Recognitions

Melinda Hagerman received "Commitment to Caring" Award

On Saturday, March 2, 2019, The SwedishAmerican/UW Hospital Foundation held its annual "Swedes Night Gala". A special community philanthropy, "Commitment to Caring" Award was given to Melinda Hagerman for her extraordinary work, community service, talent, and dedication to the Rockford community for her 29 years of dedication to "A Walk to Remember". This event is a memorial walk to remember children lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, infant, and childhood death. We are all very proud of Melinda's compassionate service and comfort she provides to families at Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory and throughout the Rockford community.

Funeral Director Ranked # 1 in Value

Fred Muehlfelder, Funeral Director, was also ranked among the top 20 in satisfaction for value in funeral service.

Funeral Service Research Group surveys more than 80,000 individuals annually who experience the loss of a loved one throughout the United States and Canada.

The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) recently honored Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, a funeral home in your community, with its most prestigious recognition, the Pursuit of Excellence Award. Only 164 firms in the world earned this award, placing this funeral home among the top two percent of funeral service providers in the world.

To earn this award, Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory had to demonstrate a commitment to providing exceptional service to grieving families and giving back to their community through unique outreach programs, while adhering to the highest ethical and professional standards.

In addition to receiving the Pursuit of Excellence Award, Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory was one of only two funeral homes to receive the Best of the Best Award. This award recognizes funeral homes for their development and execution of an innovative program or service that had a positive impact on those served.

Certified Funeral Service Practitioner

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, CFSP, has earned the designation of Certified Funeral Service Practitioner from the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice, Inc. This is noted by the CFSP acronym, and this licensed funeral director must meet or exceed defined criteria annually to continue the use of this prestigious designation.

A select few have distinguished themselves among their peers within the funeral service profession as they continue their education to exceed the highest standards of care. This achievement is especially notable because Patrick has voluntarily elected to participate in quality educational and service opportunities that far surpass what the funeral service licensing board in Illinois requires. Patrick has committed to a program of lifelong learning to serve you and families in your community with the level of excellence expected of a CFSP.

To learn more about the value of working with a CFSP, please ask Patrick, call the Academy at (866) 431-CFSP, or visit www.apfsp.org.

FD of the Year - 2011 Runner-Up

Thomas F. Fitzgerald, Funeral Director/Owner of Fitzgerald Funeral Home and Crematory has been recognized as a Runner-Up for the 2011 Funeral Director of the Year award by The American Funeral Directors Magazine. In order to be recognized for this outstanding award, the magazine was looking for nominees who rose above and beyond their positions in the past year to exemplify what funeral service truly means. Nominated individuals were judged on the number of years of service in the industry, role model for funeral service demonstrating an innovative approach to funeral service and a compassionate approach to working with customer families, as well as their active involvement in his community.

Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network is proud to serve as the federally designated not-for-profit agency that coordinates organ and tissue donation and supports families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Since their inception in 1986, they have coordinated donations that have saved the lives of 17,000 organ transplant recipients and helped hundreds of thousands of other patients receive needed tissue transplants.

As one of 58 organ procurement organizations (OPOs) that make up the nation’s organ donation system, they work with 179 hospitals in their donation service area.

In managing the recovery, care, and transportation of donated organs to transplant patients, they work closely with Illinois' nine transplant centers, which operate 32 transplant programs.