Cleveland Funeral Home

26/10/2025

Funeral Notice for LE QUESNE, Robert John

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22/10/2025

Funeral Notice for PENN, Marian Elizabeth, (Formerly Broome, nee Ireland)

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22/10/2025

Funeral Notice for HURU-JOSEPH, Shane Matthew (Jack)

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22/10/2025

Funeral Notice for DEAR, John Andrew

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15/10/2025

October is Baby Loss Awareness Month, and isn't something that is spoken about often, but it is very real and heartbreaking. From time to time we are needed to care for a family who have lost a child and help guide them through this incredibly difficult time. The wonderful ladies from Gonville Knitters have lovingly hand made some wee blankets, and have so kindly donated them to us. We are so appreciative of this lovely gesture.

14/10/2025

Funeral Notice for FAIRCLOUGH, Peter Gordon

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13/10/2025

Funeral Notice for Cowan, Janet Miller

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13/10/2025

Funeral Notice for Martin, Deborah Ann

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08/10/2025

Funeral Notice for MARE MARE, Toa Paremania, (Aunty Anne Murray)

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01/10/2025

Funeral Notice for CHURCH, Barry George

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28/09/2025

Awesome write up Jonathon!

Being able to study online with Open Polytechnic from a provincial city like Whanganui, made it easier for Jonathon Greenwell to complete the NZ Diploma in Funeral Directing (Level 5).

Jonathon, who has been a funeral director for 15 years, found the NZ Diploma in Funeral Directing programme highly relevant to his job.

Open Polytechnic is the only provider of the NZ Diploma in Funeral Directing (Level 5).

While it isn’t compulsory to complete the programme to work as a funeral director, Jonathon found it practical in his job, while it also provides him with the opportunity for career progression in the future.

“It helped me gain a deeper understanding of the funeral directing industry I'm in, while working out the ‘why’ we do a lot of what we do,” Jonathon says.

“It has given me the confidence to say to families ‘I know what I'm doing’ and they can trust me.”

Jonathon hasn’t always been a funeral director.

A love of “anything ceremonial” led Jonathon to go from being a trombone player in the NZ Army Band, to becoming a funeral director.

Straight out of high school, he joined The NZ Army Band, based at the Burnham Army Camp in Christchurch, before looking for a career change.

Jonathon had always been interested in performing at ceremonies, he was an altar boy and in a brass band growing up, so ceremonial duties were always his thing.

“Funeral directing wasn't a career I had considered as a teenager, but people suggested it to me as they thought I would be good at it,” he says.

So, after four years in the army as a musician, Jonathon started a career in funeral directing.

Firstly, he gained some work experience in Christchurch, before getting a job as a funeral director back in his home town of Whanganui.

He has been a funeral director for Cleveland Funeral Home since 2010.

To read Jonathon’s full story go to the Open Polytechnic website, 🔗 in the comments 👇.

Cleveland Funeral Home New Zealand Army Band Brass Whanganui Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand