Educate yourself today for peace of mind tomorrow

Voyage Funeral Home will serve your family using the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself ”. This is a principle that guides our morals and everyday endeavours at the funeral home. Funeral service has a rich history and is steeped in tradition. The roots of modern funeral home practices date back to biblical times. Just as it was then so it is today, we are trusted with the care of your loved one.

Behind the doors at Voyage Funeral Home, you will find 100% honesty. We lead the funeral profession by setting examples in using the best practices as possible. We will continue to make a difference and set higher standards with dedication and eternal commitment to the families we serve. Anything and everything we do comes from our hearts. We are a family owned and operated funeral home. We take great pride in the care we provide to your loved one. Whether it is simple cremation or traditional earth burial, your loved one is our care 100% of the time. Continuity of care is extremely important to us, as you are trusting us with the care of your loved one. We are honoured to serve a family at their time of need and each family we serve becomes a part of our family. We employ no sales staff period; we offer one on one personalized service. At Voyage we guarantee you will not be taken advantage of. We offer no hidden costs, no surprises, no pressure or pressure sales. Compassion, empathy, trust, dignity and caring are the morals we work by. We truly believe in treating your loved one as we would our own.

Someone once said that talking about death will not kill you and this is very true. However, some people still believe the topic of death is taboo and should not be discussed. Death and dying are an integral part of life. Having a meaningful conversation about death and dying can be healthy. It permits loved ones to break the silence allowing you to understand and respect their final wishes. Talking about one’s wishes also opens doors to talk about other important topics such as wills, personal finances, assets and final disposition choices, such as cremation or traditional earth burial and cemetery preferences. If cremation is your loved one’s choice, where would they like their cremated remains to rest and which funeral home would they like their family to use upon their passing? Not talking about death can leave numerous doors closed and families with countless unanswered questions.

The greatest gift one can leave behind to their surviving family is a will. A will appoints a person, or persons, to follow through with all your final wishes. If you do not have a will, my suggestion would be to make this a priority no matter what your age. Voyage offers a free printable will kit on our website. Simply visit: www. voyagefuneralhomes.com, under “Resources” you will find my personally published Cherished Memories 5 in 1 Will Kit. No gimmicks or hassle. It is a gift from me to you. My second suggestion would be to have funeral arrangements in place. Preplanning your final wishes is a gift of love from you to your family. When you take the time to plan your arrangements in advance, you relieve your family and loved ones of the emotional stress and financial burden a funeral may cause. My Will Kit also contains a Cherished Memories Booklet. This booklet can help assist you in the preplanning process.

Unfortunately, funeral service has drastically changed over the years. Large corporations, unethical business practices and alternative providers are coming into the funeral industry. As of late, there have been numerous media exposes and articles made public regarding funeral service which have soiled the fabric of our industry. CBC Marketplace went undercover with hidden cameras in 5 funeral homes to show that the same scams, lies and sales pitches are still being used.

Other media outlets have exposed stories such as: funeral directors stealing thousands of dollars worth of customers preplan monies; The Board of Funeral Service permanently suspending a funeral directors license; funeral homes cremating the wrong body; and more recently in Manitoba, a grieving family was stunned to discover months later, that the urn they thought contained their mother’s remains was empty.

To avoid situations as mentioned, my suggestion is to use a funeral home that owns and operates a crematorium, providing 100% continuity of care. This means your loved one is in the care of the funeral home you trusted 100% of the time. No middleman involved.

Do not ever underestimate the power of a sales person working in the funeral and cemetery business. They are highly trained and cultivated professional sales staff educated with the greatest upselling techniques. These sales people play on your emotions and your wallet at the same time. An example of this would be, the sales person indicating that your loved one deserves something dignified, comfortable, the best, and it is the last thing you can do to show your love. The commissioned sales staff will go though many detailed programs teaching them every trick in the book on how to sell, sell, sell. The more they sell you, the more commission they take home. It is important to understand what is and what is not mandatory by law. Upselling funerals is a multimillion dollar business.

By no means, am I suggesting that all funeral homes are dishonest. There are many honourable and honest funeral homes along with truthful funeral directors all across Manitoba. Unfortunately, there is a vast difference between a licensed funeral director and a high pressured sales person. When a loved one chooses simple cremation it is because they want things simple. This usually means they want no viewing and no one touching their body. Their wish is to take them from the place of death to the crematorium. At Voyage simple cremation is $1,600.00 plus GST. Some other funeral homes may charge as high as $5,500.00, making a simple cremation not so simple.

When shopping around and calling for pricing, always ask many questions. For example, do you own and operate a crematorium, or do you subcontract this service out to a third party? At Voyage, we own and operate a state of the art crematorium. We will always honour your family’s wishes. If you wish to say your final goodbye at the crematorium, we welcome you to do so at no charge. This is a benefit of using a family funeral home that owns and operates a crematorium.

Voyage is a full service funeral home. If your wishes are to have a full traditional earth burial, our full service cost starts at $6,5000.00 which includes a hard wood casket. Others may charge as much as $10,000.00 or more.

Do not be misguided by the cemetery suggesting that you must use the funeral home situated on their property. This is false and misleading. Voyage Funeral Home services all cemeteries and places of worship.

As a funeral director, I cannot take death away nor can I take away the pain. I do however have empathy and will do my utmost best to carry your family through the most difficult experiences caused by death. I promise your loved one who has passed away, will be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. The surviving family will be treated with love, honesty and the greatest of compassion.