Selected Independent Funeral Homes held the last scheduled forum on its proposed combination with the National Funeral Directors Association on Thursday: a members-only town hall at the Omni Louisville, running 1:00 to 2:20 p.m. during the association's Annual Meeting. No votes were taken. Under the association's own town hall guidelines, the session was live-streamed to members and recorded, and the membership vote comes later, by ballot.
The timing is now the story. Ballots are expected to go out to members roughly two weeks after the Annual Meeting, per trade publication Connecting Directors. Approval requires a two-thirds supermajority of the membership. What members are voting on is a letter of intent that legal counsel for both organizations has told members is confidential and cannot be shared with them, even as they are asked to approve it.
The room was closed
The town hall was open to members only. Virtual registration closed Aug. 31 at a $199 fee for members who could not travel. Obitley asked Selected on Sept. 2 for a copy of the recording, a written summary, or a call with a Selected leader; the association had not responded as of Thursday afternoon. The guidelines say the session would be recorded and streamed to members, but Selected has not said whether the recording will be released to members who could not attend, to the press, or at all.
The two members who led public opposition to the deal, Nathanael M. Billow, executive vice president of The Billow Co. in Akron, Ohio, and Paul C. St. Pierre, president of Wilson-St. Pierre Family Funeral and Cremation Services in Greenwood, Indiana, were asked by Obitley on Thursday, during the session, for their impressions of the meeting. Both were offered a call or email, with responses to be published in full. Neither had responded by Thursday afternoon; the deadline stated to them is Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Two head counts, one question
The public record going into Louisville was a duel of unverified head counts. Billow told Connecting Directors in August that of 70 firms he had spoken with, "upwards of 85% have expressed a strong desire to vote 'no.'" Selected President Barbara Risher Welch, whose term ends at this meeting, told the publication that member response had been "overwhelmingly positive" and that board members had been personally calling every member firm.
Neither count can be checked from outside. There is no public whip list, no petition, and no formal opposition group; Obitley's Aug. 24 search found none, and nothing new has surfaced since. What is verifiable: the association's tax filings show $2.55 million in revenue against $2.47 million in expenses in its most recent Form 990, for 2023; the boards describe persistent financial headwinds; the opposition counters that the board's own modeling, by their account, shows the current structure solvent through 2029.
The questions that went unanswered
Obitley sent written questions to both associations on Aug. 30, asking among other things about the confidential letter of intent, what happens to dues and the Selected designation during the 2027 transition year, and whether NFDA supports extending FTC Funeral Rule coverage to sellers of funeral goods only. The stated deadline was end of business Sept. 2. NFDA and Selected Independent Funeral Homes did not respond to a request for comment.
That is now three requests, three silences: the Aug. 30 written questions to both associations, the Sept. 2 recording request to Selected, and Thursday's debrief request to the two opposition members, whose deadline has not yet passed. Obitley will update if any of them respond.
What happens next
Under the timeline both organizations have described, member voting follows in the weeks after the Annual Meeting, ahead of definitive agreements targeted for late October. NFDA's own FAQ states the structure plainly: the transaction "would be structured as an acquisition of Selected Independent Funeral Homes by NFDA." If members approve, Selected operates as a designation inside NFDA from 2028, after a 2027 transition year, with the combined cost of NFDA membership plus the designation pledged to come in at or below what Selected members pay today.
By the Numbers
*Sources: selectedfuneralhomes.org Annual Meeting page and Aug. 19 registration notice (verified live Aug. 29); Selected Members-Only Town Hall guidelines PDF (verified live Sept. 2); NFDA "Better Together" FAQ (verified live Aug. 29); Connecting Directors, Patricia Hartley, Aug. 19 and 20, 2026 (verified live Aug. 24; screenshots and research vault on file); NFDA-hosted town hall handout PDF "A Stronger Future for Selected Members" (verified live Aug. 29); ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Selected Independent Funeral Homes EIN 36-1525780, 2023 Form 990; Obitley press inquiries to NFDA (Jessica Koth) and Selected (Mike Shefky) sent Aug. 30, deadline Sept. 2, no response; verified by agent mailbox sweep Sept. 3 ~9:45 a.m. and re-verified ~1:25 p.m. across INBOX, Spam and Archive, plus Heidi's own email and phone checks (research/press-outreach/2026-09-03-nfda-selected-reply-check.txt); Obitley recording request to [email protected] sent Sept. 2 (no response as of ~1:25 p.m. Sept. 3); Obitley debrief request to Nathanael Billow and Paul C. St. Pierre sent Sept. 3 ~1:15 p.m. during the session (deadline Sept. 8; contact records on file).*
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