Tributes
Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes
A Race Well Run

Tom Kunst was known to all as a friend, but to a treasured few; beloved husband, father and Papa. Tom died tragically while doing something he loved, training on his bicycle. Over the years, Tom became an avid competitor. Competition soon became a family affair, often including his wife and sons. Tom loved being with his family, pushing himself physically and being out in God’s creation.

Lately we find ourselves in spaces that feel upended and abnormal. Nothing feels routine or familiar. We have adapted, adjusted and let go of things that seem an impossibility. But where does that leave grief? Where does that leave this family who tragically loses its patriarch?

A Race Well Run
Community
lee karelse
Essentials of Grief during the Corona Virus ...

In the last weeks we have listened to families express “its not our fault that mom died during a national crisis”.   They want to gather for support with their family and friends.  They want to have an event that marks the significance of a life.  They want to be able to share their grief with others…. But social distancing changes our traditions. We face this frustration with families as we try to balance the basic needs for mourning and the present reality of social distancing. We can work with you to find options that meet your immediate needs with the limits of our current situation.

Essentials of Grief during the Corona Virus Pandemic
Community
Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes
Honoring Our Heroes

Sure, we love a good BBQ and picnic to kick off the summer as much as anyone else, but in our work we’ve been deeply affected by the stories of the veterans in our community. We’re proud and humbled to host this annual Community Memorial Picnic in their collective honor, and we love seeing generations come together to share stories and recognize those among us who served our country so faithfully.

Honoring Our Heroes
Journey
Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes
5 Ways to Making Remembering Part of Your ...

Every year we'll purchase an ornament for our grief tree for people that we lost who are important to us. As we add new ornaments to our grief tree, we'll have a tangible way to see how many years we'll live through this grief.  Grief is part of who we are and what we own now, and that grief tree is a symbolic of who we are now.  

This, and 4 other ways to include remembering loved ones as part of your Christmas traditions.  

5 Ways to Making Remembering Part of Your Christmas Tradition (Part 2 of 2)
Tributes
Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes
10,000 Breakfasts

“We were here at Grand Coney since 2004, the first week they opened.  We’ve been here a long time. When they opened it was something new so we decided to try it, and we’ve been here pretty much ever since,” recounts Dale.  They spent the last of their 10,000 breakfasts tradition together here.  

10,000 Breakfasts

Graveside

One More Shovel

 

“Only wood handles.  Never composite.  You need the right tools to get the job done right.”

Picking the right kind of shovel wasn't the only lesson that Everhardt "Ev" Katerberg’s children and grandchildren remembered learning from their hardworking dad and grandpa who started Katerberg Lawn Sprinkling in 1957.  When Ev’s boys were growing up, each of them learned how to use a shovel, digging ditches by hand for the company.  But it wasn't just about digging -- they also learned other valuable lessons in their time with their dad.

The foundation for a joy-filled life comes from faith in the Lord.

There’s nothing more important in the world than your family.

Support, love, and serve others.

Take pride in honest, hard work.  

His family honored this legacy at his funeral service at West Leonard Christian Reformed Church.  But it was the graveside service at Rosedale Memorial Park, with snow on the ground and a chill in the air, where his family honored Ev one final time

After the burial vault was lowered into the ground, the Katerberg family, starting with the "ditch-digging" sons, each grabbed hold of a shovel and one last time did what came so naturally to them:  they started digging.

Each person, in turn, grabbed a shovel and gently poured dirt into the grave of their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

They even brought small shovels for the youngest children.

Dirt, memories, and tears mingled together in this sacred space as they worked; a most fitting and appropriate tribute to honor the life of the man who taught them so much from holding a shovel.