The Parkside Story

Parkside has its origins in a dream. A dream to become a funeral director and care for bereaved families through the funeral process. I, Rennie, had experienced the terrible loss of a baby son, Bradley, who lived 5 ½ weeks, and died from SIDS. As a result of this I began to read about grief and loss in an attempt to understand what was happening to me. I did a training course which talked about the role of a funeral director and how a funeral can make a difference in the journey of moving on after loss.

And so, the dream to become a funeral director was born. I commenced work in the industry 1995 working for two local companies. Like many who work in this industry,I left these positions with a sense of disillusionment. But the dream to work as a funeral director stayed. And so, with a huge amount of support from family and friends, the purchase and renovation of a lovely old Federation building in Strahan Street, Burnie, in 1999, along with a hearse meant that the dream of owning and operating my own funeral business was realised. Gerald joined the business in 2000. In 2003, a new dream was born. We wanted to be able to offer our own chapel facility to our families. We found an amazing property on 5 acres of land, adjacent to our local lawn cemetery, with a creek and a lake. And we began to build what is, we believe is one of the most beautiful, spacious funeral facilities in Australia.

August 2004, we held our first funeral in our newly finished chapel. And we have had the privilege of conducting thousands of services for Tasmanian families since then. Our staff has grown from Gerald and Rennie ‘doing everything’ with the assistance of one administration assistant, to 6 full-time staff, and 4 part time staff, all of whom share our commitment to providing the best in funeral service that we believe is possible. We have held onto the dream of caring for bereaved families through the funeral process. It is a fundamental philosophy that underpins everything that we do as funeral directors.

In 2012, Rennie’s son Simon began work as a funeral director, bringing to Parkside a fresh, contemporary approach. Along with incredible enthusiasm, Simon continues to grow Parkside in new directions, and provide a ‘family business.’In January 2014, we expanded and purchased a Chapel in Ulverstone, at 7 Wrights Road, meaning we are able to better serve the residents of the Central Coast Region.

In 2015, the installation of our own on-site crematorium facility was completed. We are proud to be able provide this higher level of service to our client families.

In 2018 we took possession of a beautiful custom-built hearse, built by Hammond Conversions in Pambula, NSW.

Burnie

Parkside Funerals Chapel Burnie is our main administrative centre, situated next to Burnie Lawn Cemetery. Featuring a large, beautifully detailed funeral chapel with modern screens and sound system, our Burnie chapel seats up to 220 people, with overflow standing room. Our venue also contains a private gathering room, which is convenient for family members to meet prior to the service, as well as an intimate viewing room, which enables last farewells to be made.

Our reception area is light and airy for guests to mingle and share their thoughts and memories. This area leads out into our courtyard which overlooks our beautiful gardens, maintained for year-round colour and variety.

Ulverstone

Our Central Coast Chapel is situated on Wright’s Road (off Trevor Street), Ulverstone. Seating up to 80 guests, this chapel is ideal for a more intimate farewell. With plush seating for all your family and friends, along with a beautifully serene viewing room, our Central Coast Chapel also has audio-visual facilities, allowing you to share those special photos of your loved one’s life.

Other locations

At Parkside Funerals we specialise in doing services anywhere, not just in our own chapels. We are also able to arrange to do the service for your loved one in any church, hall, sporting venue or even in your own back yard. We not only do funerals along the North-West and Central Coast, but across all of Tasmania. This includes the Circular Head areas of Smithton, Marrawah, and Stanley, along with the West Coast including Queenstown, Rosebery, Zeehan, and Strahan.

There are no limits on where we can or will travel to conduct a funeral.

The Parkside
Funeral Team

The Parkside Funerals team is committed to providing excellence in every aspect of funeral service.

Rennie
neasey-o'connell

Funeral Director

I have trained in Melbourne with the Australian College of Funeral Service (operated by the Australian Funeral Directors Association), completed a course in Mortuary Reconstruction, and have worked in the funeral industry for the past eighteen years, and during that time have arranged, directed, conducted thousands of funerals.