Home Community Greg Forrest Retires from Forrest & Taylor Funeral Home

Greg Forrest Retires from Forrest & Taylor Funeral Home

June 22, 2024

1022

By Marie Sullivan

Greg Forrest retired June 1 after serving Sutton for over 30 years at the Forrest & Taylor Funeral Home at 20846 Dalton Rd.

A funeral director since 1989, Forrest’s career took him from Toronto to New Liskeard, Wawa, and Haileybury.

He finally settled in Georgina in 1992 and joined the Taylor Funeral Home. He and his wife, Carole Forrest, purchased half the business in 2001, and the remainder in 2008, changing the name to Forrest & Taylor Funeral Home.

Forrest has many fond memories and said, “We were going to a small local cemetery and a dog was sitting at the bottom of the dug grave, wagging his tail! He had fallen through the artificial grass and we managed to get him out safely. It gave us all a chuckle.”

When asked what he is doing now, Forrest said, “I finally have time to do the odd jobs around the house I was always procrastinating about.” He also has a few vacations planned. “The wife and I enjoy travelling and I’ve always wanted to see the fireworks in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve.”

Forrest said, “I’m not leaving the business for the good. They’ve asked me to stay on to supplement staff during busy times. There is a general need for funeral directors and they are hard to find.”

York Simcoe Funeral Services, a division of the Park Lawn Corporation, purchased Forrest’s business in August 2023. The Park Lawn Corporation, according to their website is “the largest publicly traded Canadian-owned funeral, cremation, and cemetery provider.”

Forrest said the new owners assured him, “There will be no changes to the policies and procedures for the foreseeable future.”

Violet Grant from Mount Albert, the current Managing Funeral Director said, “Greg is a great member of the community and he is not going away. We are so happy he will still be involved with Forrest & Taylor Funeral Homes. I learned so much from him and am excited to keep providing the same level of care.”

When asked about the changes in the industry he’s seen over his career, Forrest said, “We’ve seen a decrease in the traditional casket burial service and cremation increased.”

He left this reporter with a poignant thought when asked his preference, “I prefer a casket burial. When you are buried in a cemetery, the ceremony is finished and there is closure. With cremation, sometimes the remains aren’t buried and instead the ashes are scattered. In these cases there is sometimes no monument remaining to show the existence of a person who lived, loved, and contributed to our life history.”