TAMPA, Fla. — Are corporations taking over the funeral business? Industry leaders say they’re working to keep independent funeral homes — and the family legacies behind them — thriving.  

Now, one national organization is empowering a new generation to step in.

What You Need To Know

Industry leaders say they’re working to keep independent funeral homes — and the family legacies behind them — thriving

The National Funeral Directors and Morticians’ Association is renewing its efforts to empower the 40 under 40 group of professionals in the organization

National Funeral Directors and Morticians’ Association President Shawn’te Harvell said funeral homes across the country are leaving communities with fewer options

The National Funeral Directors and Morticians’ Association is starting by empowering young people. Leaders from the more than a century-old organization said they’ve seen a number of things change in the business over the years.

It’s why they renewed their efforts to empower the 40 under 40 group of professionals in the organization.

Aaron Cooper, 32, is one of those members and the owner of Aaron Cooper Mortuary. Owning the company is a dream he said he’s had since childhood.

“It’s always been a desire of mine ever since I was in the sixth grade. I’ve always wanted to be a funeral director and own a funeral home,” Cooper said.

In 2024, he made that dream come true by purchasing an old funeral home in Tampa once owned by Edward Stone and later, Fannie B. Stone.

“This building has been around for a very long time. It’s actually one of the oldest funeral homes in Tampa, Florida,” he said.

Cooper’s story isn’t like most in this business. He honors the previous owners with a room dedicated in their name, photos and other memorabilia, but they aren’t his relatives.

“Most people that are in this type of business, especially my age, it’s being passed down through generations as far as a parent had it before them, or a grandparent and passed it down to their children or grandchildren, but that’s not my story,” he said. “I didn’t have any family previously before in the funeral service. So, I am first generation.”

Cooper’s story is the kind of story that 40 and Under funeral director Steven Hill, chairman of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians’ Association, is paying attention to. 

“It’s a calling. So, it’s not just something you say, ‘Hey, let’s be a funeral director,’ it chooses you, you don’t choose it,” he said. So, when those individuals choose funeral service, then they want to find community. ‘Where are the people that are like me?’ And that’s where 40 and Under comes in. There are like-minded people like me that want to be a part of something.”

Hill’s group is in Tampa this week for an annual enrichment and leadership summit. The goal is to encourage young leaders and help preserve independent funeral homes before corporations take their place.

“This is a time where someone like me, a first-generation funeral director, might meet an older funeral home director who’s looking for a successor because his kids don’t want to do it. So, he takes someone like me under their wing, show me the business and I continue their legacy for them,” Hill said.

National Funeral Directors and Morticians’ Association President Shawn’te Harvell said funeral homes across the country are leaving communities with fewer options.

“Without the embalmer, without the person that’s laying out the loved one in a respectable manner, we’re going to be in trouble because now you’re going to start to see that, ‘Wait a minute, funeral homes that were stalwarts in communities are just shutting down because they couldn’t get the individuals to do the work.’ Now it leaves the corporations to come in and take over or those individual funeral homes become something else — Walgreens strip malls,” Harvell said.

So, for owners like Cooper, building community connections and support are key to survival.  

Harvell said he’s seeing changes in laws all over the country along with corporate expansions that are creating new challenges for independent funeral homes.

The group hosted a cookout at Cooper’s funeral home Monday afternoon as part of their leadership summit. Their national convention is being held in Tampa, Aug. 1-5, 2026.