Company Leadership

Steve, who joined Homesteaders in 2014, is a well-known and influential executive in the funeral and cemetery business. Prior to joining Homesteaders, he co-founded and served as President-CEO of Foundation Partners Group, LLC, and served as co-founder and CFO-EVP at Keystone Group. Steve also completed two three-year terms as a Funeral Service Foundation Trustee. His experience in the funeral service profession helps ensure Homesteaders is well-positioned to continue its strong tradition of growth, profitability and financial strength.

Under Wade's leadership, Homesteaders continues to develop the solutions that provide state-of-the-art technology to manage our business and serve our funeral home customers, sales counselors and policy owners. He is skilled in developing technical solutions that support customer and company success, including networks, programming, computer operations and technology support to customers. Wade brings to Homesteaders nearly two decades of experience in the information services field. He holds his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from University of Iowa.

Nick is responsible for proactively seeking out and developing opportunities to optimize company growth through innovation that is consistent with Homesteaders’ core values, purpose and vision. A proven change agent, strategist and executive leader, Gerhart previously served as Commissioner of the Iowa Insurance Division, where he transformed that department and increased the State of Iowa’s international prominence through his thought leadership and the creation of the Global Insurance Symposium held annually in Des Moines. He also previously served as Chief Administrative Officer for FBL Financial.

Marla is responsible for overseeing legal and compliance matters and is committed to ensuring that Homesteaders continues managing our business with the highest level of ethics, integrity and adherence to the laws and regulations that govern the preneed insurance industry. With nearly 30 years of experience in both corporate and private legal practice, Marla has gained a wealth of insurance compliance expertise. Marla earned her Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 2004 and her Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation in 2005. She received her undergraduate degree from Drake University and her law degree from the University of Iowa.

Lyndon represents Homesteaders’ ongoing commitment to our funeral home customers. As the Executive VP-Sales & Marketing, his role includes overseeing the account executive and third party marketer programs. Lyndon has an exceptional understanding of agency management and multi-channel distribution systems. He joined Homesteaders after a 27-year stint with Wellmark, Inc. He holds a B.A. in Finance and a master's degree in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Iowa as well as an MBA from Drake University. Lyndon is a fellow in the Life Management Institute (FLMI).

Steve joined Homesteaders in April 2013 with extensive experience in the insurance and investment management industries, including more than 10 years in Chief Financial Officer roles. He is responsible for directing Homesteaders' accounting, investment, treasury and risk management functions. Steve holds a B.S. in Accounting and Economics from Morningside College in Sioux City, IA. He is also a member of the American Institute of CPAs and is a Fellow in the Life Management Institute (FLMI).

Since joining Homesteaders in 1997, Judy has worked to help employees be productive, engaged and successful through our company’s commitment to continuous improvement and personal accountability. She helps cultivate a workplace that is enjoyable for employees and provides the resources and training they need to excel in their careers. Judy works on a wide variety of projects while overseeing all human resources activities, organizational design, administrative services and facilities. As part of the leadership team, she helps ensure Homesteaders’ long-term security, and also coaches and mentors our current and future leaders.

Laurie, who joined Homesteaders in 2012, previously worked for AmerUs Capital Management (later known as Aviva Investors), where she discovered that her love of logic had an application in software development. She earned a B.A. in English Literature from Dordt College (now Dordt University), and completed her MBA from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa.

Tom leads the team responsible for Homesteaders’ profit testing, product development, actuarial services and long-range profitability planning. He works closely with the enterprise strategy team as well as the sales, marketing and financial departments to develop new products and evaluate opportunities to support the company’s goals. Tom has more than three decades of experience in the life insurance industry, including new product development, in-force policy management and preneed. He is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Doug joined Homesteaders in 2019 with over 20 years of institutional investment management experience, much of which was spent managing insurance company portfolios. Throughout his career, he has successfully managed multi-sector portfolios across a variety of strategies, objectives and asset classes while implementing creative portfolio solutions and process improvements. As Chief Investment Officer, his responsibilities include overseeing all investment-related activities to ensure the long-term security and growth of Homesteaders' investment portfolio. Doug holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University, an MBA from the University of Chicago and is a CFA® charterholder.

In her role as Senior VP-Customer Service at Homesteaders, Krista ensures our customer service, operations and agent licensing/compensation teams have the resources, training and encouragement they need to provide prompt, thorough assistance to our company’s stakeholders. Krista has more than 30 years of experience in insurance and financial services and is deeply rooted in all major aspects of customer service including market research, competitive intelligence and sales operations. She holds both an undergraduate and master's degree in business from Drake University.

Luke is President of eFuneral Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Homesteaders Life Company. He leads the breakout digital solutions company that helps funeral homes maximize market share through optimized online sales. Prior to joining eFuneral, Luke spent almost a decade in various roles with Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 500 insurance and financial services company. He is a graduate of Drake University where he earned his bachelor’s degree and MBA.

Wayne’s responsibility as Controller is to ensure the integrity, accuracy and timeliness of the financial information used in reporting the company’s financial statements and regulatory filings required by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and each applicable state insurance department. This begins with making sure daily financial transactions are captured and accurately recorded, ensuring timely payments are made to policy owners, funeral home customers, agent and vendors and maintaining proper financial data controls. Wayne earned a degree in accounting and is a Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI). He has been working in the insurance industry for 35 years and enjoys meeting the challenges of an ever-changing world of accounting rules and financial regulations.

Kim joined Homesteaders in 2009, and now serves as head of our company’s Planning and Development team. She leads the efforts of a group that seeks opportunities and solutions to help our company and funeral professionals meet consumer demands long into the future. Kim has been a featured speaker at conventions for organizations such as the National Funeral Directors Association, and has also served as a Funeral Service Foundation Trustee. She previously served as Business Development and Communications Director for Hospice of Central Iowa, and holds an MBA from the University of Iowa.

As VP-Strategic Markets, Will draws on more than 20 years of experience in the funeral profession, including 13 years with Keystone Group Holdings as operations controller and vice president of corporate development. While at Keystone, Bischoff analyzed hundreds of funeral homes’ financial statements. Now at Homesteaders, he enjoys working with funeral home owners to implement preneed strategies for long-term success. Bischoff holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s in corporate finance.

Danielle Burmeister is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in secure, reliable preneed funding. Danielle grew up in a small apartment above her family’s funeral home, cleaning cars and playing “Taps” at graveside services. She later worked in event marketing for the Iowa State Fair and as a professor of English and Communication at a nearby college, before finding her way back to funeral service. In Danielle’s current role, she leads the team responsible for all aspects of Homesteaders’ marketing and branding. Danielle has a Bachelor’s degree from Central College and a Master’s degree from Iowa State University.

Since 1993, Dean’s passion has been helping funeral professionals promote the value of what they do. His role at Homesteaders allows him to help people in the funeral business communicate how consumers can celebrate lives and ensure their own lives are remembered in meaningful ways. He is a frequent presenter at funeral association events and has published numerous articles on funeral home marketing and public relations.

Dan joined Homesteaders in 1991 as the firm’s first-ever account executive. Today, as vice president of field sales, he is responsible for setting and inspecting the goals of nearly 40 sales professionals. Dan and his team provide sales and marketing support to funeral home owners across the country. In addition to being a certified preplanning consultant, he holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Northern Iowa.

Jill has nearly three decades of experience in sales and financial services. She is an experienced marketing, business development and insurance professional with deep knowledge of the funeral space as well as experience working for Fortune 100 companies including MassMutual, Verizon and Pepsi. Jill has served on the Funeral Service Foundation Grants Committee and the ICCFA’s Educational Foundation Board of Trustees.

Judi joined Homesteaders in 2017 and is a vice president in the Actuarial Services area. Her work helps our company uphold our commitment to financial strength, ensuring we can continue to honor the promises we make to our stakeholders. Judi earned a bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Iowa, and has more than 30 years of experience in the life insurance industry. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst of the Society of Actuaries (CERA) and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA).

Joe, who joined Homesteaders in 2003, is responsible for two teams within the Homesteaders IT department. The IT Security team is responsible for the security of all aspects of Homesteaders’ Information Technology environment. The Help Desk team is responsible for many aspects of support centered mainly on endpoint hardware/software support. Joe brings more than 30 years of insurance industry experience to his role, ensuring that our company is well-positioned to meet the needs of Homesteaders in these areas in a constantly changing IT environment.

Tracy plays an integral role on the team that oversees compliance, government relations, life insurance regulations, policy and form filings, privacy law, funeral and preneed law and more. She also works with legislators, regulators, lobbyists and other insurance companies on legislation and proposed rules that may impact our industry. Since joining Homesteaders in 1999, Tracy has gained expertise that helps her foster a culture of compliance and partner with internal business units to meet objectives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa, and a law degree from Drake University.