Essex funeral home wins conservation award as commemorative tree-planting yields 6-acre forest

Planting trees to commemorate lost loved ones has been a popular ritual for a number of years.

But now a Windsor-area funeral home has won a conservation award for the practice.

Reid Funeral Home Ltd. received an environmental achievement award Thursday night from the Essex Region Conservation Authority for planting so many trees in honour of the families they have served over the past 30 years that they have created the six-acre Fred Cada Memorial Forest at the Hillman Marsh Conservation Area.

“It's very heartwarming,” said Reid’s Leamington officer manager Stephanie Piroli, “to know that we're giving back to next generations, not just serving ourselves and making a memory for ourselves today, but it's also honouring our lives and our loved ones' lives for generation after generation.”

The practice of planting trees in honour of the families of deceased individuals began in 1995  with the grandfather of present owner Kevin Reid, Piroli said.

“I think it was just they were looking to do something to bring people together, other than just, you know, the typical, like, candle lighting ceremony. … I think they were looking to give back as well as celebrate lives.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the funeral home would invite client families to Hillman Marsh for an annual ceremonial tree-planting with members of the conservation authority.

Around 450 seedlings per year

The company would then make an annual donation to the authority to cover the cost of planting a tree for each client family who lost a loved one that year. 

Piroli estimated the cost at around $8,000 per year.

“It could be upwards of 450 seedlings,” she said. 

This year, Reid also paid to install a wind phone in the forest and will contribute annually to its maintenance, she added.

A wind phone is an old-fashioned telephone connected to nothing that allows people to ritually speak with loved ones who have died. 

The concept became popular after a wind phone installed in Japan after the 2011 Tusanmi became the subject of a radio documentary.

Unlike other businesses, which charge to plant memorial trees, Reid makes the donation from its own funds and does not charge extra to clients, Piroli said.

Nor does it offer fee-for-service “plant a tree” services through third-parties.

Piroli believes tree-planting has become a popular commemorative ritual because of the longevity of trees, she said.

“I think just having the knowledge of it in the back of your head, and it's in your heart, like, ‘I know that my loved one is being honoured by ... a tree that will last hundreds of years, and it's actually giving back to our community, helping make us stronger and the ecosystem stronger,’ and I think, yeah, that's just the sentiment behind it,” she said.

Planting trees fits in with Reid's overall efforts to operate as sustainably as possible Piroli added.

It also offers eco-friendly friendly options to clients.

Other winners of the Essex Region Conservation Authority's awards include North Star High School EcoTeam member Madison Kemp; Unifor 444 Environment Committee leader Allison Kozolanka; the Town of Amherstburg and  John R. Park Homestead Conservation Area volunteers Brad and Sherri Nelson and Julius Langpeter.

Conservation Authority Chair Molly Allaire said it was inspiring to celebrate so many individuals and organizations making an impact on conservation.

"We thank them for all of their contributions,” she said.