White’s Funeral Home began in March, 1935 when John George(Jack) White and his

wife Isabella bought the business from Simpson and Son Funeral Home on First Street south

after the death of S.G. Simpson. Three Funeral Home soperated in the area  at this time and took in a large area including Minnedosa, Newdale, Erickson and Neepawa. Jack and Isabella were both born and raised in Maryfield Sask. and moved to Winnipeg in 1930 where Jack took his training at Mordue Bros. Funeral Home before moving to Neepawa.

In 1940 the Funeral Home moved to a new location on Mountain Avenue which also included

a residence.  A new addition was built in 1958 with a chapel with seating capacity of 120, a large showroom and two offices.  This building is the present location of the funeral home. 

The Funeral Home in Carberry was purchased by J.G. White from Davies Funeral Home in

1947 following the death of Floyd Davies and is still operated by White’s today. 

The Ambulance service for Neepawa and surrounding area was provided by White’s until

Ron Forsman took over the service in 1975.

In the winter  of 1940and 1950’s  due to snow and poor roads, a team of horses often had to be hired

to go out with a sleigh to remove the deceased from a home. Sometimes the preparation and funeral

arrangements of the deceased were made right in their home.

During the flood in British Columbia in the 1940’s, a family wanted a relative brought

back home to Manitoba for burial.  No trains were travelling from British Columbia due to the

flood and following a great number of telephone calls, White’s was one of the first funeral homes

in Canada to have a body transported to Winnipeg by airplane.

In the 1950’s  and1960’s  Albert Newell worked at the Funeral Home as well as Jack Buchanan

and Cyril Kidds.

Jack and Isabella operated the family business until his sudden death of a heart attack at the

age of 61 years on December 21, 1967.  Isabella was involved in the family business for over

50 years.  When all the staff were on a funeral or on a call she was there to answer any phone

calls as they were on call 24 hours 7 days a week.  If they did go out to visit they would advise the

local telephone operators and they would then forward any incoming calls to the phone number of the location they were at.

Following his father’s death Douglas took over the  family business until he passed away from cancer

at the age of 59 years on December 10^th,2001.  Doug’s two eldest sons Barry and Brian were

both licensed Funeral Directors and worked in the family business with their Dad for many years

before leaving the profession. Brian is again working in the funeral business in Manitoba.

 Doug’s youngest son Nathan is a licensed Funeral Director and is a partner in the funeral business in

Neepawa and Minnedosa.

Lyle Byram (White) daughter of Jack and Isabella worked with her brother Douglas, as secretary for 38 years in the family business.

Jack and Isabella had 3 children: daughter Lois Christie(Murray Christie)  of Edmonton, son Douglas (deceased) married Dora Nikkel; and daughter Lyle Byram (Ray Byram)  o f Neepawa. 

There are 11 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.

In 2005 the business was sold,  Brian James and Nathan White (grandson of Jack and Isabella) became partners and in 2018 Brian and Nathan became sole owners of the funeral home and still operates under the White family name.