David Lee Hernandez Jr.

David Lee Hernandez, Jr., Founder and CEO of Jersey Memorial Group, is a native of Northeast Philadelphia. After graduating from Calvary Christian Academy, he earned a science degree and a Certificate of Proficiency in Funeral Services, became a licensed funeral director in May 2004, and continued his education in legal studies at St. John’s University.

In 2009 he acquired his first funeral home and has since built Jersey Memorial Group into New Jersey’s largest family-owned funeral home company, with funeral home and crematory operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He is a licensed funeral director in multiple states and holds a life insurance producer’s license.

Hernandez is active civically as a past president of local Kiwanis clubs and past president of the Old Bridge Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the boards of Calvary Chapel Old Bridge and Raritan Bay Medical Center. He is a member of the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association, serves as a trustee of the NFDA Foundation Board, is a founding member and chair of the Funeral Service Foundation IMPACT 1000 Subcommittee, serves on NFDA’s Advocacy Committee, and serves on the Tribute Technology Customer Advisory Board. An industry expert, he has fulfilled numerous speaking engagements, including the NFDA International Convention.

His firms have been inducted into the NFDA Hall of Excellence as Pursuit of Excellence winners and have received the NFDA Best of the Best Award three times as the top funeral home operator in the country. He has been named Business Leader of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Old Bridge, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce. He was also named to the NJBIZ 40 Under 40 and Greater Monmouth YMCA Citizen of the Year. He, his family, and his team have been featured in Funeral Business Advisor and American Funeral Director.

For Hernandez, funeral service is not simply a profession. It is a calling, and he considers himself part of the Ministry of the Bereaved. That same commitment carries into his life outside the funeral home. With his wife, Stacey, and their children, Sophia, David Lee III, and Abigail, he is active at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, volunteering in various ministries and school activities. The family also operates C1 Farms, an animal sanctuary and home to a new life remembrance pavilion. Away from work he enjoys flying, working out, golf, and time with his children. He is also the varsity girls basketball coach at Calvary Christian School.