Interview with Wiliam C. Wappner,
the President of FIAT-IFTA

Revista Funeraria magazine from Spain interviewed Mr. Wiliam C. Wappner, President of FIAT-IFTA, about his vision as the newly appointed President of FIAT-IFTA, the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange within the global funeral sector. You can read the interview in Spanish in online version of Revista Funeraria magazine and in English below.

During the recent ICD meeting and General Assembly held at the 2024 FIAT-IFTA Convention in Krakow (Poland), you were appointed president of the organization. What does this position mean to you? What responsibilities does it entail?

It is quite an honor to be president of FIAT-IFTA. I was surprised when I was asked by NFDA to be their representative to FIAT-IFTA and then to become a vice president and on to President is something I never imagined would happen to me.

Being President does not mean I have my own agenda to follow. It means my duty is to lead our Board and move the organization in a forward direction. To improve and assist funeral associations and their members to become better in what they do and to join together to make a more cohesive profession worldwide.

Since when have you been a part of FIAT-IFTA? What has this organization represented to you?

FIAT-IFTA is the world coming together to examine the different funeral customs around the world and learn from each other. Also, to solve problems that we can address on a global level.

How did you begin your professional career in the funeral sector? What have been the most significant milestones in your career?

My family has been in funeral service in Ohio since 1872. We started by making coffins as a furniture manufacturer. The opportunity was there for me, but I did not want to become a funeral director when I entered high school. Needing to make some money I took a menial job at the funeral home which sparked my interest in what the business was about and how important it was to grieving families. From there my career goals changed and I went on to the schooling I needed for licensing in Ohio. About two years after being licensed, my father had a heart attack and my brother and I were running the business ourselves. That was defiantly a milestone as I had a big responsibility, but I could start running the business with my vision. The second milestone was going through the chairs of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association. This led to thirty-five years of association work.

What challenges have you faced since your appointment, or what challenges do you foresee in the short term?

The challenge I foresee is we started some new committees, and we have some great chairmen on these committees. Geeting them up and running and integrating their work into the association is a big goal I would like to see happen.

What initiatives would you like to implement?

The goal above is the biggest initiative, but I would also like to increase the membership in FIAT-IFTA. To do that we have to offer value, thus the importance of the committees.

What is the most important challenge that FIAT-IFTA will face in the coming months?

I think member growth is an important challenge. You only have so many countries and not all have associations, which is our primary goal. We can also have a company be a national member in case there is no national member. We went through somewhat of a reorganization a few years ago and continuing the open policies of finances will be a challenge but we have done a good job so far.

In your opinion, why is an organization like FIAT-IFTA important?

That is a good question because a local funeral director will find it hard to understand why their national association gets involved. Especially here in the United States. But to me locally my state association provides the most benefit to me. They help with my laws and continuing education. My national association helps both my state association by giving all the states a forum to talk and they also provide continuing education that may be hard for the state to provide. FIAT-IFTA networks all the national associations allowing them to learn from each other and have a unified voice on international laws on repatriation and more recently working with IATA during covid.

What do you consider to be the most significant achievements of the organization since its inception?

I think working with the United Nations UNESCO has been important. We recently got our charter to work with them renewed for another two years.

What role do Spanish members play within the organization?

Spain is a national member and has a seat at the International Council of Direction (ICD). I am not sure when the last President from Spain was president of FIAT- IFTA but I would like to see another one. We have several members of the board from Europe. Our Past President Marek Cichewicz will be going off in 2026. While anyone can run for the Third Vice President it is important that Europe is well represented as a lot of our national members are European.

In your opinion, how has the funeral sector evolved in recent years? How do you envision the sector in 10 years?

When I look back at my career, what I did when I entered is very different than today. The biggest change has been the increase in cremation and the need to provide meaningful services that a family sees value in. I think the next ten years will be a challenge, but I think it will get better. My national association, NFDA, did some recent research on how different generations view the funeral profession and the importance of the funeral. While the Baby Boomers were not favorable, the Gen Xers were the opposite. I think once again the change is thinking of ways to make the funeral unique and meaningful for the individuals we are serving.

The 17th FIAT-IFTA Convention and the 53rd Annual ICD FIAT-IFTA Meeting, held last September in Krakow, gathered over 300 participants from 54 countries worldwide. Why do you believe such an event is relevant?

The FIAT-IFTA Convention is where the world comes together to learn from each other. We always hold our Convention in conjunction with the President’s home countries’ Convention. We learn the customs of each country we go to and have technical visits as well. Many of our attendees are involved in repatriation and this is a chance for them to network.

For the upcoming edition, do you plan to develop new initiatives to further enhance this gathering? What are your expectations for the next edition?

Our next ICD meeting will be in Yokohama, Japan. We chose this as we missed going there during COVID. Our next Convention will be in my county in Charolette, North Carolina at the NFDA Convention and Expo. You need to attend an NFDA Convention if you have never been to one. We have about 5,000 people in attendance and a huge Expo floor. There will be four days of education, and two General Assembles with outstanding speakers. The FIAT-IFTA meetings will be in conjunction with the Expo so you can do both in a four-day time frame.

FIAT-IFTA is often present at the most important industry events, such as the recent edition of Funermostra, where the organization was represented with a stand. Why is it important for you to attend such events?

Funermostra is a major event in funeral service in Europe. It is important for FIAT-IFTA to be there to meet its members and perhaps get individual members or what we call Associate members to join. I have been an Associate member for many years. For me attending personally is a good way to get to know our members better hear any concerns and develop relationships.

Part of FIAT-IFTA’s mission is to offer support, education, information, products, programs, and services that help the organization’s members improve the quality of service they provide to families. In this regard, the organization has various committees, such as the FIAT-IFTA Global Education Committee. What are the functions of these groups, and why are they so important?

Each Committee has its own role. The Education Committee is to develop programs that FIAT-IFTA can offer to its membership and provide at our conventions. Our new Embalming Committee is to set embalming standards and define the different types of embalming so there are less surprises. The Coffin Standards is similar in that FIAT-IFTA will recommend a minimum standard for the coffin. The Sustainability Committee will make recommendations on how our members can practice good environmental standards. Our Heritage Committee is the one that works with UNESCO.

Would you like to add anything else?

I would like to invite funeral professionals to join FIAT-IFTA and attend any of our international meetings. I think you will enjoy the experience.