Steve Houfek

General Manager/Licensed Funeral Director

Steve grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota and graduated with a high school class of less than forty students. He went on to Gustavus Adolphus College where he earned a degree in psychology and then continued to the University of MN-Twin Cities for his degree in mortuary science. Having been in the field for well over two decades, Steve has been committed to service and helped several thousand families over the course of his career. If you can ease someone's suffering, be useful and help your fellow humans, you've led a good life.  He resides in the northwest suburbs with his wife, children, and family dog.

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Steven Anderson

Licensed Funeral Director

Steven was raised in Brooklyn Park, and his first job was bagging groceries at Holiday Foods in Fridley. He worked at the Fridley Target until graduating from Park Center High School in 1980. 

Steve attended the University of Minnesota in search of a medical degree. While going to college, he worked at Hennepin County Medical Center on an Oncology Unit. This experience helped him understand some of the pain and suffering that individuals endure and the loss that families encounter while struggling with the effects of cancer and death. Because of the life changing experiences he had with these individuals and their family members, Steve changed his educational direction and in 1985, registered for the Mortuary Science Program at the University of Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1987, Steve joined the Miller family and has been with them since that time. 

Steve and his wife Monie were married in 1985 and they live on a small hobby farm just north of Anoka. Steve and Monie are very actively involved with their children and with their church. 

"Our team here works very hard, with compassion, sincerity, and integrity to meet the needs of those who choose our funeral home".

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Mark Stohlberg

Licensed Funeral Director

Mark was born in Fresno, California to a pastor’s family, and he lived most of his life in the Twin Cities area. Mark attended Minnehaha Academy, North Park College and the University of Minnesota where graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mortuary Science.

Mark has one daughter Gretchen, and her husband Chris; two sons, Devin and Chris; and three grandsons, Aidan, Logan and Gavin. Mark is an active member of Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton. He enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren, as well as church activities, including singing in the church choir.

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Brady Hernandez

Licensed Funeral Director

Brady was born and raised in Brooklyn Park. She attended the University of Minnesota Program of Mortuary Science where she graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor's of Science.

Brady started her career in Albert Lea, serving families in the Southern Minnesota communities. In 2013, she and her husband were married and made the decision to move back to the Twin Cities to be near family and friends.

From 2014-2017 Brady worked for Miller Funeral Home and rejoined the staff in 2019 after she and her husband welcomed their first child.

She enjoys trips to the lake and spending time with her husband, son and two doodles, Charlie and Murphy. She is happy to be back helping the families in Fridley and it's surrounding communities.

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Melanie Parrish

Licensed Funeral Director

Melanie was born in Houston, Texas. When she was 13, her family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, to get away from the heat and be close to family. Melanie has always had a strong desire to help others. As a teenager, she worked for Midway Hospital in St. Paul as a candy striper. She also did volunteer work through her church families and served meals at a local food shelf.

After high school, Melanie attended the University of Minnesota and earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a focus on archaeology and ancient Semitic languages. She worked on archaeological digs in the Mediterranean for a couple of summers.

Melanie spent the following years assisting others as a customer service representative. She then went back to the University of Minnesota and completed a degree in mortuary science, fulfilling a life-long dream of helping others at their time of need. She is currently pursuing a master’s in thanatology.

Having worked for funeral homes in both rural Minnesota and in the Twin Cities, Melanie considers funeral service to be her calling in life and sincerely values the opportunity to help families. She lives in Fridley with her husband, Rich, and their young son, Joe. Melanie enjoys reading, studying languages, vegan cooking, and spending time with family and friends.

Amanda Lemon

Funeral Director

Born and raised in the Twin Cities, Amanda earned her mortuary science degree from Des Moines Community College (DMACC) in 2020. Her favorite part of funeral service is sitting down with families and learning about their fun family traditions. She is happy to be surrounded by such a loving and caring group of professionals who hold the same passion for serving families in one of the most difficult times in their lives. When not at work, Amanda enjoys spending time with her partner, Derek, and three boys, traveling, and going for walks with Finnegan, the family dog. 

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Samantha McMahon

Funeral Director Intern

Samantha is originally from Burnsville. She studied psychology at Saint Mary's University of Winona for two years and then received her bachelor’s degree in mortuary science from the University of Minnesota in 2022.

With a deep desire to help people, Samantha’s interest in funeral service was ignited while studying psychology. The impact of grief particularly stood out to her. She knew she was destined to become a funeral director after working as a night attendant at a funeral home for a couple of years and spending time with families there.

Bill Wigg

Preplanning Specialist

Bill is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. After having spent years working in the senior care field, both in operations and sales, he had a calling to continue serving others. As a Preplanning Specialist, Bill helps individuals provide valuable direction to their families by putting plans in place.

In his free time, Bill enjoys traveling, golfing, and spending time at his family’s cottage on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. An avid singer, Bill has sung in choirs and choruses, as well as small groups. He was the tenor for a quartet for 25 years, and he is both a member and soloist for his church choir. Bill is married to his high school sweetheart, Colleen. They have two children (Erin and Jordan) and live in Plymouth, MN.

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Mark Waznik

Certified Crematory Operator

Mark has been a part of the team at Miller Funeral Home since 2007.

After working with Kim for some time, Mark soon found out that he enjoyed contributing to the experience of celebrating the life of people’s loved ones. Creating the “just right” atmosphere is quite rewarding to Mark, knowing that families appreciate the care and consideration they receive.

Mark is present at many of the services and visitations through Miller Funeral Home, and he also helps prepare many of the details beforehand.

Mark and his wife, Holly live in Coon Rapids.

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Holly Waznik

Office Manager

Holly joined the staff in May 2017 as Office Manager at Choice Cremation in Fridley. 

Holly is a Registered Nurse, having received her degree at the University of Minnesota in 1983. She retired from a 33 year nursing career in December 2016 and is now enjoying a new work landscape and a change of pace, providing support for a wonderful, hard-working group of co-workers.

 Holly and her husband, Mark have a son, a daughter, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law.  They also have two small dogs of their own and their two grand dogs round out their family nicely. 

Robert Friis

Support Staff

Gabby Anderson

Support Staff

Mikal Kindem

Certified Crematory Operator