Erb & Good Family Funeral Home

11/11/2025

We remember them. We honour them. We never forget their sacrifice. Lest we forget.

12/07/2023

A loss of any kind is difficult to deal with. As the holiday season approaches, we find ourselves busy and occupied with all that comes with preparing for Christmas. At this time, if you know anyone who may be struggling with a loss, our Coping with the Holidays brochure produced by Waterloo Region's Dena Moitoso, (MSc., Psych, Registered Psychotherapist and grief educator) may offer a sense of comfort during a time of the year where many wonderful memories can be difficult to process.
Our hope is that these tools may offer some assistance in healing.

08/04/2022

The man who changed our job description...

Over the past couple of weeks, you have likely heard about the guy in Exeter who decided to have his funeral and visitation before he died. While we generally avoid singling out individuals that we are tasked to care for, our recent experience with Ron Rader and his family have been unique and we asked them if we could share.

When Ron reached out a few weeks back and shared his unfavourable health prognosis, I was not surprised he wanted to get together to discuss his final wishes. I was however incredibly surprised to hear that the celebration he had mapped out in his head was one he also planned to attend himself. As Ron said, "If my friends and family are all going to be getting together for a celebration, I am going to be there too." As Ron began to describe the "Great Life Celebration" he envisioned, he acknowledged there were many people in his life that would be willing to assist him in organizing and pulling off such an event, but as Ron said "I want my friends to be the attendees, not the workers; Hasketts can do that.

This year our family business will celebrate 140 years of serving families in our communities, like the Rader family. However, this is the first time in our history that we have had an event where the guest of honour was able to step up to the microphone and thank all in attendance for coming. The celebration at the Rader residence brought lots of tears but also lots of laughter. Those who were able to attend truly made an impact on Ron's final days and will most certainly be grateful to have had the chance to say their goodbyes.

A living funeral will not be an option for all of us. We won't all have the luxury of time to say our goodbyes. Most of us will not have the peace in our hearts to accept our fate and to truly embrace our final days. Only a select few of us will be blessed with Ron's ability to provide comfort to those he was leaving behind through his humour and big smile. Not for everyone, but perfect for Ron.

Ron passed away at his home on Monday evening with his family gathered by his side. These incredible people have supported him through some very challenging times in the past few months and were incredibly generous to share their husband and dad with the entire community during one of his final days.

I will be forever grateful to Ron for allowing our team to assist him in checking one more thing off of his "bucket list" and for allowing us to show our willingness to assist any and all with the event they want. Funerals, memorials, celebrations of life will continue to morph and change over time, but our commitment to the families we serve, and our goal of sharing their story will remain constant.

Remember to live life like Ronnie Rader did – with patience, kindness, hard work, lots of fun, and finding good in every situation. And don’t forget to whistle along the way.

Colin

02/11/2022

Love this! This is Canada!

Another reason I love Canada and Canadians.http://www.snopes.com/rumors/gander.asp

12/02/2021

Congratulations Marion Roes for the completion and publication of your hard work and research into “Death as Life’s work”. We are pleased to direct anyone to Marion who may wish to purchase a copy. Please contact the funeral home at 519-745-8445. The book is also available at Wordsworth books and KW books locally!

11/11/2021

Lest we Forget. Today and everyday.

10/24/2021

For those who experience the unthinkable loss of a child, we are thankful to see the support and assistance provided through Bereaved Families of Ontario. https://bfomidwest.org/programs/parents-grieving-the-death-of-an-infant/?utm_source=citynews%20kitchener&utm_campaign=citynews%20kitchener%3A%20outbound&utm_medium=referral

For pregnancy and infant loss awareness month

04/10/2021

In the past at Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, we have set out a book of condolence for the community of Waterloo Region to come express their sympathies and leave condolence messages. These condolence books were later forwarded to the families of the deceased. Due to the pandemic and stay at home order in Ontario, we encourage anyone in our community who may wish to leave a message for the Royal Family, to do so virtually and directly via the Royal website. The link is found on our front page at www.erbgood.com and by clicking Prince Philip’s photo.

https://erbgood.com/tribute/details/15507/Prince-Philip-Duke-of-Edinburgh/obituary.html -start

Due to the pandemic and stay at home order in Ontario, we are pleased to offer this direct link directly to the Royal Website official book of condolence for the family of Prince Philip. Messages of condolence can be left for the Royal Family by clicking here

01/30/2021

It's not uncommon for Funeral Directors to experience Compassion Fatigue.

Health and Wellness Resources: http://ow.ly/9klT50Dl3uf

04/26/2020

Francis says, “What they do is so heavy and sad. They really feel the pain of this pandemic so close.”

03/23/2020

We are sharing a helpful link to help people with the difficult task of planning a funeral when a death occurs during these challenging times.
Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt is an author, educator, and grief counselor. He serves as Director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition in Fort Collins, Colorado, and is on the faculty at the University of Colorado Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine.

by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Needless to say, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 is a challenging time for everyone. But if someone you love has died, it is likely that the current social distancing orders and travel restrictions are making funeral planning especially difficult for your family. Losing a....