Melissa A. Drake-Messina began her tenure at AFC in 1991 where she worked alongside Dr. Vanderlyn R. Pine until his retirement in 2007. At that time, Melissa became Co-Owner of the business with her long-time colleague Kathy D. Williams. Melissa holds the role of COO and President of AFC and upon Kathy’s retirement in 2021, she became the sole owner of the company.

As such, Melissa oversees all of the day-to-day responsibilities including the data processing, analysis, and interpretation, as well as all computer program design, development, and implementation for all appraisals, business plans, feasibility studies, and all other specialized consulting carried out by the firm. In addition, Melissa serves as a Buy/Sell Intermediary working in a full-service brokerage capacity. She carries out all phases of sales transactions and works closely with all buyers and sellers on a daily basis.

Melissa’s professional career has been devoted exclusively to providing professional and personalized service to our clients.

Over the years, Melissa has authored and served as an expert resource for many featured topics and articles that have appeared in funeral service trade journals and publications. In addition, she has presented on critical funeral service issues at various Association Conventions, funeral service educational institutions, study groups, webinars, and other industry organizations.