Running and operating a funeral home business is not just a job, it’s your life, said Greg Hayes managing director of Hayes Funeral Homes & Crematorium.
Dealing with death on a day-to-day basis teaches you compassion but also the fragility of life and that without warning you might pass away. It’s also a reminder to never put things off and to live life to its fullest.
Being the fourth generation of Hayes men to take over, Greg knew the industry inside out and the life he was signing up for. Although it was an adjustment, he knew he wanted to see the family business continue to serve the community as the funeral home services have been a cornerstone for decades.
Bruce Hayes ran the business for many years and later passed it along to his son Greg. Deciding he wanted to join his father and learn the ropes of the business, Greg did his funeral service license in Toronto and then did an apprenticeship in Ottawa and came back in 1997 to help run the business.
The funeral home originally began with William James Hayes in 1912 on the corner of Main and Centre Street. He started working as a stone mason and plasterer and continued in that trade on the side as the funeral business slowly grew. Back in the day funeral directors went into that line of work out of necessity and seeing a demand for caskets, he began to build them. It wasn’t easy to create a name for himself and build trust as there was another funeral home at the time in town but he kept pursuing it, said Greg. The first funeral of the business was held on August 2, 1915.
In 1921 the original funeral home building was destroyed in a fire. It was later rebuilt in 1922 and still stands at 134 Centre St. The business saw a lot of changes over the years. At one point they had an ambulance service which meant they were picking up calls 24/hrs a day seven days a week until about the 80s, the funeral home had a stable in the back of the building and held funeral services that spanned a few days.
Being in the business as long as he has, Greg has certainly seen an evolution from the week-long traditional funerals. Nowadays, he’s noticed cremation has become a lot more common, and people prefer simpler services where families are choosing to do just a church service or take the ashes and have a family get-together. Every time someone comes through their doors they try to meet people’s needs. This shift in simpler funerals over the years has made it challenging to keep up in this industry.
“If the goal is towards simpler, less expensive, less use of our buildings, it’s been very difficult to navigate the changes and to find out how we can still survive in that changing climate,” said Greg.
One of the hardest things about death is that it is unexpected, but you can and should prepare for it, mentioned Greg. The biggest issues he sees are people not having wills, no insurance, no money set aside or anyone handling their affairs. Most people are just not prepared for end-of-life eventualities and so his advice is to start with a will and maybe consider a life insurance policy but, most importantly, talk about it with your family.
What people do not always realize is that the funeral is for the deceased, but it is also to allow family members to mourn and grieve the loss of their loved one. So to do something that helps the living grieve and respect the wishes of the person who passed, family members need to have open and honest conversations about their funeral arrangements because it is an important aspect of end-of-life considerations, explained Greg.
From a very young age, Greg saw and encountered many aspects of the job which normalized his father’s job because that’s all he knew. As a child, he recalled sitting at the dining room table and watching his father eat as fast as he could because at any minute he could get a call. Other times he joined his father in the ambulance to go pick up a body. But because it was how he grew up he doesn’t remember ever being scared riding shotgun in the ambulance. Although many things have changed over the years, the one thing that hasn’t is the fact that they are on call 24/7.
Having three sons, Greg tries to be as open with them as possible regarding the realities of the job should they wish to take over one day but he has always been mindful of not exposing them to anything that they wouldn’t be ready for, he mentioned.
“When you’re in this type of business, it’s not a business, it’s your life, there’s never a day that goes by that I’m not doing something for the business or for the funeral home or for a family. So they have to see what I’m doing, as my life is their life. So if they ever decide to go down this road, they gotta know what it’s all about,” said Greg.
Living in Shawville his whole life and running a business here is great but can also be difficult because it means he’s going to have to plan a funeral for folks he knows from the community. But it can be good as it helps put people at ease seeing that he is a familiar person during a family’s hardest moments.
“What we’re here for is to reassure people that as soon as we get the first call, their loved one is going to be handled with dignity and respect, and then we’re going to do the best for them. That’s our goal every single time,” he said.
Greg hopes to see the family business continue to adapt to the changes in the community and he hopes to be able to serve the Pontiac and the neighbouring areas as long as he can.
