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I appreciate the funeral service schedule, but could you leave the notices up so that I can see what services I have missed if I have been away?
That's an interesting question. We set that page up to give notice of upcoming funeral services, but it didn't occur to us that some people might want to look back at services that have passed. Sure, we can leave the notices up, although we will have to purge them after a while. For now we'll leave the current and previous month's notices active and see how that goes. Thanks for the input!
I have a prepaid trust account for my funeral arrangements, but I have heard so much about the Purple Shield plan that I think I would rather have my money in there. Can there be a transfer?
That is a very good question which is frequently asked. Currently, the only way to make that transfer is to cancel the original contract and have the money in trust refunded and then re-invested with Purple Shield. However, as soon as you do that, tax has to be paid on the interest earned since it wasn’t cancelled to pay for an actual funeral service. There are talks in progress with respect to this very issue and we are hoping to hear soon that there will be a tax-free method of making a transfer from trust to Purple Shield. In the mean time, our advice is to leave the trust accounts alone for now and check back with us occasionally for updates which will be posted on this website.
I like the fact that you can web-cast funeral services on your site, but do you do them in real-time?
Thank you for your question. There are three reasons why we don't do web-casts in real-time:
1. Real-time web-casting, or streaming, is a lot more costly than delayed web-casting;
2. When capturing a funeral service for web-casting that is being held in a church, streaming becomes very difficult as no church sanctuary in our area is equipped with an internet connection; and
3. The main reason for web-casting is to allow family or friends in other parts of the country or world the opportunity to view the service at their convenience without having to be concerned about time zones or scheduling conflicts.
Why can't we see the condolence messages that are left for a family?
We realize that some funeral home and newspaper web sites allow one to read the messages left for a family by others. It is our opinion that messages left for a family are just that - for the family. The notes that are left are often very personal and in our experience we find that people are more inclined to leave a message if they know that it will only be seen by the person(s) for whom it is intended. Keeping the messages private also allows for contact information to be left with the note, in the event that the family wishes to acknowledge it. Of course, with the current concerns over personal privacy, we cannot publish that type of information on-line.
Any chance you could add a map to your page showing the churches in town? When we come to town for a funeral it's sometimes hard to find one we've never been to.
That's a wonderful idea. We have now added a page to our web site with a link just under the 'Archived Obituaries' link. On that page you will find a file that will open a map that you can print and bring with you to Melville. Thanks for the idea and input.
If I want to set up my funeral now, do I have to pay for it now?
When pre-planning your funeral, you actually have three options:
1. Pre-plan without pre-paying: in this case you would record your wishes and we would keep those on file for future reference with no money being set aside.
2. Pre-pay without pre-planning: some people want to leave the decision-making to their family members but want to ensure there is money set aside to cover the expenses.
3. Pre-plan with pre-payment: This is for those who wish to set out exactly what they want for funeral goods and services and have the money available to cover the expenses.
How you pre-plan your funeral is a very personal choice. I suggest you check the Pre-Planning page link to the left of this page as well as the FamilySide/Purple Shield web site (found on the Links) page for more detailed information.
Do you have a crematorium on site?
No, we do not. Considering that there are several crematoria in this geographical area and the financial investment required to establish one, we have determined that it is much more economical for the consumer for us to use an existing facility. We generally use one in Yorkton as it is very handy to Melville, keeping the transportation expense to a minimum.
Do you use any of the caskets made here in Melville?
Yes, we certainly do. In fact, all of the hardwood and some of the cloth-covered caskets that we offer are locally manufactured, and we use them almost exclusively for several reasons. First of all, the quality of their product is as good as you will find from any other manufacturer. Secondly, because they are local, there are no shipping charges built into the cost (other caskets come from Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the U.S. - as you can imagine, a good portion of the end price is shipping). Finally, because we can have a casket within hours, or even minutes, of ordering it, we can arrange for customized features to suit the needs of the family - this is not an option with caskets shipped from a distance. To see their products, you can go to our Catalogue of Products page, or visit their web site (you will find a link on our Links page). Although you didn't ask this, we have been asked in the past if we are part owners of the manufacturing company. The answer to that is "no" - we have no financial connection to the company in any way.
How come some obituaries show up on your site right away and some take a few days?
Some families will have the obituary information ready for us when they come in to arrange the services, while others prepare it after the initial meeting. In both cases, we don't post the information until we are sure all of the information is complete and accurate, sometimes requiring the family to proofread it first. You should also be aware that there are families who will, for their own personal reasons, decline the offer to have the obituary added to our site.
We've heard that a lot of funeral homes are now owned by big outfits with head offices down east or in the U.S. - do you own your funeral home?
Thank you for asking that. We are a family-owned funeral home with no connection to any of the large funeral 'conglomerates'. There is currently one Ontario-based funeral corporation and one owned by a Texas-based company. There are funeral homes in Saskatchewan owned by each of those companies, so if local ownership is an important consideration in your choice of funeral home, it would be wise to find out the ownership status of your local establishment(s) in advance of need.
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