Memorial Program

The holidays are a wonderful time of year. But they can be a particularly difficult time to cope with the loss of a beloved family member.

All of us here at Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Homes realize that the first Christmas without a loved one is especially challenging. It is with that in mind that we provide the families we serve with a holiday memorial service each year in early December that honors all the loved ones lost during that year.

At the service, beautiful glass “Guardian Angel” ornaments memorializing those who have passed away throughout the year hang on our Christmas tree. At the end of the service, families retrieve their loved one’s Guardian Angel from the tree to take home.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we made the difficult decision to cancel our holiday program and present it virtually. While we invited no guests, we still put up our Christmas tree and hung the year’s Guardian Angel ornaments. Our past president, Tim Lockwood, and Pastor Tom DeGroot delivered heartfelt messages to the families we served that year via a video recording. The recording also included music, the tree-lighting ceremony, and many views of the Guardian Angels on the tree. This video was then posted on our website for families to view from home.

In the years since 2020, we have resumed our normal in-person holiday memorial service, and decided to continue recording the program each year so that families unable to attend could still receive the experience of the program from home. We have decided to share our holiday memorial service video on our website each year not only for those who are unable to attend, but so that anyone—whether they experienced a recent loss or a loss from the past--can take comfort in the sentiment of the holiday memorial service.