ALL-WOMAN OPERATION: Guiding Light Lady Funerals manager Margaret Pannan in front with staff members Sharn Murray, Leona Broekman and Narelle Crossley at Lincoln Grove Memorial Gardens and Crematorium. Photo: Barry Smith 301012BSC07
LADY FUNERALS
A TAMWORTH funeral director has unveiled a newly developed lady funeral service following a growing regional demand for one to be introduced.
Guiding Light Lady Funerals will have a team of seven women at the helm, accommodating the needs of Tamworth and its surrounds.
Manager Margaret Pannan said while this particular service was already provided across Australia, the closest one to the North West region was based in Newcastle.
“There are a lot of them throughout the country with White Lady Funerals being the most prominent,” Ms Pannan said.
“I think there are cases where people just prefer a female touch,” she said.
Phil Brooks of Bevan Douglas Funerals said requests for a lady funeral service had increased in the past 10 years, so they decided to implement one.
“They have become very popular,” he said.
“People have told us they want this service to be provided and we want to accommodate those people.
“Our industry is all about compassion and understanding and doing what the families want.”
As a resident of Tamworth in the late ’70s, Ms Pannan moved to the Central Coast and operated another funeral directory for 10 years.
She has only recently moved back to run Guiding Light.
“We will be working mostly as a mobile service where we will visit families in the comfort of their own home,” she said.
“It’s a very emotional time so we want to accommodate them as best we can with as much compassion as possible.”
