 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Lougheed's History
In 1897, an entrepreneur named John Henry, who was involved in many types of business in Sudbury, began a furniture and undertaking business on Elgin Street. A building contractor by trade. Henry's influence can still be seen in the construction of some of Sudbury's landmarks. Mayor of Sudbury in 1912 and 1913, Henry served on numerous committees when he was a member of council. As president of the Canadian Embalmers Association, he influenced the passing of the Embalmers' Act of Ontario. In 1922, five years before his death, John Henry sold his undertaking business to his employee, Arthur A. Jackson, and the business continued operating under Jackson's name.
Jackson had been in the funeral business since the early 1900s. After earning his diploma in embalming and funeral directing, he worked in Sault St. Marie for the firm of T.E. Simpson Funeral Home, and moved to Sudbury in 1911. In 1933, Jackson moved his establishment to a new location on Larch Street, which included a modern chapel. He served as president of the Ontario Funeral Service Association from 1922-24, and at the time of his death was the oldest living past president of the association. In 1934, Arthur Jackson invited Ray and Doris Barnard to Sudbury. Jackson wanted to retire, and was looking for someone to carry on his business in the proud tradition he had built. Ray Barnard graduated from the Canadian School of Embalming in 1931. On January 1, 1943, Arthur Jackson retired, and the Jackson and Barnard Funeral Home came into being. It expanded to its location on the corner of Larch and Paris Street in 1959. Arthur Jackson died on July 23, 1960, in his 82nd year.
Ray Barnard made some great contributions to the Sudbury community. Active in sports and community projects, he was a past president of the Ontario Funeral Service Association and was instrumental in organizing the Northeastern Ontario Funeral Directors Association. In 1984, after a long career, he decided to sell his business to the Lougheed family. Ray continued to take an interest in the business, and celebrated sixty years in funeral service in 1991. He died in December 1992 after a short illness. Ray Barnard is remembered by the words he lived by: "Kindness and sympathy and the human touch are what every family needs."
Marguerite and Gerry are recognized as trailblazers in funeralization over the years, changing and adapting the services they provide according to the wishes and individual needs of the families they served, and often flying in the face of conventional thinking. Over forty years ago they started offering receptions after funerals - long before this practice became the norm. They saw a need for this service, and initially welcomed families into their own home, which is two doors away from the original funeral home. Expansion over the years has enabled them to host such receptions in one of their funeral homes fellowship rooms. They instituted after-funeral visits as a natural extension of their services - not to sell pre-arrangements, but simply to ensure that all went well with the funeral service, and to inquire after the well-being of the bereaved, This is another practice they have followed for over forty years. Serving coffee in the funeral home, making a smoking room available, using a non-traditional fleet colour (Lougheed Gold), putting together a warm and home-like atmosphere in their funeral homes, which are filled with antiques and memorabilia, and many more unique approaches to funeral service have all set new standards. In more recent years, the Lougheeds have begun audio taping funeral services, and presenting this tape to the family. Another example of the Lougheeds keeping on the cutting edge of funeral service is the establishment of the "Annual Christmas Service of Remembrance," which is so popular and so helpful that it has been televised to the Sudbury community for the past twelve years.
Gerry Lougheed Jr., has also strongly influenced funeral service over the years. In April of 1999 Gerry Jr. became the first ever Funeral Director graduate to receive Humber College’s Alumni of Distinction Award. Gerry Jr. graduated in 1976 with the highest Board of Funeral Service exam grade in all of Ontario. He was also awarded the President’s Letter Award, the Ontario Board of Administration Award the Metropolitan Toronto Funeral Association Award, the MacKinnon and Bowes Award, and the Past Presidents of the Ontario Funeral Service Association Award. In 1989 Gerry Jr. received an Honourary Doctorate of Laws degree from Laurentian University, and a medal from Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor for Outstanding Citizenship. He founded the second Rotary Club in Sudbury, and is also an honourary Steward of Local 6500 of the United Steelworkers of America; the only non-trade unionist in North America to receive this distinction.
Geoffrey Lougheed continues the Lougheed legacy of dedication and service. He graduated from Humber College in 1979 with the highest standing in Ontario for Funeral Service Education. He also received the Turner & Porter award for highest standing in 1978; the OFSA past-president's award for top overall student as well as the Metropolitan Toronto & District Funeral Director's Association award in 1979. Geoffrey has served as Chair of the St. John Ambulance Board of Directors Sudbury Branch; Honourary Life Member of the Canadian Red Cross Society; founding member of Sudbury United Way; founding president of the Sudbury Food Bank and as Past President of the Sudbury Rotary Club, and is very active in the Rotary District. He is Founding President of the Sudbury Food Bank, which operates as an umbrella organization for over forty food banks in the Sudbury area. Since the inception of the Sudbury Food Bank over 2 1/2 million dollars worth of food has been dispersed. In 1996, Geoffrey was promoted to the grade of Commander of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem by Governor General Romeo Leblanc and is currently President of St. John Ambulance Ontario Council.
Colette (Blais) Lougheed, Geoffery's wife, is also a native of Sudbury. Graduating from Humber College, she received her funeral director's license in 1980. She belongs to the Sudbury Professional Business Women's Club. the Club Richelieu Feminin, and the College Boréal Advisory Board for Funeral Service, and was selected as Woman of the Year in Sudbury in 1990 by the Sudbury Business and Professional Women’s Club. Colette worked at the Co-operative Funéraire in Sudbury from 1979 until 1985, when she joined the Lougheed and Jackson & Barnard Funeral Homes. A lifetime member of St. Jean de Brébeuf Church, Colette is also a lecturer and educator for funeral service education within the French community. She and Geoffrey are presently examiners for the Funeral Board Licensing Committee. |
