Brett Hamilton鈥檚 career choice to work as a funeral director is in keeping with the work done by his mother, Brenda Hamilton, for the past three decades.

In 1995, when a new funeral home opened in Summerland, the owner reached out to her and asked if she could work with them. She soon took on a role as a funeral director and an embalmer.

While the career was new to her, she had encountered death and grief earlier.

She recalls a time when, at the age of 12, she was asked to check on the mother of one of her friends. When she got to the house, she found the woman had died. She was the first at the scene.

Then, a few years later, while she was leading a girls鈥� group on a field trip, she saw a farm worker fall. She rushed to him to help, but he died in her arms. 

鈥淚t has been such a blessing to be the funeral director in a community of this size,鈥� she said.

In addition to providing funeral services, the funeral home also helps people after a tragedy.

When she began working as a funeral director, it was a male-dominated field. She was the only woman in her class when she took the training to become certified.

Today, she is the managing director of Providence Funeral Homes and Crematorium in Summerland.

Since she took her training, the profession has gone through changes, although the focus of providing care to individuals and families remains the same.

The work involves planning and organizing funeral services, helping families settle the estates and providing care for friends and families following a death. 

When she began her work, there were three funeral homes in the community. Today, there is just one.

While she is now stepping back to working three days a week, her son Brett Hamilton will be working with the funeral home in Summerland, as well as Providence Funeral Homes from West 琉璃神社 to the U.S. border.

Brett was in Grade 6 when his mother began working with the funeral home and watched his mother in the profession. Later, in high school, he was encouraged by one of the people at the facility to consider a career as a funeral director.

During the recession in the early 2000s, he took his training to become a fully-licensed funeral director, graduating in 2010. He did an apprenticeship in Vancouver and also worked in North Vancouver.

He later lived in Japan for several years, and was one of the last Canadians to return to this country in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in border closures and other restrictions.

He chose to settle in the Okanagan Valley, a place where he had wanted to return, and worked with Providence.

Brenda and Brett Hamilton both talk about the importance of confidentiality in their role as funeral directors, and they will not talk with anyone about the specifics of their days.

Brett also talks about the importance of compartmentalizing his life, and keeping his work separate from his personal life.

For Brenda, the approach is different. As the sole funeral director in Summerland, she is highly visible. She is active in the Rotary Club of Summerland and in NeighbourLink, and she has worked to be involved in the community.