Koroluk retires as funeral director after 33 year career
A picturesque, large home in Lamont sporting a ‘Park Memorial’ sign over the front door, looks as any other well cared for neighbourhood home from the outside.
Inside, however, as explained by 83-year-old retired funeral director Ed Koroluk, are full facilities and a display ready to help in completely arranging a loved one’s final farewell.
“There’s a show room inside, with caskets and urns as well as a chapel down below,” he said. “People who worked there used to live there, but no one has lived there for many years.”
Koroluk hung up his funeral director’s hat this past Jan. after a 33-year career arranging final services. He is hoping his leaving will make room for others.
“I could have carried on as funeral director, but I wanted to give young people an opportunity,” he said.
Koroluk added that an experience he had as a young boy shaped his outlook on the funeral business.
“When I was seven-years-old, our neighbour’s three-year-old son, Rodney, passed away from a burst appendix,” he said. “We were all very sad, but then the family asked me if I would be a pallbearer for Rodney at his funeral. I felt so honoured, even as a seven-year-old, that they asked me to do that.”
Koroluk’s sense of duty was shaped by the incident and he hoped to one day go into the funeral business after marrying his wife Verna in 1959.
“That idea got squashed though,” he said. “We bought the hardware store in 1974 so I put it out of my mind.”
In 1988, however, Koroluk had a customer in his hardware store that changed his mind.
“Someone came into the store looking for some building materials,” he said. “They were using it to fix up the funeral home and looking for a new funeral director.”
Koroluk jumped at the opportunity.
“I thought that would be a real honour to work with the funeral home,” he said.
Koroluk added that he had the full support of Verna.
“She said for me to do whatever I wanted to do,” he said. “We finally sold the hardware store in 1999.”
Koroluk stated that his job as funeral director included arranging transportation and cremation of the deceased, as well as the sale of caskets and urns.
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Koroluk added that the years he spent with Park Memorial were blissful and satisfying.
“I really enjoyed working in the funeral business,” he said. “I had a good relationship with the management and the people that I worked with.”
When asked about the difficulty of enduring emotional aspects in his job, Koroluk said his sense of duty took over.
“I had to be compassionate and do what the people needed us to do,” he said. “I was there to serve them.”
Although Koroluk enjoyed helping his customers with every detail of their loved one’s farewell, he found himself asking for help in 2008 when Verna passed away from cancer.
“She passed away right before our 50th anniversary,” he said. “I didn’t feel right about making the arrangements myself, so I asked the Edmonton office and they did it for me.”
Today, Koroluk is hoping for an end to the pandemic so he can begin enjoying his retirement years.
“I used to arrange senior bus tours,” he said. “Hopefully the virus ends so we can start going on some.”
Although Koroluk has retired from Park Memorial, he hasn’t left the funeral business completely.
“I still sell monuments with a company in Regina,” he said happily.
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Jana Semeniuk,
Staff Reporter
