The not-for-profit Tender Funerals has opened in Canberra, with supporter Terry Snow becoming one of the first people cared for by the service, following his death earlier this month.
Tender Funerals, which works to provide meaningful and affordable funerals, expanded to Canberra with the help of $1 million in support from the Snow Foundation and the Capital Property Group, both created by Mr Snow.
The funeral home is now housed in a light-filled building at 49 Laverton Avenue, which was once the officers' mess at the RAAF Base Fairbairn.
Two of Mr Snow's children were present at the Tender Funeral launch - Snow Foundation CEO Georgina Byron and Capital Property Group CEO Stephen Byron.
Both said Mr Snow had received wonderful care at Tender Funerals for the family's private funeral for him following his death at the age of 80 on August 4. A date for Mr Snow's public memorial service has not yet been released.
"It is raw but it is important. We wanted to talk about the great care and love Tender gave us as a family to help navigate what we wanted and what Terry wanted for his goodbye and they were everything we could have asked for," Ms Byron said.
"They provided us with all the information, they helped us navigate through those details we needed to do and they did it with such care and grace and dignity."
Mr Snow was cared for at the Tender Funerals facility at Fairbairn, on airport land, a location pivotal to his success, after purchasing the Canberra airport in 1998. Tender Funerals also conducted the private family service.
"It's a very beautiful facility and for dad to be an early adopter and one of their first couple of people is just so fitting. It's exactly what he's done all through his life in supporting things that are fantastic," Mr Byron said.
"It was really lovely to know that dad was over here while we were getting ready for the funeral."
Tender Funerals started in Port Kembla and was featured on Australian Story, sparking interest in Canberra for a local branch as far back as 2019.
Surrounded by gardens, the Canberra facility includes rooms for people to arrange funerals, spend time with the person who has died and to personally wash and prepare them for a funeral.
Tender Funerals Canberra Region general manager Catherine Prosser said it kept expenses down by charging customers at-cost rates for its services and products, which can include personalised cardboard caskets, some painted by local artists, others giving mourners a chance to write a personal message on it.
Ms Prosser said there were more options for families including not having a service at all, but instead just spending time with their loved one, either in their own home or at the Fairbairn facility.
"This doesn't feel like a sad building," she said. "We really pride ourselves on creating pleasant spaces and people bring to them what they want to bring to them."
Mr Snow came on board early in the effort to get Tender Funerals to Canberra, never knowing at the time they would help him and his family down the track. And many other families into the future.
"Terry was very interested in the fact that these are affordable funerals so the burden and cost and pain of expense of a normal funeral is different here. And that was very important to Terry, even five years ago," Mr Byron said.
The family also thanked the community for its support following Mr Snow's death.
"Overwhelming and great gratitude to all," Ms Byron said.
