Dueling Funeral Homes Fight Over Mandel Name
The Chicago Tribune is reporting trouble in Skokie, Illinois, as two Jewish funeral parlors duke it out in court for the use of one man’s name.
It goes something like this: Service Corp. International, the company that owns the original parlor, Lloyd Mandel Levayah Funerals, is suing Lloyd Mandel himself, the former owner of Levayah. The company is demanding that the court prohibit Mr. Mandel from using his name for his new funeral service business, aptly named Lloyd Mandel Mitzvah Memorial Funerals. To add icing on the kosher cake, the company is also asking for unspecified damages. According to the Tribune, the lawsuit claims that when Mandel sold his funeral service in 1995, he also sold the name of the business. Now that Mandel has opened a new funeral business in his name, the company is accusing him of violating the earlier agreement.
While court documents show that Service Corp. International believes that Mandel’s new business has caused confusion and “substantial and irreparable harm,” Mandel disputes this claim, telling the Tribune, “I have the right to use my name.”
Both business owners found an appropriate outlet in which to vent their frustrations: the Tribune’s obituary section. Turns out, the funeral business is not all fun and games.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
