was elected to serve as the MFDA Vice President. Chris works at the Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home and Crematory. T.J. Stevenson of Stevenson and Sons in Miles City was elected as Treasurer and Tysons Moore of Garden City Funeral Home in Missoula was voted as Secretary.
In addition to electing new officers to carry out the MFDA’s continued mission of promoting Montana’s funeral industry at the Billings convention, MFDA’s membership also elected two new board members to the Board. Newly serving board members are Scott Stevenson of Miles City and Stephanie Peterson of Bozeman. They will join the current board, Vanessa Shook of Garden City Funeral Home in Missoula, Drew Kent of Croxford Funeral Home in Great Falls,
The first duty of MFDA’s new officers will be to attend the national funeral directors Association leadership meeting to be held in San Diego, California in July.
Said Arb on his appointment as MFDA President, “it has been a pleasure to serve these past few years as an officer and board member of MFDA.” “I am fortunate to now be in a position to lead this 118 year old organization, which has successfully worked to provide Montanans with high quality funeral and final disposition services for over a century.” Arb stated that, “despite the consolidation that has gone on within the industry over the last year several years, our industry is an excellent shape and continues to provide high value services to Montana’s local communities.” “I am very much looking forward to the coming year as President of MFDA as I love the work I do; and I am ready to get to work on behalf of Montana’s funeral homes and crematories.”
The Montana Funeral Directors Association is the only organization dedicated to serving and promoting Montana’s funeral, cremation, and cemetery providers. MFDA’s 2020 annual state convention and trade show will be held June 11th through 13th, 2020 in Butte, Montana.