News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Bannan Funeral Home Director Chad Esch sits at his desk with items displayed that are given to families of donors through Gift of Life Michigan.

ALPENA — Chad Esch, director of Bannan Funeral Home, received the Gift of Life Michigan’s 2026 Funeral Professional Champion award.

Dorrie Dils, the president and CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, said that the process of choosing a winner for the award involves looking through and comparing several nominations.

The winner is chosen based on their contribution to organ donors and the steps they took to advance organ and tissue donations and to serve donor families.

“Chad has been an active member of the Michigan Funeral Directors Association and Michigan Gift of Life,” Dils said. “He is a Donation Champion funeral home. They provide support to donor families that include draping the casket with the donate life flag, providing materials at the funeral or the showing, showing that the person had been a donor.”

Those actions help educate people about being a donor.

Esch has been educated by the Gift of Life team to help navigate the process of donation with donors’ families.

“He really goes above and beyond to assist families in honoring their donor,” Dils said.

Esch said he is honored to receive the recognition.

“There’s many funeral homes that are doing many things,” he said. “So to be the one recognized for this is an honor.”

When it comes to walking with families through the donation process, Esch said he is more of a conduit. He makes sure that the medical facility, Gift of Life, and the donor’s family are all in communication with one another.

Donation is time sensitive, especially up north, he said. It takes at least eight hours round trip for someone from Ann Arbor to drive up north to the medical center, collect harvested tissue or organs, and drive back. There is a 24 hour window in which a donation is still considered viable.

He also educates families on the difference between organ and tissue donation. Organ donations are rarely done since they require someone to die of something like a cardiac event or a brain injury in a medical facility. Organs still need blood flowing to them to be viable. Tissue donations can happen in a wider range of cases.

Esch provides Gift of Life materials to families that they can choose to put on display at a donor’s funeral or visitation. Materials provided include a flag that can be draped over their casket, Gift of Life pins and bracelets, and books discussing grief.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.