HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-12-07, Page 14- -----
PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1988.
Stephen Betts, the new owner of M.L. Watts Funeral Homes in Brussels and
Gorrie, says he will continue the tradition of excellent service established by
the firm’s former owners, Max and Barb Watts. Mr. Betts says Brussels
“feels like home”.
Brussels for them,
new owners knew
The new owner of the M.L. Watts
Funeral Homes in Brussels and
Gorrie says that the region already
feels like home to him and his family,
adding that they are looking forward
to taking an active part in community
life.
After searching for nearly two
years for a suitable business loca
tion, Stephen Betts and his wife,
Lynn, heard about the Watts
properties through a specialty real
estate company, and knew as soon as
they saw the Brussels location on the
Maitland River that this was what
they wanted.
“It just felt good to us as soon as
we drove in (toBrussels),’’ Mr. Betts
said lasv week. “We knew that this
was the place we had been looking
for.’’
The Betts took over the funeral
company from the Watts on Novem
ber 15, butplan to continue the same
high standards of service to the
community established over nearly
20 years by the previous owners.
They also hope to add a few of their
own touches to vhe business, such as
putting in place a library of books on
death and dying that could be loaned
out to people trying to explain the
process to children, for example.
“Mostpeople need helpin situa
tions like this, and that’s what we
want to do,’’ Mr. Betts explained.
He also wants to make the funeral
homes a less awesome part of
community life by opening it to tours
by community groups and classes of
school children, and plans on
hosting an open house at both
facilities in January in order to meet
the people of Brussels and Gorrie.
“Basically, we want to carry on
just as Max and Barb did. Nothing
has changed except some of the
faces,’’ he said.
Mr. Betts began working as a
delivery boy at a funeral home in
Islington when he was only 15 years
old, and had decided on his career
long before he graduated from high
school. He was a member of the first
class to take the extended Funeral
Service Education course at Humber
College in Toronto, graduating in
1975 with his embalmer’s licence.
He then served a mandatory 15-
month apprenticeship, working at
the Turner and Porter Funeral
Chapel in Toronto, and wrote his
provincial exam to acquire his
funeral director’s licence in 1978.
He worked several more years in
the trade in the Toronto area, then
purchased his first funeral home in
Gananoque in 1983. After several
years of growing with the business,
he decided he wanted a change, and
set out on the quest which ended this
fall with his arrival in Brussels.
Mr. Betts is a past Junior Warden
with the Leeds Masonic Lodge and a
past Worthy Patron, Eastern Star of
St. Lawrence Chapter, in Ganano
que, and hopes to affiliate with the
Lodge here. Hewasalsoanactive
member of the Rotary Club, a
captainofthe Arthritis Society, a
Boy Scout leader and an active
member of Grace United Church in
Gananoque, and will be joining the
Brussels United Church in the near
future.
The family also loves sailing, and
feels that their new home is ideally
located to take advantage of Lake
Huron facilities next summer.
The Watts have purchased a
motor home and will spend a
long-awaited holiday touring the sun
belt of the USA, leaving right after
Christmas. But they will be back in
the spring, with both former part
ners remaining as consultants to the
Betts business, while Barb Watts
will remain on staff at the Gorrie
Funeral Home.
No one hurt
as CKNX
van flips
Three Wingham people were
inju:ed Friday night when the CKNX
van they were driving hit a patch of
ice on Highway 4 near Morris Twp.
concession 6-7, and skidded into the
ditch where it flipped over to come to
rest on its roof.
Sylvia Derer, 24, the driver of the
vehicle, is in satisfactory condition in
Wingham and District Hospital with
a fractured leg and ankle, while her
passengers. Connie Moore, 25, and
James Saint, 33, were treated for
minor injuries and released.
Provincial police at Wingham said
the three were returning from
Seaforth at about 10 p.m. when the
accident occurred. All three persons
involved were taken to hospital by
ambulance.
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