Penticton funeral home provides pipe band honour for those unable to have a proper funeral

A Penticton funeral home is honouring those unable to have a proper funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic with a memorial musical tribute.

Funeral homes throughout Kamloops and the Okanagan are facing new challenges brought about by COVID-19 restrictions, including a recent tightening of numbers of people allowed to gather.

"It’s been challenging, especially when it goes down from 50 people to 10 people,” Providence Funeral Homes & Crematorium's Nolan Adams says. “Most people in Penticton are choosing to delay funerals or celebrations of life, primarily because 95 per cent choose cremation over traditional burial so they are able to have that delay without any additional complications."

The funeral home announced today it will be hosting the Okanagan Youth Pipe Band on Friday afternoons to play outside the funeral home in honour of those who have passed away unable to have a funeral, service or celebration of life due to the present health crisis.

“We’re here to memorialize people who have passed away, and it’s a shame to have people wish they could have something but can’t. This is a way to honour those people who have passed away, a little bit of a tribute in these times of uncertainty,” Adams says.

The pipe band has scheduled its initial performance to take place at  4:30 p.m. Friday, April 3 outside the funeral home.

Performances will continue every Friday afternoon for the foreseeable future.

Pipers will also be live-streamed to the Providence Funeral Home and Crematorium Facebook page.

Adams says the funeral home offers full, live-streaming capabilities.

Residents are asked to respect social distancing and isolation guidelines while the band plays at the funeral home’s location at 1258 Main Street in Penticton, or watch the performance on the Facebook livestream from their homes

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