Prearrangement offers many benefits, which include:

• Cost savings — Every year, the cost of funerals and burial or entombment rises. Prearrangement enables families to purchase their burial or entombment property and services at the current prices. The cost can be met out of current income and through payments.
• Preserves insurance for its intended purpose — Most people purchase life insurance to help their families adjust to the loss of income that death can cause. When insurance is used for final expenses, it reduces the amount of funds that the family has available to help with their living expenses.

• Couples/partners can make their choices together — When couples or partners make their selections together, it spares the surviving husband, wife or partner from making difficult decisions alone at one of the saddest times of his or her life.

Kenneth Barnes is the new family service manager at Vestal Hills Memorial Park (Vestal, N.Y.). In this position, Mr. Barnes will work closely with individuals, couples and the memorial park’s family service staff to provide professional, compassionate guidance to families selecting burial property and related services prior to the time of need or at the time of immediate need.

Mr. Barnes’ customer service and operations skills from his experience serving as the general manager of the Rogers Service Group and managing a family-owned transportation business will be an asset to Vestal Hills Memorial Park as well as to the families the park serves.

“It was time to make a career change,” said Mr. Barnes. “I wanted a position that would enable me to help others and still be able to spend time with my family,” added the married father of three children

It was actually the sudden passing of Mary DiLascia, a fellow Binghamton resident and family friend who served as a family service counselor at Vestal Hills up until her death in April, which inspired Mr. Barnes to explore career opportunities with Vestal Hills Memorial Park.

“Mary received a great deal of gratification helping families with their burial arrangements — giving them the peace of mind that their wishes would be carried out with care and understanding,” said Mr. Barnes. “At Mary’s funeral, I witnessed firsthand the high level of care the staff of Vestal Hills Memorial Park provides to the community.”

Bernard E. Stoecklein, Jr., president of Vestal Hills Memorial Park and chairman and CEO of CMS Mid-Atlantic, Inc., the company that provides financial, marketing and consulting services as well as business development processes to the cemetery industry throughout New Jersey and New York, is very impressed with Mr. Barnes’ drive and enthusiasm.

 “Ken has the perfect skills to guide our family service staff,” remarked Mr. Stoecklein. “He will be an asset to our memorial park.”  

Founded in 1931, Vestal Hills Memorial Park is conveniently located in the town of Vestal, just outside of Binghamton, New York. The Memorial Park's spacious rolling vistas and carefully tended landscaping use nature to create an atmosphere of peace and consolation.  In addition to traditional burial and lawn crypts, the 101-acre non-sectarian Memorial Park offers aboveground burial in its five mausoleums.

To meet the burial needs of the region’s growing Islamic community, Greenwood Cemetery offers approximately 10,000 single-depth burial spaces. Greenwood's beautifully manicured gardens are specifically designated and surveyed in accordance with Islamic religious customs.

For more information or a private tour of the grounds, contact Dennis Sabatini at
412-298-1892 or 973-356-1723 or via email at dsabatini@cmsmidatlantic.com.