Park Memorial Funeral Home
Unique Aftercare Events Provide Connection and Grief Support
A family owned business since 1941, Park Memorial has always placed importance on family, community and personal service. Three generations of the Smolyk Family have led the funeral home over the years: founder Tod, his son Jerry, and now Jerry’s daughter Kirstie. With the passing of Jerry in 2017, Kirstie and her Park Memorial family of staff, in grieving Jerry’s loss, further realized how important it was to develop their work within the field of aftercare.
Since 2018, they have implemented a monthly grief support program called Art for the Grieving
Heart. These events combine an art therapy project with a facilitated grief discussion. As well, they hosted their first full-day grief support event in May 2019 called Finding Grace in Grief. It featured keynote and breakout workshops geared to sharing practical tips and tools to support one’s grief process. It was so well-received that they are planning to hold this event again in 2020.
January 2020 will also see a new grief support program begin at Park Memorial that will seek to connect, serve and support widows and widowers through the sharing of a meal followed by a facilitated grief discussion with a grief expert.
Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.
~ Dr. Alan Wolfelt
Food is love. The sharing of a meal together builds and binds families, friends and relationships. After the loss of a spouse, mealtimes become a painful reminder of the person missing from the table.
Park Memorial sees the need for connection and grief support in the widowed families that they serve. And the need is increasing. They are hopeful that this program will meet some of these needs in our community.
For more information and to secure tickets to any of our aftercare events, please visit our online events page at www.parkmemorialcares. com, our Facebook page at www. facebook.com/parkmemorial and click on events, or call Kristi Hammond, Public Relations Coordinator, at 780-426-0050.