NTCC funeral services faculty appointed to chair state committees

This article was published in the December 9 edition of the Mt. Pleasant Tribune

By: DI DUNCAN

Mount Pleasant Tribune

(shared with permission)

Troy Murray of Gilmer, 2020-2021 President of Texas Funeral Directors Association (TFDA), has announced chairs for the association’s committees.

“These committees, addressing the various activities of the association, form the infrastructure to the association,” Murray explained, “and each of these chairs was appointed -- and have accepted their appointments -- because of their proven ability to lead, their loyalty to the association and their commitment to the continued ethical practice of funeral service in Texas.”

Rebecca Gardner

Rebecca Gardner

Rebecca Gardner, program director of Funeral Science Education at Northeast Texas Community College, and Abby Shurtz, faculty member of the Mortuary Science Program at NTCC, have been named chairs of the Emerging Leaders Committee.

TFDA’s Executive Director Harvey Hilderbran had high praise for the newly-appointed leadership as well as those selected to serve on the committees. “This year continues to present challenges,” he said. “Rather than holding in-person meetings, we’ll be holding our committee meetings via Zoom and WebEX. In addition, because the pandemic interrupted operations for much of this past year, the 2020-2021 Committee Chairs will be called upon to make up lost ground during the height of the pandemic.”

Abby Shurtz

Abby Shurtz

Hilderbran says that TFDA is confident that each of these leaders are fully capable of the increased responsibilities as they go forward.