Ziri Rideaux
Ziri Rideaux grew up in Germany in her family tradition of Shamanism which includes communication with the ancestors who are highly honored and frequently consulted for guidance. In her early twenties, Ziri volunteered in various hospices and accompanied about 200 dying people through their transitions. Ziri also worked for five years as a war correspondent, witnessing many violent deaths. After losing both parents and a number of close friends to cancer, Ziri became acutely aware of the lack of support for the dying and their loved ones in our current society. She conceived FRIENDS Funeral Home in order to help people embrace the dying process in natural ways, without fear and awkwardness.
Unlike traditional funeral services, which generally offer a more narrow approach to funerals, Ziri believes the dying and their loved ones deserve more freedom to personalize the dying experience as well as the funeral arrangements. Ziri’s hope is to make death a profoundly meaningful experience for all involved that brings people closer together and reaffirms the beauty and value of life AND death.
Brendan Miller
Brendan oversees the operations of Friends, assuring that your funeral is a wonderful and effortless experience for you and your guests.
Brendan has an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MPA from Harvard University where he was a Public Service Fellow. Professionally, he has focused on developing new initiatives that are expressions of his core values of community and sustainability. He has worked in the business, government and non-profit sectors over the past 15 years towards this goal. He has taught leadership at Harvard University and is trained in conflict resolution and facilitating emotionally difficult conversations. Through Friends, his mission is to introduce more personalized, heartfelt and environmentally-friendly options for those in need of funeral and memorial services.
Brendan has lost family and friends to cancer, illness and old age and felt a calling to reconnect with lost wisdom for navigating these transitions in more healing ways. This calling is an expression of his lifelong interest in the mystical wisdom, practices and rituals of the world’s religions. He has studied eastern, middle-eastern and western meditation and prayer practices, as well as the techniques of indigenous Shamanism.
He is certified through the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).
Stacy Morrisey
Stacy grew up in Altadena, CA. She holds a Masters Degree in Art Therapy and has been working in the Healing Arts for over 25 years as an alternative medicine practitioner. As an intuitive healer, Stacy was impacted heavily by personal losses in her family. She decided to face her fears head-on and join the conscious dying movement that is emerging in the U.S. She considers death as just another stage of understanding our humanness. Stacy has worked in hospital settings, is a trained hospice practitioner and has found her new calling in working with FRIENDS.
