CORPORATE-OWNED
SCI / Dignity Memorial
Includes Service Corporation International, SCI, Dignity Memorial, Dignity Planning, National Cremation Society
funeral homes · Houston, TX
The funeral home with your grandfather's name on it is probably owned by a $12 billion Wall Street corporation.
The Bigger Fish
- SCI is publicly traded (NYSE: SCI), not technically PE-owned — but it runs the exact same PE-style approach: acquire local funeral homes, keep the family name on the sign, extract corporate margins
- Owns 1,493 funeral homes and 496 cemeteries across 44 states — spent $181 million acquiring 26 more funeral homes and 6 cemeteries in 2024 alone
- Median cremation costs 72% more at SCI-owned homes ($2,700) than independents ($1,562) — full-service funerals run $7,705 vs. $5,241 at independents
- SCI keeps acquired funeral homes operating under their original family names — you think you're supporting a local business, but revenues flow to a Houston-based corporation
Since the Acquisition
- You're grieving and price-shopping is the last thing on your mind — SCI knows this and trains funeral directors to push premium packages with aggressive sales quotas
- SCI funeral homes refuse to post prices on their websites, violating the spirit of the FTC Funeral Rule and making it nearly impossible to comparison shop
- Former employees report being pressured to call grieving families for upsells and referrals — your loved one's funeral director has a sales quota hanging over their head
- The 'local' funeral home you've trusted for generations may have quietly been acquired by SCI — the family name stays, but the pricing and policies are all Houston-directed