In February 1995 local licensed funeral directors, Phil Hinsey and Kevin Brown opened their business to serve Henry County and surrounding areas with a goal to provide excellence in funeral service at a reasonable price.
Twenty years later, 2015, while attending the Indiana Funeral Directors Association convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kevin Brown, already considering the addition of cremation services to his growing funeral business, meets Cremation Systems, an Illinois manufacturer of cremation equipment. Consideration turns to reality and the process of zoning, designing, permitting and installing a crematory at the Hinsey Brown Funeral Home location in New Castle, Indiana begins.
To minimize the noise and disturbance to Hinsey Brown customers, the construction of a new garage, adjacent to the funeral home, was chosen for the location of the new crematorium. In late summer, 2017, with all approvals and permits in place, Hinsey Brown places an order with Cremation Systems for the manufacture, installation and training of a new CFS 2300 Cremation Retort. Things must move quickly to take advantage of the IRS Section 179 deduction for 2017 which allowed for a 100% deduction on the cost of the cremation equipment.
M.L. Taylor Construction begins construction on the new facility and the rapid time line moves forward:
- November 14 concrete is poured
- November 27 trusses are places and secured
- December 19 the retort is installed, stack and decorative cover placed
- December 21 the Hinsey Brown group performed their first cremation, only 37 days after the start of the garage addition
Solid planning, reliable and dependable suppliers can make short work of what needs to be done to add cremation to your funeral service business.