Bob Boetticher

Robert Michael "Bob" Boetticher, Sr. (born August 23, 1946) is an American funeral director, best known for the planning and implementation of memorial services for celebrities and notable individuals. He was the lead funeral director and embalmer for the state funerals of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan,        and has coordinated and directed some of the most visible funerals in recent history for a variety of well-known politicians, cabinet members, business leaders, entertainers and clergy.

With a career spanning nearly five decades, Boetticher has become a renowned figure in the death care industry. He is currently the Assistant to the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Service Corporation International and President and CEO of LHT Consulting Group. He is also a nationally known speaker and lecturer, movie and television consultant and contributing writer for industry publications.

Early life
Boetticher was born in Santa Monica, California to Henry Edward Boetticher (1924 – 2004), an entrepreneur, and Patricia Jean Boetticher (1923 - 2011), a homemaker and community volunteer. Boetticher and his older brother, William Edward (1944 - ), were raised in Brentwood, a suburb of Los Angeles.

Boetticher knew from an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in funeral service. He graduated from Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California in 1965, then later enrolled at the California College of Mortuary Science to become a licensed embalmer and funeral director.

Military Service
During the Vietnam War, Boetticher was drafted by the U.S. Army and was forced to leave his studies at the mortuary college as well as positions with a local funeral home and ambulance company. He was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana for Basic Training and then made the decision to enlist for an additional year to attend the U.S. Army’s Grave Registration School at Fort Lee in Prince George County, Virginia.

After completion of Grave Reservation School in 1966, Boetticher received orders to be assigned to an Infantry Regiment and then transferred to a Medic Mobilized Unit in Augsburg, Germany. Being a funeral director and apprentice embalmer, he was then reassigned to the Army Mortuary System Europe in Frankfurt, Germany, where he served as a supply sergeant and embalmer. Boetticher was honorably discharged in 1970 as a Sergeant First Class, but remained in Frankfurt, working for the U.S. Army PX system.

Career
Upon his return to the United States, Boetticher wanted to explore a career in the film industry working alongside his uncle, Budd Boetticher, a well-known movie director. But in need of steady employment for his growing family, he turned back to his lifelong ambitions in funeral service. He accepted a job at Gates Kingsley & Gates Mortuary in Santa Monica, California. The firm was acquired by SCI shortly thereafter, marking Boetticher’s first position with the funeral service giant. He then graduated from the California College of Mortuary Science in 1971.

In 1974, Boetticher and his wife, Jarka, purchased a funeral home and flower shop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he was elected Teton County Coroner    for Teton County, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. He went on to later purchase three other funeral homes throughout Wyoming and also held offices and received awards in local, national and state organizations.

In 1983, he rejoined SCI and relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where he served in a variety of field funeral and cemetery operations and also served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Kansas Community College – Mortuary Science. He relocated to SCI headquarters in Houston, Texas in 1991, heading several departments and was temporarily reassigned to London, England to assist with the company’s merchandising efforts with newly acquired funeral homes. Boetticher’s work has also contributed to technological innovations in death care. As concerns began to mount surrounding the safety of funeral professionals involved in embalming procedures, Boetticher worked for the research and development of a new embalming fluid, Infinity 2000, a phenol- and formaldehyde-free fluid that required no special safety precautions and was non-irritating to the embalmer’s eyes and skin. Infinity 2000 also, unlike formaldehyde, allows organs to retain their natural color, which is of use in teaching at medical schools.

Since 1993, Boetticher has been Vice-Chairman and CEO of the National Museum of Funeral History,      a 35,000 sq. ft. facility located in Houston which houses the country’s largest collection of funeral service artifacts. He has also served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Regents for the Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service for 19 years. In 2014, Boetticher became President of The Heritage Club, a charitable group that funds and supports educational endeavors in the funeral service industry.

Boetticher is a familiar speaker at industry conferences and events, with past appearances at the Wilbert, Inc. annual meeting in Santa Fe, NM in 1996; the Tri State Funeral Directors Convention in Kansas City, MO in 2005; the New York Funeral Directors Convention in Saratoga, NY in 2011; the South Carolina Funeral Directors Association Mid-Winter Conference & Expo in Columbia, SC in 2012; the Rochester Funeral Directors Meeting in Rochester, NY in 2013; the Southern Funeral Service Expo in Macon, GA, the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Convention in Tulsa, OK, and the Erie-Niagara Funeral Directors association in Amherst, NY in 2015. In 2016, Boetticher spoke at the Idaho Funeral Service Association Convention in McCall, ID; appeared twice in engagements at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in Cincinnati, OH, including delivery of the commencement address; and was also a featured speaker at the Southeastern Family Office Forum in Atlanta, GA, presenting on the topic, "Preparing for the Inevitable: The role of the family office when there is a death.” In 2017, Boetticher spoke to the Funeral Directors of Kentucky in Louisville, KY and Alabama Funeral Directors in Mobile, Alabama.

Boetticher has also had consulting assignments for museums, production companies, radio programs and feature films, including The Gangs of New York and A Woman of Independent Means. His television credits include work on Six Feet Under, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel.

List of Notable Clients

 * Ronald Reagan
 * Gerald Ford
 * Lady Bird Johnson
 * Betty Ford
 * Nancy Reagan
 * Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
 * Robert Mosbacher
 * Ted Kennedy
 * Lloyd Bentsen
 * Ted Stevens
 * Gillespie V. Montgomery
 * Charlie Wilson
 * James Stockdale
 * Eunice Kennedy Shriver
 * Tim Russert
 * Michael E. DeBakey
 * Helen Walton
 * D. James Kennedy
 * Merv Griffin
 * Anna Nicole Smith
 * Farah Fawcett
 * Frank Buckles
 * Charles Colson
 * Moses Malone
 * Tom Clancy
 * José Fernández
 * Cliff Barrows
 * Doug Coe

Professional Accreditations

 * Mortuary license, State of Texas
 * Mortuary license, State of California
 * Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters, Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service

Personal life
Boetticher is married to Jaroslava Rydlova Boetticher, a Czech-born physical therapist, whom he met in Germany during his service with the U.S. Army. They have three children, Robert M. Boetticher, Jr. (1970), Keven H. Boetticher (1975) and John P. Boetticher (1978).