Roller-Ballard wins international Pursuit of Excellence Award for third consecutive year

INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE MIKE DOUGHERTY PHOTO Roller-Ballard Funeral Home of Benton recently won the Pursuit of Excellence Award from the National Funeral Directors Association, an international organization representing 19,500 individual members and more than 10,000 funeral homes. Showing off the plaque and its accompanying literature are, from left, Gene Moore, Joe Campbell, manager Greg Smith and Karen Carter. It was the third straight year that Roller-Ballard received the honor.

Roller-Ballard Funeral Home of Benton has been named a recipient of the Pursuit of Excellence Award, presented by the National Funeral Directors Association, for the third consecutive year.

The association, based in Brookfield, Wis., presents the award to the top 2 percent of funeral homes that are members of the organization.

"We are very proud of winning the award for the third straight year," Roller-Ballard manager Greg Smith said. "It reflects the efforts of the entire staff and especially the extra effort of Karen Carter.

"It reflects the community outreach of our business and the participation of the funeral staff in community involvement."

Smith said Carter prepared the materials that were submitted to the funeral directors group for the competition.

According to a statement released by NFDA officials, winners of the award are "dedicated to maintaining a positive image for funeral service by consistently providing outstanding service to families, ongoing education to staff and adherence to only the highest ethical and professional standards."

The statement indicated that achieving the Pursuit of Excellence Award requires that a funeral home must meet strict quality service criteria that include:

• Compliance with state and federal regulations;

• Continuing education and staff development;

• Family outreach and support; community service and education;

• Professional association service and participation; and

• Marketing, advertising and public relations.

According to nfda.org, the organization's Web site, the NFDA has 19,500 individual members and 10,000 member funeral homes in the United States and other countries.