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The Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association (WFDA) acknowledges and appreciates the contributions of outgoing Board Member and Past President, Jenna M. Krenz, CFSP, of Portage. 

In 2008, Jenna M. Krenz began her career with Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage & Poynette, WI, where she continues to serve the community as a Licensed Funeral Director and Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP). 

She first became involved in the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association through the WFDA Central District, which covers funeral homes in Juneau, Adams, Waushara, Marquette, Sauk, Green Lake and Columbia counties.   

Jenna served on the WFDA Executive Board of Directors for five years. In 2018, Jenna held the office of the WFDA Secretary & Treasurer and in 2019, Vice President of the WFDA.  In 2020, she served as President-Elect and in April 2020, she volunteered to become the funeral director liaison for the State of Wisconsin Covid Task Force.  

During her Presidency in 2021, she strived to make sure all funeral directors had the Personal Protective Equipment needed to serve their communities and helped obtain priority vaccination status for funeral directors as vaccines became available. Her commitment to representing and serving funeral directors in Wisconsin during the pandemic was invaluable. 

In 141 years of the WFDA, Jenna’s the 4th female President and is one of the youngest to have served. 

As the Immediate Past President in 2022, she was instrumental in creating the first Professional Women’s Conference for funeral directors in Wisconsin. She continues to serve as the Chairperson for WFDA Professional Women’s Conference Committee, as well as the WFDA Annual COnvention Committee.

Jenna also serves as the Secretary of the WFDA Leadership Development Foundation. This WFDA Leadership Development Foundation was established in 2021 to advance the profession of funeral service and support the continuing education and leadership development of member funeral directors.

ABOUT WFDA 

Founded in 1881, The Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association (WFDA) is the largest state trade  association assisting funeral service professionals in Wisconsin. WFDA supports members with funeral service news and resources, continuing education, legislative advocacy, and access to a  network of professionals to help them better serve their communities. 

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WFDA held our the First Annual Professional Women's Conference on April 19, 2022. Hosting this event has been a goal of our Immediate Past President, Jenna Krenz, CFSP, for a few years. The past two years threw a wrench into everyone's plans, including ours, so we were thrilled for this opportunity to come together to kick off the first of many Professional Women's Conferences. The conference is focused on women in the funeral service industry, networking, continuing education, and relaxation.

The year's event was held at Destination Kohler, a five star resort in Kohler, Wisconsin. We kicked off our day with a lovely brunch full of fruit, quiche, smoothies and more. The first session was a roundtable moderated by Jenna Krenz, CFSP of Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home in Portage and Fawn Schaefer, of Ballhorn and Zimmer Westview Funeral Homes in Sheboygan. Both funeral directors are members of the WFDA Board of Directors and led the efforts to plan this event. They came up with a few topics and questions to start conversations. Attendees quickly began engaging and sharing their stories and lessons learned through their careers. We had attendees from all stages in their career and it was fascinating to hear from and learn from each other.

Following our group discussions, we were treated to a presentation from Ruthann Disotell titled "No Time to Cry - Tales of a Grieving Mortician". Ruthann is a Licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer, Life Celebrant, and Director of www.celebrationofalifetime.com and www.oaktags.com. This presentation focused on how funeral directors often put aside their own grief to care for others. Ruthann helped provide attendees with awareness of grief triggers, a fresh look at caring for grieving staff, and tools for emergency planning for absentee staff. 

We continued our day with a session from Jessica Koth, Director of Public Relations at the National Funeral Directors Association, and Kelly Manion,  Director of Community Engagement with the Funeral Service Foundation. The session, "It's Not a Competition", focused on one of the most challenging things for female and nonbinary individuals in funeral service (and other industries) - the conflicts they experience with other females and nonbinary persons. Sometimes, a “competition mentality” overshadows opportunities to support and collaborate with one another. Attendees were able to hold a constructive dialogue and learn why this competition mentality exists and how they can break the cycle to improve communication and working relationships with other female and nonbinary colleagues.

After these engaging and educational sessions, attendees were able to meet for a private yoga class at Yoga on the Lake. They focused on relaxation and self-care. Other attendees chose to partake in spa sessions and rest in their hotel rooms. We were able to secure a 20% off discount on all spa services for our attendees. Attendees were encouraged to stay overnight to enjoy the spa services offered. We gathered again for happy hour and dinner at the Horse & Plow. It was wonderful to spend quality time with both the people we've known for years and those we just met. 

This conference was a huge success and WFDA is proud of our diverse and dynamic membership. We hope to offer more opportunities for our members to connect in different ways and learn from each other. We have already begun planning for next year's Professional Women's Conference and are excited to continue this valuable opportunity. Do you have ideas you'd like to share for the next conference or another event? Please contact us at office@wfda.info. 

Funeral Director Examining Board Renewal

Your Funeral Director license expires on December 14, 2021.

The Department of Safety and Professional Services offers a fast and secure online license/credential renewal.

You may renew your license online here:

License Renewal Online

If you do not know your PIN, please use the PIN Look-up link on the login page:

Pin Look-up

If you are unable to renew online, please email the Department of Safety and Professional Services at least 15 business days prior to the expiration date of your license/credential to request a renewal form be mailed or e-mailed to you.

CE Requirements:

The Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing requires each funeral director to complete at least 15 hours of approved continuing education during each biennial renewal period. The next biennium ends December 14, 2021.

At least 3 hours must be in each of the following subject categories:

1. Grief counseling or communication.
2. Professional conduct, business ethics or legal aspects specifically related to practice in the profession.
3. Business management concepts relating specifically to delivery of services to a consumer.
   
4. Technical or practical aspects of the profession.

MORE INFORMATION

• No more than 7 hours may be acquired through in-service continuing education programs sponsored by a funeral establishment.
• No more than 2 hours may be acquired for presentation of any continuing education program by a funeral director.
• No more than 10 hours may be acquired through participation in non-contact home study programs.

Want to update your contact information with WFDA? Need to check your continuing education credits? This is all possible through the WFDA website. We have created this step by step guide for how to access your account and where to find the information you need. 

WFDA Member Profile Guide 2021.pdf

Alkaline hydrolysis is not currently offered to Wisconsin families. However, legislation is currently being reviewed to give Wisconsin families more choice when it comes to memorializing their loved ones.

Learn more about alkaline hydrolysis here.

Thank you for joining us for the 140th Annual WFDA Convention!

We had a wonderful time gathering in person last week in La Crosse. It was so nice to see everyone's friendly faces and catch up while learning from some fantastic speakers. 

Monday, June 7

We kicked off the day with a Board of Directors meeting followed by an Ethics course presented by the always entertaining and lively Michael Sharkey, Esq. After gathering in the hotel bar, we packed ourselves on to school busses to head to the LaCrosse Loggers Welcome Reception, hosted by Federated Insurance. The sun was hot, the beers were cold, and the smiles were warm!

Tuesday, June 8

This year, we started our day of continuing education with our Keynote Speaker, Conor Cunneen, aka IrishmanSpeaks. Conor showed how everyone can have the Gift of GAB (Goals, Attitude, Behavior) and how the Gift of GAB can impact every environment in a positive manner. Conor was a great speaker and set the tone for a fun day. Our delicious lunch was sponsored by Brown-Wilbert. 

The day of learning and networking continued with our General Business session, and an informative session presented by Samantha Seiber on debunking the myths on Alkaline Hydrolysis- a very timely topic in Wisconsin right now. 

We ended the day with a beautiful Service of Remembrance honoring those members and spouses we have lost since the last time we gathered in 2019.  Funeral Home Gifts generously donated gift certificates to the families of those we lost to create a custom tribute blanket in honor of their loved ones. 

Following the Service of Remembrance, we moved upstairs for a beautiful sunset river view during our President's reception to honor our outgoing WFDA President, Jenna M. Krenz. The reception included an open bar and tasty appetizers. All sponsored by Urns Unlimited. 

Wednesday, June 9

Wednesday, we enjoyed two presentations from Wally Hooker and a educational session about Business Succession and Exit Strategy by Marc Loden. During our second General Business session, we had the pleasure of honoring our members celebrating their 25 and 50 year licensee awards. We were grateful to have members present who celebrated in 2020 and 2021. We also installed our newly elected Board Officers and District Representatives. Meet your new Board on our website, here. 

Thank you again to everyone who joined us last week, educated our members, sponsored out event, and donated to our PAC!

We look forward to seeing everyone again next year,

June 13-15, 2022 in Lake Geneva!

The Wisconsin DMV guide for family members of recently deceased is now available on the WFDA website. You can find it below and on our Resources Page. This simple document can be used to help DMV customers who call asking about what they should do with their loved one’s driver license, disabled placards or about changing the title. 

Wisconsin DMV guide for family members of recently deceased

140th Annual WFDA Convention

June 7-9, 2021

La Crosse, WI