President/Owner
Walton’s Funerals & Cremations
Type of Business: Funeral Home, Cemetery & Crematories
Based In: Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Gardnerville, Susanville
Hails From: Puyallup, WA
Years Org. has been in Nevada: 63
Years w/Organization in Nevada: 20
Employees in Nevada: 39
Who has been instrumental to your success?
There’s no doubt learning all aspects of the funeral profession from my father set the stage for me to become a true funeral professional. Certainly, I learned from others in the industry, especially during my studies in Mortuary Science and my internship, but my dad was the most instrumental. He also taught me to have the great work ethic that I have today.
How did you get into your profession?
My father has been a funeral director/embalmer for 62 years. My early years were spent living in the funeral home in the Puyallup/Sumner area of Washington state, where my dad owned three funeral homes, a mausoleum and two crematories. As a result, the funeral profession was a natural career path for me.
What career advice would you give to someone just starting in your industry?
I would advise new professionals to make sure to keep their hearts right towards those they’re serving. Every family deserves to be treated the way we would want to be treated ourselves and every decedent deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at all times. There’s no higher calling in our profession than this.
What was the most difficult experience you encountered as a leader?
As a leader, the most difficult experience I’ve encountered was my termination of a very skilled, well-liked employee. Under the circumstances, I had no choice in the matter but to terminate.
What is an assumption people make about you that is dead wrong?
Since I’m in the funeral business and death is truly a serious matter, many assume I’m such a serious person that I must not have a sense of humor. They are gravely wrong for sure. It’s true that I’m genuinely serious when I need to be, and I choose to be since it’s the right thing to do. However, when I’m not in a work-related situation, I tend to make humorous comments, usually about death though, whenever the opportunity presents itself.
What do you hope future generations can learn from your professional journey?
I wish them to learn anything and everything that will inspire them to become true funeral professionals. I desire their first objective is to make a difficult time easier in some way for each grieving family and at the end of the process, they can witness healing begin to take place.
https://www.nevadabusiness.com/2022/09/rick-noel/
We are honored to have won best funeral home in the 2022 Best of Reno. Thank you and congratulations to all of this years
winners!
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak recently appointed Walton’s Funeral and Cremations owner Kim Kandaras to serve on the Nevada Funeral and Cemetery Services Board.
The board is composed of seven individuals who regulate and investigate state licensing and complaints in the funeral industry. Kandaras will serve a four-year term.
Kandaras has been with Walton’s Funeral and Cremations for more than 18 years, according to a Nov. 23 press release, serving in the role of Controller. In 2019, she and co-owner Rick Noel purchased the company.
Kandaras is responsible for budgeting, oversight of accounting staff, reporting, risk management and controls, as well as operational oversight in her role.
She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Nevada Society of Public Accountants, and the Society for Human Resource Management. She has served as a board member for the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, Reno American Little League and the Northern Nevada Chapter of Dress for Success.
https://www.nnbw.com/news/2021/dec/09/people-kim-kandaras-named-nevada-funeral-and-cemet/?fbclid=IwAR2XitSfNrST3lVGsvgvKlS4sQr6Evn7rIh2zEIEF03WUNRP7qLOlH25kXY
Co-owner Kim Kandaras was featured in the Northern Nevada Business Weekly for her board position as Treasurer for Dress for Success. Way to go, Kim! Read more below.
Last week, Dress for Success Reno-Northern Nevada announced the opening of a new retail location in Orchard Plaza at 2295 S. Virginia St., Ste. 9-10.
Called Shop for Success, it showcases professional clothing for clients and a “budget-conscious designer boutique to support programs,” according to a March 1 press release. It will be open 10-5 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Dress for Success Reno-Northern Nevada, which launched in 2017, is the local affiliate of Dress for Success Worldwide, the international nonprofit that provides support, professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
In addition to announcing the new location, Dress for Success Reno-Northern Nevada also announced its 2021 board of directors, composed of: President Tabnie Dozier, KOLO 8 News Now; Treasurer Kim Kandaras, Walton’s Funerals and Cremations; and Secretary Cynthia Egan, Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada; along with directors Carina Black, Ph.D., Northern Nevada International Center; Denise Carver, Kinross Gold Round Mountain; Beth Forshey, Microsoft Reno; Ashley Nikkel, Parsons, Behle and Latimer; and Tiffany Young, Washoe County School District.
“This past year has been challenging beyond measure and has affected all walks of life,” CEO/Founder Patti Weiske said in a statement. “The diversity and talent of the new Dress for Success Reno-Northern Nevada leadership is the torch that will guide our organization and the women we serve to stability and success.”
The nonprofit accepts gently used professional clothing and is seeking volunteers. For information, contact Weiske at 775-846-9814 or reno@dressforsuccess.org.
Owner Rick Noel spoke with the Nevada Appeal regarding the funeral home demand in northern Nevada. Please read more below.
It was late 2020, in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when Mountain View Mortuary found itself in a position that would have been unthinkable any other year.
As COVID-19 cases spiked in Washoe County, leading to a wave of virus-related deaths during the holiday season, the Reno funeral home had to “start turning a few families away” as they ran out of space for bodies, said Paul Noell, manager of Mountain View Mortuary in Reno.
“A couple times during about a 2- to 3-week period, we were having to tell families in the middle of the night, ‘I’m sorry, we have no room to be able to bring your loved one into our care,’” Noell told the NNBW. “Those were really difficult conversations to have. Funeral homes are set up that we usually don’t turn families away; we try to do everything we possible can to help the family.
“Letting the families know that we wouldn’t be able to help them was something really difficult for us and really tough on them as well.”
INCREASED REVENUES AND STAFF SIZES
Mountain View’s experience is a microcosm of the many challenges facing the funeral industry in Northern Nevada and beyond.
Nationwide, mortuaries have been continuously overwhelmed as the U.S. nears a grim tally of 475,000 COVID-related deaths.
More than 27 million people in the country have been infected as of Feb. 11, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and more than 471,000 deaths reported.
In Washoe County, more than 600 people have died either from the virus or due to complications from it, according to the Washoe County Health District. More than 400 of those deaths have come in the last three months alone (for reference, the county reported its 200th COVID-related death on Nov. 1, 2020).
Noell said Mountain View Mortuary helped about 500 families through the process of honoring their loved one in 2020, a 25% increase compared to 2019. He said that equated to the funeral home’s revenue being up roughly 25% last year as well.
The increase was not solely due to COVID-19 infections, said Noell, who pointed to the lockdowns as contributors to a rise in deaths of people dealing with mental health impacts of the pandemic.
In order to keep up with increase, Mountain View had to hire three more employees, increasing its staff size from six to nine, Noell said.
Still, the Reno-based funeral home can only meet with so many families each day. This, Noell said, has delayed the process for families looking to honor their loved one.
“In a normal timeframe, when somebody passes, we’re able to get the family in that day or the next morning,” Noell said. “Now, we’ve seen it to where we’ve had to push families out two or three days before we can even meet them to start moving forward with services and the paperwork.”
What’s more, funeral homes are limited in the number of cremation services and burial services they have time to perform each day.
“For cremations, pre-pandemic, it was usually four or five business days from the time we meet with the family until we’re able to give them the urn back,” Noell said as an example. “Now, we’re looking at anywhere from a week to two weeks out before we can do that.”
KEEPING UP WITH THE VOLUME 
Walton’s Funerals & Cremations, which has 10 funeral homes in Northern Nevada and one in Susanville, California, also experienced its busiest stretch of 2020 in the fourth quarter, said co-owner Rick Noel.
“We saw a 58% increase in the number of deaths from the previous year,” said Noel, noting that’s the biggest quarter increase he’s witnessed in his 38-year career in the funeral industry. “We know COVID definitely impacted it. We felt that all in that last quarter. Sure, we started to see some increase in the third quarter, but that fourth quarter was just insane — it really was.”
Along with coronavirus-related deaths, Noel said Walton’s Funerals also began to see the impact of Baby Boomers — people between ages of 57 and 75 — passing away from issues unrelated to COVID-19.
As a result, Walton’s Funerals had to hire a couple of additional staff to “keep up with the volume and try to help,” Noel said. In all, the company has 60 employees working at its 11 locations spread across the region.
Another challenge that Walton’s has experienced during the pandemic: some manufacturers, slowed by social distancing restrictions and kinks in the supply chain, were unable to produce and deliver urns that were selected by families of cremated loved ones.
“I’ve never experienced that before,” Noel said. “Families would come in and select an urn, and then we would have to come back and say, ‘Look, I’m sorry, it’s not available, because of COVID they’re back-ordered.’ So, we had to offer some alternatives as replacements for what they originally selected.”
Despite the surge in deaths across greater Reno-Tahoe, Walton’s Funerals & Cremations has not reached a point where it’s run out of space.
The company did everything from adding extra hours for cremations to staggering employees’ shifts to avoid having to turn a grieving family away, Noel said.
However, because it got close to capacity, Walton’s did buy two large refrigeration units last year. It moved one into its centralized location on Kietzke Lane in Reno and the other into its Carson City facility on North Roop Street.
The additional refrigerators added roughly 75 to 80 more spaces to the company’s overall capacity, he said.
“By putting in the additional refrigeration, that took a lot of pressure off and gave us that cushion that we needed,” Noel continued. “So, that has proven to be the right decision for us. Even once COVID tapers down and we get back to a little bit of normalcy, we know that the area itself is growing.
“And as the area grows and Baby Boomers start dying more, we know we’re going to need that additional refrigeration space.”
Owner Rick Noel spoke with the Northern Nevada Business Weekly regarding the funeral home demand in northern Nevada. Please read more below.
It was late 2020, in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when Mountain View Mortuary found itself in a position that would have been unthinkable any other year.
As COVID-19 cases spiked in Washoe County, leading to a wave of virus-related deaths during the holiday season, the Reno funeral home had to “start turning a few families away” as they ran out of space for bodies, said Paul Noell, manager of Mountain View Mortuary in Reno.
“A couple times during about a 2- to 3-week period, we were having to tell families in the middle of the night, ‘I’m sorry, we have no room to be able to bring your loved one into our care,’” Noell told the NNBW. “Those were really difficult conversations to have. Funeral homes are set up that we usually don’t turn families away; we try to do everything we possible can to help the family.
“Letting the families know that we wouldn’t be able to help them was something really difficult for us and really tough on them as well.”
INCREASED REVENUES AND STAFF SIZES
Mountain View’s experience is a microcosm of the many challenges facing the funeral industry in Northern Nevada and beyond.
Nationwide, mortuaries have been continuously overwhelmed as the U.S. nears a grim tally of 475,000 COVID-related deaths.
More than 27 million people in the country have been infected as of Feb. 11, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and more than 471,000 deaths reported.
In Washoe County, more than 600 people have died either from the virus or due to complications from it, according to the Washoe County Health District. More than 400 of those deaths have come in the last three months alone (for reference, the county reported its 200th COVID-related death on Nov. 1, 2020).
Noell said Mountain View Mortuary helped about 500 families through the process of honoring their loved one in 2020, a 25% increase compared to 2019. He said that equated to the funeral home’s revenue being up roughly 25% last year as well.
The increase was not solely due to COVID-19 infections, said Noell, who pointed to the lockdowns as contributors to a rise in deaths of people dealing with mental health impacts of the pandemic.
In order to keep up with increase, Mountain View had to hire three more employees, increasing its staff size from six to nine, Noell said.
Still, the Reno-based funeral home can only meet with so many families each day. This, Noell said, has delayed the process for families looking to honor their loved one.
“In a normal timeframe, when somebody passes, we’re able to get the family in that day or the next morning,” Noell said. “Now, we’ve seen it to where we’ve had to push families out two or three days before we can even meet them to start moving forward with services and the paperwork.”
What’s more, funeral homes are limited in the number of cremation services and burial services they have time to perform each day.
“For cremations, pre-pandemic, it was usually four or five business days from the time we meet with the family until we’re able to give them the urn back,” Noell said as an example. “Now, we’re looking at anywhere from a week to two weeks out before we can do that.”
KEEPING UP WITH THE VOLUME
Walton’s Funerals & Cremations, which has 10 funeral homes in Northern Nevada and one in Susanville, California, also experienced its busiest stretch of 2020 in the fourth quarter, said co-owner Rick Noel.
“We saw a 58% increase in the number of deaths from the previous year,” said Noel, noting that’s the biggest quarter increase he’s witnessed in his 38-year career in the funeral industry. “We know COVID definitely impacted it. We felt that all in that last quarter. Sure, we started to see some increase in the third quarter, but that fourth quarter was just insane — it really was.”
Along with coronavirus-related deaths, Noel said Walton’s Funerals also began to see the impact of Baby Boomers — people between ages of 57 and 75 — passing away from issues unrelated to COVID-19.
As a result, Walton’s Funerals had to hire a couple of additional staff to “keep up with the volume and try to help,” Noel said. In all, the company has 60 employees working at its 11 locations spread across the region.
Another challenge that Walton’s has experienced during the pandemic: some manufacturers, slowed by social distancing restrictions and kinks in the supply chain, were unable to produce and deliver urns that were selected by families of cremated loved ones.
“I’ve never experienced that before,” Noel said. “Families would come in and select an urn, and then we would have to come back and say, ‘Look, I’m sorry, it’s not available, because of COVID they’re back-ordered.’ So, we had to offer some alternatives as replacements for what they originally selected.”
Despite the surge in deaths across greater Reno-Tahoe, Walton’s Funerals & Cremations has not reached a point where it’s run out of space.
The company did everything from adding extra hours for cremations to staggering employees’ shifts to avoid having to turn a grieving family away, Noel said.
However, because it got close to capacity, Walton’s did buy two large refrigeration units last year. It moved one into its centralized location on Kietzke Lane in Reno and the other into its Carson City facility on North Roop Street.
The additional refrigerators added roughly 75 to 80 more spaces to the company’s overall capacity, he said.
“By putting in the additional refrigeration, that took a lot of pressure off and gave us that cushion that we needed,” Noel continued. “So, that has proven to be the right decision for us. Even once COVID tapers down and we get back to a little bit of normalcy, we know that the area itself is growing.
“And as the area grows and Baby Boomers start dying more, we know we’re going to need that additional refrigeration space.”
Please join us for our as we celebrate and honor the lives of loved ones. This year’s ceremony is Sunday, December 13, 2020, at 5:00 pm at our Carson City location at 1281 North Roop Street.
Walton’s Funerals and Cremations is proud to support the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation through a donation to the organization. We are honored to be a community partner for this great organization that is helping local children and their families in the battle of childhood cancer.
Congratulations to Rick Noel on his nomination in the Most Influential category of this year’s NNBW Best in Business awards! What a great honor to be named with many of our community’s leaders. Please read more about Rick and cast your vote here.
