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Essex funeral home wins conservation award as commemorative
tree-planting yields 6-acre forest

   CBC News | Posted: January 25, 2026 9:00 AM | Last Updated: 3
   hours ago

   The practice began 30 years ago, official says

   Image | wind phone

   Caption: The wind phone in the Fred Cada Memorial Forest at
   Hillman Marsh in Leamington, Ont. (Reid Funeral
   Homes/Facebook.com)
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   Planting trees to commemorate lost loved ones has been a
   popular ritual for a number of years.
   But now a Windsor-area funeral home has won a conservation
   award for the practice.
   Reid Funeral Home Ltd. received an environmental achievement
   award Thursday night from the Essex Region Conservation
   Authority for planting so many trees in honour of the families
   they have served over the past 30 years that they have created
   the six-acre Fred Cada Memorial Forest at the Hillman Marsh
   Conservation Area.
   “It's very heartwarming,” said Reid’s Leamington officer
   manager Stephanie Piroli, “to know that we're giving back to
   next generations, not just serving ourselves and making a
   memory for ourselves today, but it's also honouring our lives
   and our loved ones' lives for generation after generation.”
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   The practice of planting trees in honour of the families of
   deceased individuals began in 1995  with the grandfather of
   present owner Kevin Reid, Piroli said.
   “I think it was just they were looking to do something to bring
   people together, other than just, you know, the typical, like,
   candle lighting ceremony. … I think they were looking to give
   back as well as celebrate lives.”
   Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the funeral home would invite
   client families to Hillman Marsh for an annual ceremonial
   tree-planting with members of the conservation authority.

Around 450 seedlings per year

   The company would then make an annual donation to the authority
   to cover the cost of planting a tree for each client family who
   lost a loved one that year.
   Piroli estimated the cost at around $8,000 per year.
   “It could be upwards of 450 seedlings,” she said.
   This year, Reid also paid to install a wind phone in the forest
   and will contribute annually to its maintenance, she added.
   A wind phone is an old-fashioned telephone connected to nothing
   that allows people to ritually speak with loved ones who have
   died.
   The concept became popular after a wind phone installed in
   Japan after the 2011 Tusanmi became the subject of a radio
   documentary.
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   Unlike other businesses, which charge to plant memorial trees,
   Reid makes the donation from its own funds and does not charge
   extra to clients, Piroli said.
   Nor does it offer fee-for-service “plant a tree” services
   through third-parties.
   Piroli believes tree-planting has become a popular
   commemorative ritual because of the longevity of trees, she
   said.
   “I think just having the knowledge of it in the back of your
   head, and it's in your heart, like, ‘I know that my loved one
   is being honoured by ... a tree that will last hundreds of
   years, and it's actually giving back to our community, helping
   make us stronger and the ecosystem stronger,’ and I think,
   yeah, that's just the sentiment behind it,” she said.
   Planting trees fits in with Reid's overall efforts to operate
   as sustainably as possible Piroli added.
   It also offers eco-friendly friendly options to clients.
   Other winners of the Essex Region Conservation Authority's
   awards include North Star High School EcoTeam member Madison
   Kemp; Unifor 444 Environment Committee leader Allison
   Kozolanka; the Town of Amherstburg and  John R. Park Homestead
   Conservation Area volunteers Brad and Sherri Nelson and Julius
   Langpeter.
   Conservation Authority Chair Molly Allaire said it was
   inspiring to celebrate so many individuals and organizations
   making an impact on conservation.
   "We thank them for all of their contributions,” she said.

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