Funeral directors who search for UPD urns are usually trying to place a wholesale order, not browse a family catalog. UPD Urns is a Dallas manufacturer of cremation urns and keepsake jewelry. Vischer Funeral Supplies does not carry that brand. The urns on Vischer’s shelves are Starmark lines: Richmond hardwood urns for display, and MacKenzie cultured-marble urns for burial, a niche, or home.
Match the line to the job before you order. A hardwood shell built around a temporary container is a different product from a stone urn sized for a full set of cremated remains.
Ask Vischer which Starmark urn fits this arrangement
What are UPD urns?
UPD urns are memorial urns and cremation jewelry made by UPD Urns, a manufacturer and distributor that sells to funeral professionals. The company is based in the Dallas area, with a public address at 2926 Congressman Lane, Dallas, Texas. Its own catalog groups metal, wood, stone, and ceramic urns, plus infant urns and jewelry.
That is a manufacturer catalog, not a Vischer product line. A search of Vischer’s live store for UPD returns no products, and UPD is not one of the brands on Vischer’s brand list. Ordering “the UPD one” from Vischer will not produce an UPD urn.
If a family already chose a specific UPD model from a photo or a prior home, the honest next step is to order that model from UPD or from a dealer who stocks it. Vischer can still help when the need is a hardwood display urn or a cultured-marble urn in a known size. Name the use, the capacity, and whether engraving matters. Do not substitute a brand the family has already approved without telling them.
Which urn lines does Vischer actually stock?
Vischer stocks two memorial urn lines, both from Starmark, plus a temporary plastic urn used in the crematory. Display fixtures such as urn stands are a separate category and are not a substitute for the urn itself.
- Richmond Urn Series. Hardwood shells in oak, cherry, and cedar. The Classic Oak is satin-finished oak, made in the USA, and designed in Richmond, Indiana. A screw-closure base is built to hold a temporary Starmark Sure~Lock urn. Every side can be engraved.
- MacKenzie Urn + Vault. Hand-sculpted cultured marble in marble, granite, onyx, and matte stone-tone colors. Shapes run from a 5-cubic-inch keepsake to companion and niche urns listed at 420 cubic inches.
- Sure~Lock temporary urn. Recycled plastic, patented latch, bag and tie included. The standard black urn is 210 cubic inches and is sold by the case of 24.
Start with the Vischer urn category when you need a photo, a finish, or a size to show a family. For a wider lesson on materials and family choices, the cremation urn buying guide covers selection without walking this catalog.
How do Richmond and MacKenzie urns differ?
Richmond is a display shell. MacKenzie is the container. That split decides which line you pull for a visitation, a burial, or a niche.
A Richmond standard urn, such as the Classic Oak, has an interior of 8.875 by 6.625 by 5 inches. The exterior is 10.375 by 8.125 by 6.125 inches. The wood is the memorial the family sees. The cremated remains sit in the Sure~Lock urn that locks into the base. Felt tabs protect the surface it rests on. Natural Cedar, Natural Cherry, Shaker Cherry, Sedona Cherry, and Weathered Oak follow the same idea in different wood.
The MacKenzie Classic is cultured marble, 9.75 by 6.75 by 6.5 inches, listed at 210 cubic inches and 15 pounds. Product copy describes it as suitable for burial and for select columbarium niches. Where a niche is tight, Starmark points buyers to the dedicated Niche urn instead. The same page says the urn is accepted as an airline carry-on and can be X-rayed. Confirm the carrier’s current rule before a family travels with it.
| Choice | Best use | Listed size | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond hardwood urn. | Home or chapel display over a Sure~Lock insert. | Standard exterior about 10.4 by 8.1 by 6.1 inches. | Wood, engraving, and a seated temporary urn. |
| Sure~Lock temporary urn. | Crematory holding, and the insert inside Richmond. | 210 cubic inches. Case of 24. | Stock on hand before a hardwood shell is promised. |
| MacKenzie Classic. | Full adult memorial, burial, or select niches. | 210 cubic inches. 15 lb. | Color, engraving, and columbarium fit. |
| MacKenzie Keepsake or Small Cube. | A shared portion or a small memorial. | 5 or 14 cubic inches. | This is a portion, not a full set of remains. |
| MacKenzie Companion or Niche. | Two people, or a niche opening. | Up to 420 cubic inches on listed models. | Measure niche width before ordering the companion. |
How much capacity should you order?
Order by cubic inches, not by a style name. A common planning estimate is about one cubic inch of urn space for each pound of body weight before cremation. It is an estimate, not a guarantee. Weight, bone density, and the cremation itself all change the volume. When the estimate lands near the urn’s limit, step up a size.
These are the capacities printed on Vischer’s MacKenzie and Sure~Lock pages:
- Keepsake: 5 cubic inches, 3.5 by 2.5 by 2.5 inches, 2 pounds. A portion for sharing or a small amount kept when the rest is scattered.
- Small Cube: 14 cubic inches, 4 by 4 by 4 inches.
- Small Grecian: 35 cubic inches, 4 by 4 by 6.5 inches.
- Grecian: 190 cubic inches, 7 by 7 by 10.5 inches, 8 pounds.
- Classic: 210 cubic inches, 15 pounds.
- Sure~Lock standard: 210 cubic inches.
- Olympus, Companion, Niche, and Companion Niche: 420 cubic inches on the current product pages. Weights run from 17 to 25 pounds.
The Niche urn is 9.5 by 5 by 7.5 inches. The Companion Niche is 9.5 by 10 by 7.5 inches. Measure the niche before you promise either one. A 420-cubic-inch rating does not mean every opening will accept the shape.
Richmond pages publish interior and exterior inches, not a cubic-inch rating, because the hardwood piece is the shell. The 210-cubic-inch Sure~Lock is the container those pages say the base is built to hold. If the crematory is holding an oversized case, do not assume the standard Richmond interior will close around it. Weigh the remains, check the insert you actually use, and call before you engrave a shell that will not latch.
Portion urns solve a different problem. A keepsake at 5 cubic inches is for a shared token, not for the balance of an adult cremation. The Small Cube at 14 cubic inches and the Small Grecian at 35 cubic inches are still small. Use them when the family is dividing remains or keeping a token after scattering. Order a Classic, a Grecian, or a larger MacKenzie shape when one urn has to hold the full set.
How should a funeral home present the choice?
Families often arrive with a brand photo and a budget. Your job is to translate that photo into a use: display, burial, niche, sharing, or travel. Then show the Vischer urn that matches the use, and say plainly when it is not the brand in the photo.
The FTC Funeral Rule, at 16 CFR 453.4, bars a funeral provider from tying one funeral good to another, except where the law or the rule allows it. The general price list has to say families may choose only the items they want. A preferred urn supplier is fine. A hidden requirement is not. If a cemetery or crematory requires a container, explain that in writing on the statement of goods and services.
Use a short sequence at the arrangement table:
- Ask where the urn will live: home, grave, niche, or more than one place.
- Estimate capacity from body weight, then compare it with the listed cubic inches.
- If the family wants wood, show a Richmond finish and explain the Sure~Lock insert.
- If the family wants stone, burial, or a niche, show a MacKenzie shape and confirm the opening.
- Write the brand you are actually ordering on the statement. Do not label a Starmark urn as UPD.
Personalization is where these lines earn their place. Richmond copy says every side of the hardwood urn can be engraved. MacKenzie copy offers names, dates, artwork, or a short verse, in vivid colors or earth tones. Get spelling and dates in writing before the engraving order leaves the funeral home. Read the letters back to the family. A wrong middle initial is harder to fix after the piece is cut.
Color names on the MacKenzie pages are a menu, not a promise that every finish is on your shelf. Marble, granite, onyx, and matte stone-tone groups are all listed. Show a sample or a current photo of the finish you can get, and write that finish on the order. Families remember the picture they approved.
For burial in a cemetery that requires an outer container, read the urn vault buying guide next. A vault is not the urn. For the visitation table itself, the urn stand guide covers racks and shelves, which are fixtures rather than containers.
What should you stock before the next call?
Keep the temporary container in the crematory and a small display set in the selection room. The Sure~Lock case of 24 is the working inventory. A Richmond urn without that insert cannot do the job the product page describes.
A practical selection set covers the requests you hear most. Keep one Richmond standard in a light wood and one in a darker wood. Add one MacKenzie Classic in a neutral color, one keepsake, and one niche shape you have measured against the columbariums you serve. Add a companion only if families ask to keep two people together. Special colors can be ordered. They do not all need to sit on the shelf.
When the family asks for cremation jewelry or a metal urn from a photo, check whether that item is actually in your Vischer order. Vischer’s urn category is hardwood and cultured marble, not a jewelry line. Say so early. A clear no is better than a delayed substitute.
The rest of the cremation bench, from temporary containers to tools, sits in the cremation supplies guide. Use that page for the workroom. Use this page when the question is which memorial urn to order.
Request a Starmark urn recommendation from Vischer
Frequently asked questions
Does Vischer sell UPD urns?
No. Vischer’s live catalog has no UPD products, and UPD is not a Vischer brand. Vischer sells Starmark Richmond hardwood urns, MacKenzie cultured-marble urns, and Sure~Lock temporary urns.
Can a Richmond urn replace an UPD urn the family already chose?
Only if the family agrees to the change. Richmond is a hardwood display urn that holds a Sure~Lock insert. It is not the same object as a metal, ceramic, or jewelry piece from another maker. Show the actual product and record the brand on the statement.
What size temporary urn fits a Richmond base?
Richmond product copy says the screw-closure base is engineered to hold a temporary Starmark Sure~Lock urn. The standard Sure~Lock on Vischer’s site is 210 cubic inches. Confirm the size you have in the crematory before you promise a hardwood shell.
Which MacKenzie urn is the full-size adult choice?
The MacKenzie Classic is listed at 210 cubic inches and 15 pounds, in a 9.75 by 6.75 by 6.5 inch size. The Grecian is close, at 190 cubic inches. Olympus, Companion, and the niche shapes are listed at 420 cubic inches. Keepsake, Small Cube, and Small Grecian are portion urns, not full adult urns.
Do families have to buy the urn from the funeral home?
No. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home generally cannot make one funeral purchase a condition of another. Families may bring an urn from somewhere else. If a cemetery or crematory requires a specific container, explain that requirement in writing.
