Case study · Bowers Funeral Home · Houlton, Lincoln & Presque Isle, Maine
How Bowers Funeral Home stopped chasing suppliers and started focusing on what matters — families.
Five-plus hours from Boston, “close enough” and “almost on time” aren’t options. This is how one fifth-generation independent funeral home found a partner that delivers every single time.
- ~80%
- Cremation rate at Bowers Funeral Home
- 70–75%
- Of families choose some form of urn
- 5+ hrs
- From Boston, and 3.5–4 hours from Portland
- 1
- Partner for nearly all of their supply needs
01 · The funeral home
A fifth-generation independent in one of the most remote corners of New England.
Bowers Funeral Home has served families in northern Maine for generations — hours from major distribution centers and supply hubs, in a geography where logistics aren’t just a challenge, they’re a constant test.
Tony Bowers, the patriarch and owner, built the funeral home on a simple foundation: know your families, honor their loved ones, and never let them down. His son Ted, a co-owner, now works alongside him, bringing a next-generation perspective while carrying forward the same values.
With an approximately 80% cremation rate and roughly 70–75% of families choosing some form of urn, Bowers relies heavily on a supply partner who can deliver — not eventually, not most of the time, but every single time.
At a glance
- Funeral home Bowers Funeral Home
- Heritage 5th-generation independent
- Locations Houlton, Lincoln and Presque Isle, Maine
- Family Tony Bowers, owner · Ted Bowers, co-owner
- With Turner since The days of founder Bob Turner
- In one word Dependable.
02 · The challenge
Nothing comes easy at this distance.
Shipments that arrive next-day for funeral homes near distribution hubs take longer here. Weather delays in northern Maine are more severe and more frequent. And when something goes wrong — a damaged product, a missed shipment, a last-minute family request — there’s no local backup. No quick run to a warehouse. No “we’ll get it there by end of day.”
“Time restraints — getting things here in time for services. That was always, always the biggest headache. I’ve chased the UPS truck around town more than once trying to get urns for services that day.”Tony Bowers, Owner
For years the Bowers managed multiple vendor relationships — juggling calls, chasing shipments, coordinating across suppliers who didn’t always understand the urgency of what they were delivering.
“Nothing is easy when you’re this far away,” Tony says. “We have to plan for everything. I don’t like to promise anything until I have the cremains in hand and I’ve confirmed the urn, the casket, the vault — everything — will be here at the same time.”
What they needed
More than a supplier. A partner who understood that in their world, “close enough” and “almost on time” aren’t options.
03 · The turning point
A relationship that goes back to founder Bob Turner.
What made Bob different wasn’t his product catalog. It was how he showed up. “Bob made it more personal,” Tony recalls. “He called on us. I expanded to Houlton, and I talked to him one day — he was here the next day, showing me chairs, kneelers, prayer cards, everything. He was there.”
“You’ve carried on Bob’s tradition very well. And I know he was very proud to have sold to you, because he knows the type of quality person you are and the quality of the service and the product you provide.”Tony Bowers
Over time, Bowers consolidated nearly all of their supply needs with Turner Memorial — urns, chemicals, equipment, stationery, promotional items. Not because Turner asked them to. Because the experience made it the obvious choice.
04 · The Complete Confidence Guarantee™ in action
The real test isn’t when everything goes right.
The wrong-date save
Tony made an error on an urn order — wrong dates. The urn had already been produced and shipped. The service was the next day. Most suppliers would process a reorder: estimated delivery 5–7 business days. Turner’s response: “Tony, we’ll have it ready by six in the morning.”
“I got up at three and drove down,” Tony says. “It was sitting outside the door in a box, ready for me to pick up. I grabbed another Dunkin’ and flew north. You make it happen no matter what.” The family never knew a thing went wrong.
Tracking down the truck
When a shipment was cutting it close, Turner Memorial didn’t wait for the tracking number to update. They tracked the package in real time and called Tony directly. “You called and said, ‘It’s in Houlton — it’s on the truck,’” Tony remembers. “I went out on two wheels chasing that truck down so it got here. You go above and beyond — 110%.”
The halfway meeting
“You’d deliver urns two hours out of your way coming north, and we’d meet you halfway,” Tony says. “Or we’d call last minute, drive four hours down, and it would be there waiting for us. You’ve made our life so much easier, all the way around.”
Not edge cases
This is how Turner Memorial operates — every order, every day. For a funeral home hours from the nearest major supplier, it’s the difference between a promise kept and a family let down.
05 · The One-Call Partnership™ in action
One click or one phone call. Painless.
“Between you and [our casket supplier], it’s either a click of the button or a phone call away,” Ted says. “It’s painless.”
“You send us the email, we verify, hit approve, and it’s taken care of — that alone is worth its weight in gold. I can have the proof printed and in front of the family within an hour of sending the order.”Ted Bowers, Co-owner
Even Tony — self-described as “old-fashioned” — finds it seamless: “I still pick up the phone. But I get the proof within minutes, approve it, and it’s in the mail that day. Painless.”
The full product range
“Not just urns,” Ted explains. “Everything from the standard Mackenzie’s all the way down to keepsakes, biodegradable urns, jewelry, bracelets, rings, necklaces. That’s a very big thing now — keepsakes and jewelry. People want something they can take home with them. And you’re able to provide all of it to us, for the communities we serve.”
The owner on the phone
“I can call up the owner of Turner Memorial and talk to him on the phone. I can’t do that with [our casket supplier]. And I know the owner is going to either fix a problem or find a solution for something I need. To me, that’s huge — talking to the head guy. Not everyone gets to do that nowadays.”
06 · The Signature Memorial™ in action
Personalization on virtually every urn.
The deer urn
“Had a service today with one of your urns — deer on it and the name engraved — and the family was just blown away,” Tony says. “Before they left, they couldn’t thank us enough for getting that here over the weekend for them.”
The memory that lasted two years
“A woman came in today,” Tony shares, “and as she was talking about the urn we just got over the weekend, she brought up an urn from two years ago — how it stood out and still sticks in her mind.” A personalized urn so impactful that a community member remembers it two years later isn’t just a product. It’s a reputation builder.
The custom engravings
“When I tell a family, ‘Hey, you can bring in a picture of mom and dad and we can put it on the urn — or the dog, or their own vehicle they loved’ — not everywhere can do that. But you guys can,” Ted says.
The details that matter
“Dad’s gone back and forth — ‘Can you turn the chair a quarter of an inch to the left?’” Ted laughs. “And you detail it right down to the model and year of a tractor, a truck. A 1967 Camaro convertible.” And when the detail is culturally specific — like a potato basket only someone from Aroostook County would recognize — Turner gets it right. “You changed it within seconds. Got what I needed, and let’s go.”
“We know our people. We know their backgrounds — where they come from, potato industry, woods industry, fishing, whatever. And it just brightens their day on a day of gloom.”Tony Bowers
07 · The results
What changed at Bowers Funeral Home.
Operational simplification
- Nearly all supply needs consolidated with one partner
- Proof approvals completed within an hour — often minutes
- No more chasing multiple vendors, shipments, or invoices
Service reliability
- Same-day solutions when problems arise — at Turner’s cost
- Personal delivery and halfway-point meetings when shipping won’t cut it
- Real-time shipment tracking and proactive communication
Family impact
- Personalization offered on virtually every urn
- Custom designs families talk about for years
- A competitive advantage in their market
The partnership
- Direct access to the owner of Turner Memorial — not a call center
- A relationship built on mutual respect and shared values
- Both sides show up for each other — 24/7
08 · In their words
Asked to describe Turner Memorial in one word: Dependable.
Tony didn’t hesitate. What he’d say to another funeral director: “Just do it. Just make that phone call. He’ll make it happen.”
“On time. Easy. You’ve gone above and beyond with us — delivering, helping us last minute, overnight, everything. And you know you can call on us to help you out in the same pinch. 24/7. That’s what the partnership’s all about.”Tony Bowers, Owner, Bowers Funeral Home