Our Heritage

Spanning approximately 100 years of funeral service in Canada, the Fawcett family are celebrating over 50 years of funeral service in Flesherton. Earl C. Fawcett and his wife Olive commenced service in Stoughton, Saskatchewan in the early 1900’s. In 1940 Earl received his Ontario license to operate in Rainy River from which establishment he retired in 1964. His two sons Allison and Earl Jr. obtained their licenses after WWII, both working in the Thunder Bay region. Al, his wife Margaret and daughter Allyson moved north to Geraldton in 1952 to commence service in a region that was without a funeral home. In 1958 they purchased the Richards Funeral Home, furniture and ambulance service in Flesherton, Ontario. By this time they had a second daughter, Deborah and a son Robert in 1959. In 1970 a fire destroyed their business and home in the core of the village. A new facility and residence was built at the south end of the village which continues to serve the community’s funeral needs today.

In 1978 their daughter Allyson McEachern and her family purchased the McTavish Funeral Home in Durham, Ontario. Allyson is currently celebrating over 30 years at that location now named Fawcett- McEachern Funeral Home and Cremation Centre.

Robert, son of Al and Margaret is the current owner of the Fawcett Funeral Home in Flesherton. In 1984 Rob and his family purchased the Stoddard Funeral Home in Woodville, Ontario followed by the purchase of the Bryant and Cameron Funeral Home in Coboconk in 1986. The two services were jointly run by Rob and his family until 1990 when they returned to Flesherton after the death of Rob’s father Al.

April Fawcett, the third of five daughters and one son of Rob, is the fourth generation of family funeral directors to serve Ontario families. April graduated and obtained her Ontario Funeral Directors License in 2006. She apprenticed at D.J. Robb Funeral Home in Sarnia and later worked with Haycock- Cavanagh Funeral Home in Wallaceburg before returning to the Flesherton family establishment in the fall of 2007.

Looking toward the future, in 2001 the Fawcett’s collaborated with the Municipality of Grey Highlands to establish a crematorium located in the Flesherton Cemetery. This facility supports the families served by professionals in Grey, Bruce, Huron, Halton, Wellington and Simcoe municipalities.

The Fawcett family continues to expand their interests in the funeral industry in Ontario, providing meaningful, quality funeral services to the families they serve.

As far as the archives of Flesherton go, there has always been funeral service available in the village. Previous names that came up in ownership were J.W. Bates, J. E. Moore, Ed McNea, W. Bunt, Emerson J. Bennett and Dick and Ray Richards, all serving at various locations around the village. Homage is also paid to Mr. Watson who served the Priceville community in the 1900’s and Jim Long who served Feversham during a similar period.