Cancellation Policy:
The OFDA Master’s Training Seminar is designed to provide a 5-year embalmer or funeral director Ohio licensee the required training set forth in Ohio Administrative Code Rule 4717-5-02 to become a Master Embalmer and Master Funeral Director. The Master's Training Certification is good for 5-years.
Dan Burleson is the Stakeholder Support Manager for the Bureau of Vital Statistics. He oversees the VS Helpdesk team and Vital Statistics training for all of their partners in funeral homes and local health districts in Ohio. Dan has been with the Bureau of Vital Statistics for the past eleven years.
Amanda Crates was appointed to the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors in July 2020. Her family has been part of the funeral profession since she was a child. She is a graduate of CCMS and attained her MBA from the University of Findlay. She has been active in the forward movement of the Crates firm, which has five locations in Ohio. She has also served in various positions with the Ohio Funeral Directors Association.
Don is a fourth-generation funeral director involved with his family’s funeral firm in the Southeast Cleveland area. In addition to being a funeral director he is an attorney who is a principal with the law firm of Donald B. Ferfolia, Jr., LTD. located in Sagamore Hills, Ohio. The combination of law, funeral service, and family business experiences have provided Don with a unique skill set that enables him to assist clients in solving many different types of problems. He enjoys helping firms deal with the daily challenges of running a closely held business including proactively managing accounts receivable issues and succession planning. Don can be reached at 440-249-4655 or don@ferfolialaw.net.
Barb Garrison has more than 20 years of experience in the performance and management of health, safety, and environment (HSE) projects for domestic and international organizations across dozens of industries and market sectors. Special expertise in conducting HSE compliance audits, health and safety training, and the development and implementation of written HSE programs. Experience delivering multi-media training courses in a variety of formats including instructor-led courses, webinars, computer-based instruction, and HSEEP-compliant seminars, workshops, drills, tabletop exercises, and functional exercises. Also experienced in the development of emergency plans and Continuity of Operations (COOP)/Continuity of Government (COG) plans.
Cheryl Grossman was appointed executive director of the State of Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors in December 2019. She is the former mayor of Grove City where she served from 1996 to 2008. In 2009, she was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives and served in various leadership positions until 2016, when her terms expired. She is a founding member of the Grove City Rotary Club.
Poul has worked in the funeral profession for over 25 years and holds a funeral director’s license and embalmer’s license in several states. As an attorney, Poul is admitted to practice law in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia.
He operates and is principal of Lemasters Consulting, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, a consulting business entirely for the deathcare profession, which includes funeral homes, funeral directors/embalmers, cemeteries, cemeterians, cremationists, crematory owners, as well as the suppliers to all of them. He assists in areas of legal, compliance, regulatory, and operational issues. Poul also serves in various roles with national groups such as: General Counsel for ICCFA (International Cemetery, Crematory and Funeral Association); Legal Counsel for NCBVA (National Concrete Burial Vault Association); Legal Advisor to CCC (Catholic Cemetery Conference).
David Tackett is a graduate of the Chambersburg Area Senior High School in Pennsylvania, earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Penn State University in 1983, and a Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio in 1987. He has worked in corrections and investigations in Pennsylvania. He is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, trade embalmer, and funeral celebrant.
David served as Dean of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2000, having initially joined the CCMS faculty in 1996. He graduated from CCMS in 1994 (summa cum laude) with an Associate in Applied Science degree in Mortuary Science. While at the college, he taught classes in the social science, legal and business management areas of the curriculum as well as in the clinical laboratory.
David is an Ohio licensed funeral director and embalmer and a certified crematory operator. He earned the CFSP designation in 1998. David currently is employed with the Newcomer Cremations, Funerals & Receptions, Kettering, Ohio.