Basic Funerals: Our Cremation & Funeral Arrangement Team

When Eric set out to create Basic Funerals, the most important aspect was always providing affordable and meaningful services to families. Starting out in a small town funeral home, he has the benefit of classic training coupled with his honest, innovative ideas. Eric is constantly working to improve the services we provide. He is also a vocal advocate of healthy eating and active lifestyle choices.

Kamilah’s years with Basic since 2011 were born from happenstance. The position was recommended to her by her former colleague, our pre-arrangement specialist, Robin. Kamilah’s energy and detail-oriented nature make her an absolutely essential member of the team. She provides the structure and drive that allows our staff to be so cohesive and well-coordinated.

Dave has been working with Basic Funerals since we were first established in 2009. A close friend of the owner, Eric Vandermeersch, he was glad to lend his knowledge of technology and business to such an exciting new branch of the funeral industry. His favourite part of working with Basic is simplifying the funeral process and making it accessible to the online community: “Our families are visiting our website at a very confusing and emotional time, so if I can make the experience a little bit easier I feel good about that.” The internet, and the marketing industry, are constantly in flux, Dave finds joy in the ever changing aspects of his job.

Stephanie is the newest member of the Basic Funerals team having started near the end of 2014. She became interested in the funeral industry after attending university for fine art and art history, “I wanted to do something different and intriguing, and funeral service gave me that opportunity.” What Stephanie likes most about Basic is the ‘family focused’ approach “after working in large corporate funeral homes I like feeling that I’m providing a service to families, not just making a sale.”

Bart has been part of the Basic team since 2013. He became interested in the funeral industry looking for a job that provided practical tasks and allowed him to be of use outside of the office. His customer service background helped prepare him for the interpersonal aspects of the job. His calm demeanor has proven an excellent trait during arrangement sessions with families. He is also fluent in Polish.

Robin, who prides herself in being “hyper-organized,” has been our established pre-arrangement specialist since 2011. She had often been told that working for a funeral home would be the perfect job for her, but she never properly considered it until the passing of her father. After relocating back to Canada after many years in the US, her search for the “not so typical” lead her to us. Robin often meets with her clients in their own homes; this allows her to get to know them and hear a few of their stories. That’s her favourite part.