MacIsaac Funeral Home

03/11/2026

National Funeral Directors and Morticians Recognition Day
A Day to Celebrate Compassion and Dedication

Today, we would like to pay tribute to our colleagues across the nation for their devotion to the families they serve, the communities they support and the profession they honour. To be a funeral director is not a job or career, but rather, it is a calling and it is associated with a lifestyle that includes being available whenever needed.

To tend to these duties requires commitment and empathy. The loss of a loved one is a difficult passage for families and making sure they have all the support they need is essential.

Today we honour fellow funeral directors who strive to provide service excellence to those they support. On their behalf, we consider it a privilege to serve you at a time when most needed.

03/06/2026

The Gift of Grief

You will get over your grief
A Gentle Voice Whispered

My darling but what if…
What if I were to tell you that you have death and grief all wrong?
You’ve had it all backwards all along

What if the death of one was rebirth of another?
A portal to discovering an undying love for self
What if all you’re meant to do is find meaning from their leaving?
Grief’s purpose to help you evolve and grow

Yes, grief brings you to your knees
Cracks open your heart
Shatters the world as you knew it
Who says that death brings pain forever or that
You must give up your life also?

Instead…
Let go of your control, let grief wash away all that no longer works
Question beliefs, are they even yours?
Find new ones to fit, to serve you better

Keep your heart open
Don’t close it or build another wall
Though you are safe and others are out
Isolation will foster inner doubt

Release your guilt, blame and shame – they’re not there to punish you
Allow emotions to be brought back into balance
Ask why they are there and what they want
Examine their true cause as they taunt

Guilt helps reset your own moral compass
Blame permits anger and frustration to move out
Shame is the fear of not being connected and the belief you’re not worthy

Take time to remember the good things in your life
Reopen all the memories of the things that you love
Allow them to fill you up with undying love for self
Examine the emotions and feelings you employ
Allow them to turn your grief and pain into joy

Though death is difficult and it can challenge a person’s beliefs
This is the gift and purpose of Grief.

Anne DeButte

03/02/2026

02/25/2026

Making the Decision to Prefund your Funeral

When preplanning a funeral, individuals and families essentially have two choices. Some decide to prearrange only. With this option a folder is created that includes decisions made on the services that are selected. This becomes a working copy of what will be done at the time of death.

Some individuals and families also choose to prefund their funeral in addition to the prearrangements they make. Two benefits of prefunding are: not burdening surviving family members with payment for services and secondly, freezing prices. Services which are prepaid avoid inflation. Funds are placed in trust and earn income over time, offsetting increases in price.

Many families we serve opt to have arrangements paid for in advance. To find out more about prefunding, please contact us.

© MacIsaac Funeral Home/CFHC Online

02/20/2026

Just Breathe

Sometimes individuals experience stress and anxiety when grieving. This can lead to a variety of symptoms including rapid breathing, sweating, fatigue, increased heart rate and difficulty concentrating. Fear and worrying can dominate personal thought patterns and physical ailments can follow.

If experiencing anxiety, firstly take a moment and compose yourself. It’s about redirecting your focus from a state of panic to a state of calmness. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Elongate your back and begin to slow your rate of breathing. If comfortable close your eyes and focus on your surroundings. Listen to the sounds around you. Feel your feet on the floor and your hands beside you. Focus on your breath as you inhale and exhale. Try to breathe deeply from the abdomen. Notice your chest and belly expanding and contracting.

Focus on the here and now, focus on your body as air enters and exits your lungs. Find a place of relaxation and calm. Continue to just breathe until you become comfortable.

If you continue to have anxiety over time consult your physician. They will assess if you need additional support with this condition.

© MacIsaac Funeral Home/CFHC Online

02/19/2026

We, the family of Clifford Frederick Pelrine, are saddened to announce his passing on February 16, 2026 in Kingston, Ontario. Clifford was born to Leo and Dianne (Halloway) Pelrine on September 27, 1965 in Antigonish, NS. He spent his younger years terrorizing the small town with his big Ford trucks...

02/17/2026

Christina Magdalen MacGillivray, aged 91 of James River, Antigonish, died peacefully in St.Martha’s Hospital Palliative Care Unit, Antigonish, on February 16, 2026. Born in Lakevale, Antigonish County on June 12,1934, she was a daughter of the late Danny Angus and Margaret (MacDonald) Boyd, the 10...

02/17/2026

It is with sad hearts we announce the passing of Philip Francis Delorey, age 78, in St Martha’s Regional Hospital on February 12, 2026, surrounded by his family. Born on September 8, 1947, in St Martha’s, he was the eighth of eleven children to the late James WiIlliam and Mary Angela (Pettipas) ...

02/16/2026

Amid the grief of losing a loved one, it can be difficult to articulate the impact that person had on your life and…

02/12/2026

The Funeral Mass for the late Helen Stewart will be delayed until 2:pm today.

Send a message to learn more

02/10/2026

The Turning of the Bones Ritual

In Madagascar, certain ethnic groups practice Famidihana, or ‘the turning of the bones’ ritual. This occurs every 5 to 7 years, where crypts of deceased family members are visited, the bodies are exhumed and families spend the day with their loved one, before they are reclothed and interred back in the family plot. Their skeletal remains are then turned upside down to so that the foot of the grave now becomes the head of the grave.

This practice has at its core, the belief that those who die do not immediately leave this world. The ritual serves these primary purposes: it is a family gathering of sort, where the deceased can reconnect with relatives, it also facilitates the decomposition of the deceased and lastly the deceased is given new garments to wear, replacing old tattered remnants.

The ritual needs to be completed before nightfall, when negative energy and evil powers are present.

How we choose to honour and celebrate the lives of our loved ones varies widely around the world, from our funeral practices here in North America to more elaborate rituals abroad.

© MacIsaac Funeral Home/CFHC Online

02/10/2026

Surrounded by love, Helen Marie (Carty) Stewart of Antigonish passed away after bravely fighting cancer. She was born November 27th, 1950 to Hazen and Mabel (Mills) Carty. Helen lived by her own rules and had many adventures in her younger years, much to the dismay of her parents. At the age of 15,....