Who we are

Built for veterans.
By people who care.

Veteran Funeral Planning exists because too many families discover — too late — that their loved one left benefits unclaimed and wishes unspoken.

Our mission

No veteran should leave their family without a plan.

Veteran Funeral Planning was founded to close the gap between the benefits veterans have earned and the benefits their families actually receive. Too many families navigate a complex VA system at the worst possible time — overwhelmed, uninformed, and unsupported.

We built a tool that does the hard work in advance. Every VA benefit identified and explained. Every plan funded and protected. So when the time comes, your family's only job is to grieve — not to navigate bureaucracy.

Our team

The people behind VFP

Kenny Johnson

Co-Founder & Director of Veteran Relations

🎖️ U.S. Army Veteran⭐ West Point Graduate🟤 Bronze Star💜 Purple Heart

Kenny Johnson is a U.S. Army combat veteran, graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Founder of Veteran Funeral Planning. Kenny served in Afghanistan, where he was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and the Army Commendation Medal with Valor. After his military service, he earned both an MBA and a Master of Science in Environmental Justice from the University of Michigan. A Licensed Pre-Planning Counselor in Illinois and Funeral Director in Training, Kenny has worked with hundreds of veterans on VA benefits navigation — and built VFP to ensure no veteran leaves those benefits on the table.

Mio Gabrilo

Co-Founder & Director of Pre-Need Solutions

Mio began working in funeral service as a high-schooler, and has helped thousands of families protect their loved ones. With over 20 years of experience, he brings a rare combination of expertise and empathy to every conversation. Mio understands that planning a funeral involves deeply personal decisions, and he strives to bring calm and clarity. Our family should not have to make difficult or painful choices when our hearts are broken.

Silvio Ribeiro

Co-Founder & Technology Director

Silvio brings over two decades of funeral industry experience to Veteran Funeral Planning — not as a funeral director, but as the person behind the scenes who makes the work of funeral professionals more efficient and families better served. For 22 years, he has built and managed the systems and workflows that allow funeral homes to focus on what matters most. As the architect behind veteranfuneralplanning.com, Silvio is responsible for every layer of the platform — from back-end infrastructure to the experience veterans and families encounter on the front end. His rare combination of deep operational knowledge and technical expertise is what makes VFP work.

Nicholas Perry

Director of Life Insurance

Nick is a U.S. Army veteran with more than 15 years of experience in the life insurance industry. Throughout his career, he has worked with multiple insurance agencies as both an agent and executive, helping individuals and families protect their financial future. As a fiduciary, Nick is committed to putting our clients' best interests first, providing objective guidance and personalized solutions to best fit the needs of the veterans and families we serve.

Our story

How VFP came to be

THE BEGINNING

Kenny Johnson is a veteran who served at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu — known as the Punchbowl. Working alongside veterans and their families at one of the nation's most sacred burial grounds, he saw the same heartbreaking pattern over and over: families arriving at the worst moment of their lives with no plan, no knowledge of their benefits, and no one to guide them. Later, working with Dignity Memorial, he saw the same gap from the funeral home side — directors unprepared to navigate VA benefits, and veterans leaving earned benefits on the table.

THE TEAM

Kenny joined forces with Mio Gabrilo, a seasoned pre-need counselor with over 20 years of experience helping hundreds of families plan ahead, and Silvio Ribeiro, a technologist who knew how to build systems that scale. Together they had the insights — from the cemetery, the funeral home, the pre-need office, and technology — to build a real solution.

THE SOLUTION

VFP was built on a simple but powerful idea: combine pre-planning with deep VA benefits knowledge, give veterans clear packages designed specifically for them, separate the plan from any single funeral home so it's fully portable, and connect every veteran with accredited VSOs and veteran counselors who understand their service. Veterans serving veterans.

TODAY

VFP is poised to deliver this solution to veterans in all 50 states — ensuring every veteran understands the benefits they've earned, has a funded plan in place, and is honored the way they deserve to be.

Our partners

Built on trusted platforms

Additional support

Accredited Veteran Service Officers

VFP can connect you with an Accredited VSO in your local area — at no cost to you. VSOs are trained to help veterans and families navigate VA benefits, file claims, and appeal decisions.

Find a VSO near me ›

What a VSO can help with

✓ Filing VA benefit claims

✓ Appealing denied claims

✓ Understanding DIC eligibility

✓ Navigating VA national cemetery eligibility

✓ Obtaining military discharge documents

✓ State and local veteran benefit programs

Get in touch

We're here to help.

Questions about pre-arrangement, VA benefits, or partnering with VFP? Reach out — a real person will respond.