Circles and Ceremonies

Joanne is a compassionate, caring, and a very organized professional. She goes above and beyond planning & organizing your memorial service. Joanne relieves the anxiety that goes with planning such a sensitive occasion. She is an excellent speaker that makes a memorial service proceed with ease and understanding. Joanne is there to help in your time of need.

My family and I were so pleased with Joanne’s professionalism and kindness in the planning of our Dad’s Celebration of Life.  The biggest compliment would be that my Aunt (Dad’s sister) was shocked when she learned that Joanne had never met dad.  The way Joanne spoke of him had many thinking that she was a long-time friend of the family.  Thank you again Joanne, for making a very hard day manageable.

I engaged Joanne to lead an interment ceremony for my husband’s remains. Right from the start Joanne was responsive and professional, responding to emails promptly and providing clear information. When she came to meet me in person to talk about the ceremony, her warmth, creativity and good nature were evident. She put together a eulogy that was thoughtful and just right for the occasion. Everything rang true. I have no hesitation in recommending Joanne as a celebrant.

Thank you for your guidance before and during the Celebration of Life for my dad. So many people told us it was beautiful, and one elderly lady told my brother it was the most comforting and life-affirming service she had ever attended.

It was an honour to hire Joanne Van Beek; a most thoughtful, mindful, helpful and efficient Funeral Officiant for my sister’s funeral. Off the hop, she stood out. We requested her services at the last minute. She had only days to prepare, but she took care of everything – she was very professional and extremely courteous. She helped with the obituary; her beautiful poems; her compassion, and sense for the afterlife brought us joy, which we will carry in our hearts for eternity. We collaboratively worked together to make the vision for my baby sister’s funeral a reality – it was all it could be and more. I felt genuinely cared for by Joanne, and thank her for facilitating such a beautiful service.

Joanne is a very caring person. She spent a lot of time talking to myself and the kids about my husband’s life to prepare for his Interment, like the things we remembered most and what was really important to us, and how he had contributed to the family, to friends and community, and what his interests, hobbies, achievements and quirks were. We never felt rushed; Joanne was focused on making sure the ceremony reflected our values, needs and would honour him. Family members commented that the service was much nicer than a traditional funeral – it truly honoured him. They said Joanne’s style of presentation came across as very warm and caring. She clearly has found her calling! Our family would highly recommend Joanne as a Funeral Celebrant to other families.

I would highly recommend Joanne, as a Funeral Celebrant. During this very sad time, she took the time to meet with our family and get to know what made my son special; like special moments, memories, favorite sayings, what he enjoyed and things he loved to do. She planned the memorial service with our input. The memorial service was professional, touching and a fitting tribute to honour my son. She added in special touches, like my daughter-in-law lighting a candle for my son during the ceremony, and the opportunity of saying goodbye as a family, and having a Tibetan bell ringing out. It was very touching and we could not have asked for a better memorial service. We received many compliments on the memorial service and inquiries on how we found Joanne to do the service. Thank you so much Joanne, for the honourable tribute you helped us all to make for my son on such a difficult day.

Joanne did a phenomenal job at my husband’s memorial. I had numerous people tell me that it was the best memorial service they had ever been too. We would absolutely use Joanne’s Celebrant services again. Joanne was very caring and sympathetic during our process and very respectful during our grieving moments. Joanne incorporated unique ideas that were very special to our family and made everyone very comfortable.

If you or your loved one is suffering from a terminal illness and you know you need to start planning a memorial but have no idea how, I recommend you reach out to Joanne Van Beek. Joanne supported my husband and I through his death from esophageal cancer. About a month before he passed, Joanne spent time with Rod gathering stories about his life and hearing ideas about how we wanted his life to be celebrated. She listened deeply, and because of her caring, compassionate presence, the celebration she helped us put together and the eulogy she wrote, turned out to be more than I could ever have hoped for; it captured Rod’s essence beautifully. So, if you’re looking for at least one bright spot during a very dark time, reach out to Joanne. You will not be disappointed!

As we gathered around the hospital bed of a dear friend, wife, mother, sister, daughter… Joanne turned the lights down low, lit some candles, shared a few readings and then encouraged each of us to speak our final words of thanks and farewell to this woman we all loved and cherished. Joanne was attentive and sensitive to all that was asked of her during that difficult time. Joanne helped us to make our final goodbyes into a lasting and special memory.