Directors
Our Directors
 | Michael Reinfurt, President and Funeral Director Email: MReinfurt@aol.com Mike has been a resident of Watervliet for all of his life. He is married to the former Eileen Waugh of Albany and has two beautiful children; Claire, who attends Keene State College in New Hampshire, and Patrick, a student at Watervliet High School. Mike is a 1979 graduate of Watervliet High School and later attended Ithaca College where he studied Physical Therapy. He later changed his major to Mortuary Science and graduated from Hudson Valley Community College in 1982. Mike is active in the community and is the president of the Watervliet High School Hall of Fame committee. He serves as the public address announcer for the Watervliet Cannoneers football team. |
 | Vincent Fronczek, Vice President and Funeral Director Email: vincevliet@aol.com Vince was born in England and spent his formative years in Waterford where he attended St. Mary’s School. He was a 1978 graduate of Shenendehowa Senior High School in Clifton Park and received his Associates degree in Mortuary Science from Hudson Valley Community College in 1981. Vince was employed by the former Marshall W. Tebbutt’s Sons Funeral Home in Albany until 1986 when he joined our funeral home.Vince resides in the Town of Colonie and previously had been a resident of Watervliet since 1984. He is a communicant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Watervliet. Vince has served on the Board of Directors of the Watervliet Public Library, as vice-chair of the Rensselaer County Friends of Hospice and as president of the Community Hospice Foundation. He enjoys membership in the Watervliet Lodge of Elks and the local, state and national funeral directors associations. Vince was married, for 19 years, to the former Kathryn M. Reinfurt before her passing on February 19, 2004. He is the proud father of Joseph E. Fronczek, a graduate of Watervliet High School and Ithaca College, who currently serves as a Lieutenant and Paramedic with the Watervliet City Fire Department. |
 | Samuel F. Catalano, Jr., Manager and Funeral Director Email: samcatjr@aol.com Sam is a 1975 graduate of Watervliet High School whose dream since a teenager was to be a funeral director. After brief stints in the restaurant and automotive industries, Sam at the age of 36 graduated from Hudson Valley Community College and began his residency here at Parker Bros. Memorial in 1994. Having an article appear in the American Funeral Director's April 1993 edition "New Faces In Funeral Service," it stated that Sam's "Second Career Meets Lifelong Goal." Sam resides in Stephentown covering our funeral homes in Rensselaer County. He is a communicant of St. Joseph's Church in Stephentown and the Church of the Immaculate Conception in New Lebanon. Sam is also involved in many community endeavors in all of the communities our funeral homes serve. He is a member of the Immaculate Conception Council #11071 of the Knights of Columbus in Hoosick Falls, the Stephentown Federated Church Men's Club and Historical Society. He is a trustee of many cemeteries in Albany, Rensselaer and Columbia counties; a member the Capital District Funeral Directors Association, the National Funeral Directors Association and the Hudson Valley Alumni Association. Sam has spoken at many of our local high schools and participated in many career days in helping students understand the role of a funeral director in our society and the rewards of being a funeral director. He has also spoken at many informal meetings of local senior citizen organizations to explain the advantages of pre-arrangements. Sam has two children, Sam III (36) who lives in Latham with his wife Kerri and their daughter Lucy; and Kristin (30) who along with her husband Bill Halvey own and operate Straub, Catalano & Halvey Funeral Home in Wappinger Falls, NY. They have three children Frankie, Maria and Rocco. |
 | Mark S. Fiet, Funeral Director Email: pbmfh1@aol.com Mark grew up in Watervliet and joined the staff of Parker Bros. Memorial in 1980 as a part-time funeral assistant. He was then employed as a member of the Watervliet Police Department. He continued there and enjoyed a law enforcement career retiring at the end of 2003 as Assistant Chief of Police. During his career as a police officer, Mark returned to Hudson Valley Community College to advance his studies and obtained an Associates Degree in Mortuary Science. He served a residency in Funeral Directing at Parker Bros. Memorial and became a Licensed Funeral Director in 1997. He is married to the former Susan Goldstein of Watervliet and is the proud father of Matthew and Evan Fiet, both Troopers with the New York State Police. Mark is the Licensed Manager of the Cummings Funeral Home and also serves as our business manager. |
| Lori Q. Purcell, Funeral Director Email: lqp91@aol.com |
 | The Reverend John F. Tallman, Funeral Director and Embalmer Father Tallman is a native of Watervliet and has shared a 30 year relationship with the Parker Brothers family. He joined the funeral home while still in high school at the age of sixteen. His duties at that time included standing the door during calling hours, driving on funerals, and keeping the cars clean and ready for funerals. After he was graduated from Catholic Central High School in Troy, he went on to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy where he earned an Associates Degree in Mortuary Science in 1978. He then joined the funeral home staff as a full time funeral director and embalmer. In the fall of 1981, after many years of soul searching, prayer, and the fine example of two wonderful funeral directors - Mr. Edward J. Reinfurt and Joseph J. Parker - he decided it was time that he would enter the seminary, a thought that had been on his mind since childhood, and become a priest. He entered Becket Hall, a college seminary program, associated with St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York. He was graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy. From there he went on to St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Theology and a Masters Degree in Divinity in 1987. On August 6, 1988, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Albany. After his ordination, he was assigned to Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Latham where he served as Associate Pastor from 1988 until 1993. In 1993, he was appointed the Chaplain of St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany where he currently ministers to the sick and the dying. In October of 1999, Father Tallman was appointed the chaplain the Albany Fire Department and more recently has been appointed Chaplain of the Watervliet City Fire Department. |
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