With all of the previous states that I have traveled to I have visited at one point in my life before. I have NEVER actually been to Oklahoma however. In fact, when I was thinking about this on the plane Monday morning I was trying to think of what I knew about this great state... I actually knew very little.
The first thing that came to my mind was...
OKLAHOMA! the musical... now I realize this probably isn't the first thing that comes to everyones mind but I am going to go down the road of admitting something that I probably will regret later but I am going to do it anyway. My senior year in high school I was actually casted as the lead in our high school production of Oklahoma! I played the role of Curly. Now I have no clue why I am admitting this to you because I am sure none of my coworkers from the past 10+ years knew this tid bit of information. I guess that is the beauty of blogging. You think you can just admit your deep dark secrets. With "normal" blogging the blogger very seldom knows their reader so it is easy to admit such things, but...I know you. Well,there you go... now keep that between us :)
The next thing I thought about was the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995 (although I am ashamed to admit that I had forgotten many of the details of this event in history. More on that later).
I also knew about their two college football teams OSU, and OU. Being the college ball fan that I am how could you not know about OSU and OU.
For those of you that have watched the T.V. Show Friends you will remember Chandler informing Monica that he was being transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you that have seen this show and the episodes around this plot you will laugh, and if you haven't... it is too long to explain on this blog. But it is funny.
And... that's about it.
MONDAY 12/12
I arrived in Oklahoma and right past the security gate there was Ray May waiting for me. What a guy!
Before I had met Ray I had asked some of the other RC's about him. Everyone that described Ray included the word(s): "World's nicest guy" and "Classy". After spending the week with hi I can tell you that he did not disappoint and exceeded the words spoken of him by others.
We went and grabbed a bite to eat at one of Rays favorite joints. We talked about Precoa, the funeral industry and life. Ray brings an incredible amount of knowledge, experience, and heart to this company and to the industry. He has wanted to be in the industry since he was a young boy (not many people dream of being a funeral director... but Ray did!). This had led to working in several areas of the industry and has settled into preneed here at Precoa. If you haven't read up on Ray yet go to our company website where he is highlighted down at the bottom.
After an extended lunch we headed over to Mercer Adams funeral home in Oklahoma City. We caught them at the tail end of their day but it was great getting to meet the funeral directors (Gary Mercer and Tim Adams, photographed below), apprentice, and other staff members. The funeral home was beautiful. Check out some of these photos...
GARY MERCER
TIM ADAMS
After our visit with the folks at Mercer-Adams Ray took me to go and see downtown. The first place he drove me to was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. I am so glad that he did.
As a refresher of what happened here, read this excerpt from Wikipedia:
"The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6, and injured more than 680 people. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. The bomb was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage. Extensive rescue efforts were undertaken by local, state, federal, and worldwide agencies in the wake of the bombing, and substantial donations were received from across the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, consisting of 665 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery operations."
Here are some of the photos from the bombing:
Here are some of the photos I took with my cell phone when we were there at the beautiful memorial.
Those chairs that are lit up represent each of the victims of the bombing and are located in the approximate place of where they were when the attack occurred. The memorial was beautiful and you couldn't help but have reverence for those that lost their life on that day. Such a tragedy. Thank you Ray for taking me to the site and for helping me not forget this important day in history.
TUESDAY 12/13
Tuesday morning Ty Gee met me at my hotel and together we drove over to Ray's house where we all got in one car and headed to the great city of Tulsa. Our timing for our trip to Tulsa is somewhat unique. Our purpose was to go and visit the Moore funeral home(s)and on Monday evening Joe Moore, the owner and funeral director of Moores actually passed away at the age 92. He had been working regularly up until a month or two ago.
Joe was described as "one of the most caring, thoughtful, and generous men who ever lived." It was a great experience to be around his family and staff on Tuesday and to hear of their memories of Joe. In 1999 Joe was named Oklahoma Funeral Director of the year. He was incredibly well respected in the industry and was known to take great care of his faculty and staff. He cared about the community and loved serving the families that lived there.
It was also great to see the interaction between Ray May, Ty Gee and the faculty at Moores. They are clearly "old time friends" and you know they have a great relationship with these people. I can tell you that Precoa is in great hands in Oklahoma. Ray and Ty are phenomenal and I was continuously in awe of how they handled their work with such professionalism. I am thoroughly impressed.
After we visited with the folks at Moores we met with Christopher Teel. For those of you that don't know... Chris is number 2 in the company. Chris is a funeral director and also has his MBA. He is fascinating and clearly very good at his job. We took him to lunch and picked his brain about his business. Boy I tell ya, when you get Ray May, Ty Gee and Chris Teel in the same room talking funerals... you are in for a treat! They are some of Precoas finest and I have loved spending time with them this week and soaking up everything I could like a sponge.
From lunch we headed to another one of the Moore locations to meet more of the staff (and old time friends of both Ray and Ty). Here are some photos of the locations we saw today.
WEDNESDAY 12/14
Turns out for Ty, Tuesday and Wednesday blurred together into one day as he was up incredibly late putting together packets for todays meeting with Luginbuel Funeral Home in Vinita, Oklahoma. Chris Teel has been working with Dave Luginbuel at one of their smaller locations on a trial basis so some of you counselors that have been working on the Heartland team may be familiar with the Luginbuels.
We drove about an hour outside of Tulsa to get to Vinita. It was pouring rain the entire drive (almost blinding conditions on the road. Good thing I am from Seattle and know how to drive in the rain). We made it to Vinita safely and sat down with Dave (son) and Jack (father) Luginbuel. The presentation went great. I felt that we had the "A team" presenting with Ty, Ray and Chris. It was awesome to see them present and to talk about Preoca. I think Dave and Jack were impressed and wouldn't be surprised to see them coming on board with all of their homes very soon. It is a very long process to get a funeral home to switch over their pre-need business model. Precoa almost always makes logical sense but there are often other factors that keep a funeral home from immediately switching over. The reason why I mention this is so you understand just how important it is that you handle these calls with great care. These funeral directors and owners are trusting you immensely. I know you already know this but continue to handle these calls with care and take pride in the work you do. You are all involved in great work that is helping many many people.
THURSDAY 12/15
Ray and Ty started off the morning with several phone calls to their field counselors and Precoa coworkers, but then we were off to Stillwater, OK! This was a thrill to go to the town were Oklahoma State University is. Ray (being the thoughtful guy that he is) made sure that on our way to the funeral home that we drove by the OSU stadium! The red brick traditional architecture throughout the campus is really quite stunning and fairly knew. It has blossomed into a beautiful institution over the years.
Strode Funeral Home in Stillwater is one of 4-5 funeral homes in town. It was one of the first funeral homes in the state opening up shop in 1889 (the same year Stillwater was founded!. They actually have about 80% market share and do about 300 calls a year (they also do Pet calls for 150 or so pets a year).
Strode has obviously switched ownership many times over the years but the most recent purchase came from within the Strode employee base where three of the employees purchased it together. It is great to see a great locally run funeral home that continues to take pride in serving the community the way it has been done for years.
Here is a picture of the Strode Chapel (below).
Mike Chace is the funeral director and is such a nice guy. I enjoyed hearing his stories and seeing the home there in Stillwater. Mike has great plans to add a crematory and to do some renovations to the home over the next 10 years and is very committed to seeing Strode Funeral Home succeed.
After our visit in Stillwater we headed back to Oklahoma City (Ray and Ty are both turning back around tomorrow morning to attend Mr. Moores funeral).
After my whirlwind trip I can say,
1. I am thoroughly impressed with Ray and Ty. They are phenominal guys and it is a pleasure to work with them and now know them personally.
2. Oklahoma is a great state filled with great people. Everyone was so nice and the food was incredible :)
3. This trip has been much different than the previous weeks but one of the most educational. Seeing the presentation to Luginbuels, meeting with the owners (and legends in the Oklahoma Funeral Industry), and seeing it all through Ray and Tys eyes has been fascinating. This is Ray and Tys stomping grounds and they have known everyone for years and it goes a long way.
4. Field work is critical to our success as a company. The touch that Ray and Ty have is very important.
5. Your calls MAKE A DIFFERENCE! It was great to hear from the owners about their experience with the planning center. They are grateful for your hard work because it effects their bottom line.
Next stop... MICHIGAN!!! (If I can ever get out of Oklahoma... I am sitting here in the terminal. The flight is delayed, we will see if I make my connection :) And take a look at that weather report for Kalamazoo, MI...
Better make sure I pack my long underwear!
Thanks for all you do. Keep up the hard work.
Best regards,
Jon Lefrandt
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