Funeral Home Appraisal Resumes

ROBERT W. NINKER, CAE, CBA

Robert Ninker is the former Executive Director of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, former President of IFDA Services, Inc., founding President of the Funeral Service Credit Union and current Executive Director of the Funeral Ethics Association, which was founded in 1995. He has co-published three texts on ethics, the latest of which is "Expanding Funeral Ethics," spoken at numerous programs around the country on ethics and often acts as an ombudsman for complaints regarding funeral service.

Mr. Ninker holds a B.S. Degree in Business and Public Administration from the University of Missouri, 1958, and an M.S. in Commerce and Finance, with a major in Corporation Finance from St. Louis University, 1964.

He has been designated Certified Association Executive (CAE), a title granted to fewer than ten percent of all twenty thousand members of the American Society of Association Executives. Mr. Ninker conducts funeral home appraisals and financial worth analyses on behalf of IFDA Services, Inc., 215 South Grand Avenue West, Springfield, Illinois 62704, (217) 525-2000.

He began appraising funeral homes in 1977. Since that time, he has appraised over seven hundred funeral homes and businesses. He has appraised funeral homes in 35 states and has often appeared as an expert witness in court cases related to the appraisals.

His out-of-state appraisals and presentations began in 1980 when he participated in seminars in Florida, Arizona and New Jersey on "Mergers and Acquisitions and Funeral Home Evaluations." Since then, he has addressed funeral directors across the country and in Canada, Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Mexico, Greece and the Caribbean on "Techniques and Procedures for Evaluating Funeral Homes," as well as other business and professional subjects. Since 1995, he has spoken on ethics to funeral directors around the country from Maine to South Dakota, Michigan to Arizona, and many other states.

He is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers, Inc. (IBA), and has been designated as a Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) since 1979 by the Association, which is located in Boynton Beach, Florida. He also served as a panel member in reviewing applications of those seeking the CBA designation. From 1992-94, he served as an IBA Regional Governor for the North Central Region encompassing Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the Province of Ontario.