Robert James Inman

INMAN, ROBERT J., age 86, of Palm Harbor, Florida, died peacefully on April 14, 2016. Survived by Wife Marilyn A. Inman, predeceased by first wife, Joan Lorence Inman; son of Mary and Barney Inman (deceased). Also survived by Cousins Mildred Stockwell and Florence Dahal and their children as well as Step son Scott R. Nixon (Ann nee Terrill) and grandchildren Steven, Doug, Thor and Freya. Robert was a 1950 graduate of Cleveland College of Mortuary Science, and a 1957 graduate of Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Psychology. He was a veteran of the United States Army Medical Corps, serving in Japan during the Korean War. Robert's entire career had been devoted to providing needed services to all facets of the "death care" business. In 1956, he began his career as a trade embalmer serving funeral directors in a six-county area of northeast Ohio. In 1971 Robert began doing Embalming and Restorative Arts Seminars representing the Champion Company. For over 20 years, he crisscrossed the country doing embalming and restorative art demonstrations in 25 states, for thousands of funeral directors and embalmers. Robert recognized the growth potential of cremation and, in 1971, established a highly successful crematorium in Cleveland. Today, Cremation Service, Inc. is one of the largest volume crematories in the state of Ohio. Robert's business matured into a service of worldwide death care service and repatriation when, in 1962, he expanded his business into shipping, handling the transporting of human remains out of the Cleveland market for out of town funeral homes. In 1969 he founded the National Association of Mortuary Shippers, serving as its first president. In 1976 he became Regional Director for Continental Mortuary Air Shippers, a national shipping company, and when CMAS closed in 1979 he founded Inman Nationwide Shipping (aka Inman Shipping Worldwide), a company that ships human remains across the United States, Canada, and throughout the world, for funeral homes. Today Inman Shipping Worldwide is the largest shipping company of its type in America. Robert served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and was a member of that Board for over 25 years. In 1982 Robert was one of three Americans elected to the British Institute of Embalmers of Birmingham, England. He became an organizer and past president of the North American Division of the British Embalmers. In 2003, he was given the Degree of Fellowship of the British Institute of Embalmers, the highest honor given to a member. A strong industry supporter, Robert maintained a number of memberships in key professional organizations. He was a member of the National Funeral Directors Association, the Ohio Funeral Directors Association, F.I.A.T.-I.F.T.A., the American Cemetery Association, the American Cemetery Mortuary Conference, was a past president of the Ohio Embalmers Association, a past president of the Cleveland Embalmers Association, a past president of the Cremation Association of North America, and was elected to membership in the Georgia Academy of Embalming. Robert had also been a member of the Rotary Club, with perfect attendance for the past 35 years. A memorial mass will be celebrated on Friday, May 27, 2016 at St. Barnabas Catholic Church, 9451 Brandywine Rd, Northfield, OH 44067 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Rotary Club of Cleveland, 1122 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44115; or Sun Coast Hospice, 2675 Tampa Road, Palm Harbor, Florida 34684.