WATERLOO - There is a new kid on the block in the funeral services industry.

Serenity Funeral and Cremation Society is a new business in the Cedar Valley. Its niche is discount funeral services, accomplished by bypassing the traditional brick-and-mortar funeral home. Whitney Overton, vice president of community development for Serenity, says the company is not in direct competition with funeral homes, but some local funeral directors seem to think otherwise.

The goal of Serenity Society is to provide a low-cost alternative to traditional funerals by eliminating the overhead associated with funeral homes. Rather than having a visitation at a funeral home, Serenity Society works with clergy to plan a viewing and personalized funeral at a member's church.

"We believe there is still a need for the traditional funeral home," said Overton. "But we feel that we have a niche, because there are people out there who cannot afford a $6,000 to $8,000 service at a funeral home."

Funeral directors help the bereaved arrange funeral services, typically including casket or urn selection, transportation, embalming or cremation of the body, visitation, funeral and burial when necessary. The idea behind Serenity Society is to provide all of these services without a physical base of operation.

Like traditional funeral homes, Serenity Society can provide either cremation or burial. Overton said the company will not compete directly with funeral homes, but one of the state's few cremation societies is a competitor.

Cedar Rapids-based Eastern Iowa Cremation Society (CSEI) counts the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area as part of its market, with hundreds of members in the area, according to president John Linge. CSEI is a cremation-only service that has been in business for the last eight years.

"We know that there has been a pent-up demand for this kind of service," said Linge. "We offer a simple, dignified, affordable alternative to the sometimes-perceived costly funeral process."

Both Serenity Society and CSEI have direct ties to brick-and-mortar funeral homes, but both operate as separate entities from their parent companies. Serenity Society is a subsidiary of Corinthian Midwest Ventures, which is a privately-held Iowa corporation registered to Blair Overton of Overton Family Funeral Homes, which includes the Parrott and Wood Chapel of Memories in Waterloo. CSEI is affiliated with Cedar Memorial Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids.

Despite their affiliations, both CSEI and Serenity Society claim to operate outside of the realm of traditional funeral homes. Not everyone agrees, however.

"It's a brick and mortar funeral home that is trying a different tact to create business," Eric Locke, a fourth-generation funeral director at Locke Funeral Home in Waterloo, said of Serenity Society.

Meanwhile, Whitney Overton says Serenity Society's ties to a brick and mortar funeral home are not relevant.

"I believe, regardless of being associated with Parrott and Wood or not, we offer a dignified service at less cost," she said. "We offer a lower-cost alternative."

Locke says on an "apples-for-apples" basis, Serenity Society's services could actually cost more than those of a traditional funeral home. However, companies such as Serenity Society and CSEI are not aiming to be apples, instead opting to be oranges hoping to fill a growing trend in consumer demand.

"Cremation definitely is becoming more and more common as a form of disposition," said Linge. Although Serenity Society does not specialize in cremation as CSEI does, it is a part of the niche the company hopes to fill. But despite its specialization, CSEI recognizes it is in competition with the traditional funeral homes, as well.

"Competition is a good thing," said Linge. "We live in America, with free enterprise, and it is good for everybody. And funeral homes would be competition as well. But it's how you provide your service and how you communicate and market yourself that makes the difference."

Services such as Serenity Society and the CSEI may be marketing toward first-time funeral industry customers, according to Daryl Schumacher, owner of the Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel, a Waterloo funeral home. Schumacher said most people have a "family funeral home" where they have taken their deceased for generations, but first-time customers might find the low-cost promises of Serenity Society and the CSEI attractive.

"I would just advise people to explore all their options," said Schumacher. "I don't know of a funeral home that doesn't offer a complete range of services in the funeral industry."

Funeral directors view their service as a value-added activity, as well. Some of the overhead saved with Serenity Society and the CSEI is in the salary of the directors, but their intangible contributions are difficult to measure.

"[Funeral directors] are trained to help the bereaved no matter what the budget," said Suzanne Gebel, executive director of the Iowa Funeral Director's Association. "There is a great deal of value in how you remember a loved one."

Gebel said cremation societies were not expanding rapidly at either state or national levels and noted a lack of demand as the primary suspect. However, Serenity Society also has ties to the Merle Hay Funeral Home in Des Moines, and Whitney Overton said there were plans to continue expanding across Iowa in 2008 and beyond. CSEI is part of a larger network called the Cremation Society of Western-Central-Eastern Iowa and counts over 6,000 members throughout the state.

Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.