Almost three weeks after the death of her beloved father, a Kelowna woman has finally secured a date for him to be cremated after overcoming numerous obstacles.

Morganne Emery’s father, Robert Emery, died at a long-term care facility in the Okanagan, Feb. 20, after battling underlying medical issues for years, but instead of having time to grieve the family has been burdened with finding a facility to cremate his remains due to his large size.

“Our father was deeply loved,” Morganne told iNFOnews.ca. “He was a great dad of three and grandpa of my kid. It blows my mind how many people actually knew my dad. He loved talking with people about any kind of topic. It was a shock when he passed because he went downhill so fast.

“Instead of having time to support each other we’ve been facing financial and logistical barriers to make sure he’s treated with dignity.”

With Robert weighing just over 700 lb., the family couldn’t find a local funeral home able to accommodate his cremation. They looked into a facility in Armstrong with the necessary capabilities, but it was under maintenance. The search then went to Kamloops where no facilities could accommodate his size.

“Most crematoriums in BC can only handle up to 500 pounds,” Morganne said. “He can’t just have a normal cremation casket because of his size, which is understandable but it’s very limiting.”

The family recently secured a cremation date later this week at a facility in Maple Ridge. If Maple Ridge hadn’t been able take him, the next option for the family would have been a facility in Nanaimo.

“He’s not being laid to rest until three weeks after his passing,” Morganne said. “Our family was planning to have the cremation within the first week.

“I don’t think any family should have to go through this.”

Morganne is sharing her late father’s story in hopes more funeral homes will expand their services to accommodate larger people.

“It needs to become public that things need to change,” she said. “We at least need to have one or two facilities to accommodate this size in every region.”

Since going public, Morganne and her family have received both negative and positive comments on social media.

“My family is grieving and we’ve dealt with a lot of judgement,” Morganne said. “Our family has been obese our entire lives and having someone this size can be embarrassing, but my dad is still a person and he deserves respect.

“I read the posts and there are hundreds of nasty comments but there are so many more positive ones and condolences. This has opened people’s eyes to the limitations we have for afterlife care.”

The heartbreaking ordeal has resulted in increased transportation costs for the family. Shipping from Kelowna to Maple Ridge costs roughly $1,200. On top of that are increased costs of cremation due to special accommodations for Robert’s size.

“Losing my father has been one of the most painful experiences our family has ever faced,” an online fundraiser reads. “He fought through many underlying health issues and while our hearts are broken, we take comfort in knowing he is finally at peace and no longer suffering.

“What we never expected, on top of grieving his loss, was the overwhelming challenges we have faced trying to lay him to rest with dignity.”

Morganne said her beloved late father would be proud of the actions she is taking to raise awareness of the issue.

“He’d be proud to be helping fix this problem,” Morganne said. “He was the person who had to get the last comment in no matter what, and now he is doing that through me even after he has passed.”

To donate to the family’s online fundraiser go here.