Brombal Funeral Home & Cremation Care

Formerly Gilchrist Chapel - McIntyre & Wilkie Funeral Home

Guelph's longest serving Funeral Home

Caring for our community since 1932

The Brombal family welcomes you to our home online.

Our business has carried several names over its distinguished 90-year history and now it has another. We will always be mindful of, and grateful for, those who came before and we will preserve those names - McIntyre, Wilkie, Campbell, Gilchrist and Skipper - and honour their legacy as we go forward as Brombal Funeral Home & Cremation Care.

Throughout our history there is one thing has never changed; the commitment of the people that work here - owners and staff alike - to serve their neighbours with exceptional skill and compassion. From the beginning, we have been, and we remain, a local business dedicated to caring for our community on difficult days.

We are grateful for your support and welcome you to contact us anytime with your questions or comments.

What Is A Funeral?

We believe a funeral should be just what you need it to be. A time of reflection, comfort, loving support, solemn ritual or sharing loving memories. Or, perhaps a little of each. Whatever you need to meaningfully honour the life at its end and give comfort and hope to those who carry on.

Perhaps it’s easiest to discover what you need if we begin by asking why we hold a funeral?

Regardless of the unique choices families may make, most funerals are still:

• an occasion to recognize the loss of someone important in our lives. To honour and, often, to celebrate their life and how they touched ours.
• an opportunity to say good-bye. The end of one journey and the beginning of another that won’t be quite the same without them.
• a time for community to gather around and express their love and support for those most directly affected by the loss. Remember a funeral honours the dead but its greatest benefit is to those who must carry on.

You may prefer the term funeral or memorial service; you might choose a celebration of life and something else entirely unique to you and the life you’re honouring. Whatever your needs and preferences, our role is to help you find ways to achieve these things in a manner that will suit and benefit you and your family.

We tend to think of the funeral as just a brief period of formal ritual (the service) and, as important as that is for many of us, it is usually just one element in the process of addressing loss. Today it is not uncommon for some to choose a less formal option and rely more on other types of gatherings.

Families have typically chosen some combination of gatherings and rituals to express their loss and seek comfort. Visitation periods at the funeral home or church, a formal funeral service in one of those venues and, often, a gathering or reception following services. Some take a very traditional approach, others tailor their arrangements in a manner that is more in keeping with their lifestyle or their desire to create a fitting tribute. Regardless of your preference, we are here to help and we have plenty of experience with both styles.

All of these considerations hold true whether you are preplanning services for yourself or making arrangements for another at a time of loss. As you consider your options you may find that there are benefits to preplanning for those who wish to make special or very personalized plans and want time to think about their choices. You will find that our staff are very capable of assisting in either situation.

So, a funeral is not necessarily a predefined event. Think of it in terms of what you need to properly honour a life and to care for the living. The people, the places, the events and the furnishings are all up to you and you have many options to choose from. If you’re not certain you understand your choices, ask a funeral director or preplanning counsellor to help you explore them.

Celebrations Of Life

Traditional Burial Or Cremation

Memorial Services

​Direct Disposition

What Is Preplanning?

Preplanning is simply the process of drawing up plans for a funeral before they are needed.

It involves gathering a variety of family information and making decisions about the type of services that you want. For instance, where the funeral itself should take place and who might participate. Working together with a funeral director or preplanning counsellor, you organize and record all of this information.

Our staff can lead you through the process providing advice and guidance along the way. They will ensure that you have all the information you need about our services and merchandise allowing you to make informed decisions.

You may choose to pay for the arrangements in advance or your plans can simply be held on file at the funeral home to be carried out when they are needed and invoiced to the estate or family at that time. Our staff will explain your options when you meet them.

Why Preplan?  

Why Pre-pay?

Our Story

Grief resources