Kyle has been serving as President of Families First Funeral Care and Cremation Center since he founded it in April 2013. In addition to his leadership roles at the funeral home Mr. Nikola also holds a number of executive roles within industry associations and speaks across the United States as an industry expert at numerous conventions. He is the Immediate Past President of Georgia Cemetery Association and the 1st Vice President of the Southern Cemetery Cremation and Funeral Association. Mr. Nikola was awarded the Small Business Chamber’s New and Emerging Business of the Year in 2009 for Bonaventure Funeral Home and recently won the Buy Local and Small Business Chamber’s Business of the Year for 2014. He earned a degree in Business Administration from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. Kyle is a parishioner at St. John the Baptist.
Clifford James (C.J.) Neesmith is a native of Port Wentworth, a 1971 graduate of Robert W. Groves High School and a 1974 graduate of the Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Atlanta, receiving his Funeral Director’s and Embalmer’s licenses in June of 1975. Becoming infatuated with the Metropolitan Atlanta area, C.J. remained there for thirty-four years before returning home in 2007. Past President of the Port Wentworth Lions Club, current Chair of the Board of Directors for the Port Wentworth Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Port Wentworth Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, C.J. takes great pride in serving his local community.
C.J. worked as Funeral Director and General Manager for Bonaventure Funeral Home from May of 2012 until the opening of Families First in March of 2013, assuming those duties at the new establishment.
Scott Dixon is a native of Waycross, Georgia. A 1998 graduate of Pierce County High School, and is currently attending Ogeechee Technical College for Funeral Service. Scott is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Waycross and has served as President of the Ware County Exchange Club and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Okefenokee Arts and Entertainment Alliance. He serves as the Director of Music/Organist for St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church. He joined the staff of Families First Funeral Care in 2015.
Jaeda is the office manager at Families First Funeral Care and Cremation Center. She grew up in Sacramento, California and moved to Savannah in September of 2013. She attended St. Francis Catholic High School and finished school at the University of California, Davis. Jaeda was the first person in her family to leave California and pursue a career elsewhere. While she has no children, she treats her two younger brothers as if they were her own. She has worked at Families First all three years that she has lived in Savannah. In her free time she likes to cook vegan recipes, attend barre (workout) classes and on the weekends she enjoy heading out on the boat and spending time on Daufuskie Island.