Tommy Slusser Reappointed To Virginia Board Of Funeral Directors
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Richmond, VA (Nov. 7, 2018) - Tommy Slusser, Funeral Service Licensee, of Nicely Funeral Home has been reappointed for a second four-year term by Governor Ralph Northam to the Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. The Governor made the reappointment on October 11, 2018. Tommy will serve on the Board until June of 2022. The Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers is the state regulatory entity over all funeral establishments, funeral service licensees (Funeral Directors), crematories, and surface transport services in Virginia. The Board is part of the Virginia Department of Health Professions located in Richmond. The nine member State Board is comprised of seven Funeral Service Licensees and two citizen members. The Board administers licenses to funeral directors and funeral establishments, conducts examinations prior to licensing, and also performs routine inspections of funeral homes and crematories. In addition, the Board oversees the discipline of Funeral Service Licensees for noncompliance with Virginia codes and regulations governing funeral service within the state. The Board conducts regular meetings four times a year and as needed in Richmond at the Department of Health Professions headquarters. The Virginia Department of Health Professions is the regulatory umbrella for doctors, nurses, dentists, physical therapists, and long term care providers, as well as funeral service licensees in Virginia. “The Board’s primary concern is to ensure that when the family of the deceased requires the services of a funeral establishment, they are treated within the laws and regulations governing funeral service in Virginia,” Slusser said.
Currently, as of October 15, 2018 in Virginia, there are 511 funeral homes and funeral home branches and 1,540 funeral services licensees that the board oversees. Since June of 2014, Slusser has served as Vice President of the Board and is currently the chairman of the Continuing Education Committee, and has been active in the past two years as a member of the Funeral Internship Committee. Currently, he is the Secretary – Treasurer of the State Board.
Slusser, a native of Clifton Forge, graduated from Clifton Forge High School in 1975. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Radford College/ University in 1979. Slusser worked in the chemistry department of the clinical laboratory of Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for over 6 years. He was a 1987 graduate of the Funeral Services program at John Tyler Community College in Chester, Virginia, receiving an associate degree in Funeral Service. He has been at Nicely Funeral Home since that time and is currently the Manager of Record for Nicely Funeral Home, responsible for compliance and operations. Slusser is a third generation Funeral Director following behind his grandfather W. Roy Nicely, who died in 1976 and his father Robert T. “Bob” Slusser who died in 2012.
He is a member of Clifton Forge Masonic Lodge # 166 A.F. & A.M., Kazim Shriners of Roanoke, Roanoke Court #59 of Royal Order of Jesters, and the Clifton Forge Shrine Club. Slusser enjoys working on his farm and is a beef cattle producer in the Sharon area of Alleghany County on the Cowpasture River. He is a member of the Griffith Knob Hunt Club.
Slusser is married to Kelly Murray Slusser, office manager at the funeral home, and has a son Rob Slusser, a senior at Radford University, and a daughter, Sylvie Slusser, a freshman at Radford University.
Nicely Funeral Home was started in 1942 when Roy Nicely purchased the business from the Vermilya family. At that time, the business had a location in downtown Clifton Forge on Jefferson Street. In 1946 the funeral home was moved to the current location on Fourth and Alleghany Streets. | | | | | |
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