Sara Williams
President
Sara’s professional career spans a trajectory in international health and breast cancer research. She was told in high school that she was obsessed with death, which became one of the defining moments in her life. In 2014, Sara organized and continues to host a local Death Café. She served on the Board of Directors of the National Home Funeral Alliance from 2014-2017, and is President of the Funeral Consumers Alliance North Carolina (FCANC). She continues to try and change people’s negative feelings toward death and dying and is passionate about educating people about their rights when it comes to purchasing funeral goods and services. Memento Mori!
Gary Sherck
Treasurer
Gary Sherck, our Treasurer, is retired, an inactive CPA, with financial management experience in public accounting, hospital accounting, and Department of Defense auditing. In addition, he is the Treasurer of Cleveland (Ohio) Memorial Society and is active in the monthly Halifax Nova Scotia Death Café. He is experienced in working with funeral directors. He wants to both assist and learn from the leaders at our affiliates.
Gary joined the Board in 2023 and assisted in the April closing of the Burlington, Vermont office, which included transferring the financial records to Quick Books Pro Online.
Recently, he found a new friend, Molly, a one-year-old Labrador Retriever, given to him by his sister.
Gary, with help from fellow Board members, is the host for a monthly (Second Wednesday, 8pm Eastern Time) zoom meeting. He enjoys sharing ideas and learning with Affiliate Treasurers and others in leadership roles.
Dianna Repp
Director
Dianna Repp, Ph.D. (she/her), has served on the Board of Directors of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Arizona as secretary and president. She is grateful to be part of the FCA’s continuing efforts on local and national levels, offering people tools to empower themselves to make informed decisions about end of life and funerary care.
Repp is a socio-cultural anthropologist who explores how art, spirituality, end-of-life issues and post-mortem care across cultures brings meaning and purpose to our lives, expressed through public and private memorialization and individual lived experience. During her professional career, she taught “Death and Dying in Cross-Cultural Perspective” at Arizona State University, and “Death and Dying Across Cultures” at Pima College (Tucson, AZ).
Phyllis T. Croisant
Director
Phyllis T. Croisant, Ph.D., has served as Secretary and President of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Champaign County, IL. She was recruited shortly after serving as trustee of her mother’s estate. That experience heightened her interest in sharing the benefits of pre-planning for end-of-life. She created a website for her local affiliate so that they could expand their educational efforts and, since joining the national FCA Board, she has been actively involved in development of FCA’s new website. Phyllis is a Professor Emeritus at Eastern Illinois University where she taught in the Gerontology program and in Exercise Science. She has 3 sons, 3 grandchildren, and an energetic dog who all keep her moving in her spare time.
Joyce Mitchell
Director
In 1994 I saw an article about a man that made a casket for his dad. In the article a Funeral Director was quoted as saying, “A lot of people want to be buried in a pine box, but when it comes time they end up with the standard commercial casket.” I was dumbfounded. Why can’t people get what THEY want? So I did some research that made me want to join FCA (then called FAMSA “Funeral and Memorial Societies of America”).
Six years went by when, in 2000, I had seen enough articles in my local newspaper depicting families who purchased a funeral they couldn’t afford, relegating themselves to fundraising to pay the bill. I exclaimed, “Don’t they know a funeral doesn’t have to cost so much?!” Determined to liberate Utah families to care for their dead in an affordable way I, with a small group of other enthusiasts, started the Utah affiliate.
Now my passion is to protect the right to not be a customer at all. I call it “holding the walk-away card”. It’s the most powerful bargaining chip you have when shopping for a funeral. It’s knowing full well that you don’t have to buy any products or services to perform a fulfilling farewell.
Kristin Mouton
Director
Kristin Mouton, an advocate for consumer rights and compassionate end-of-life care, has devoted herself to the mission of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA). With a background in advocacy and community engagement, Kristin found her way to the national FCA board, committed to helping individuals and families during one of life’s most sensitive moments. Her volunteer work at the FCA involves working closely with other board members in providing resources to empower individuals in making informed decisions about funeral arrangements, ensuring dignity, affordability, and honoring the wishes of the deceased. Kristin’s commitment to the FCA embodies her belief in the importance of education, transparency, and empowerment in navigating the complex landscape of funeral planning and advocacy for consumer rights.
