Sharron started with Macdonald & Weston in December of 2012.
Sharron had a lot of experience funeral directing from when she lived in Australia and believes the most important part of her job is listening & communication, in particular the first meeting where the arrangements are made. “Having time to listen, not hurrying anyone, is so important in understanding what family’s needs are.”
In 2015, Sharron and her husband David bought Macdonald & Weston so that it remained a local family-owned and operated Home for the needs and wants of the families of Southland and surrounding districts.
Sharron obtained her Diploma in Funeral Directing in 2014 and her Diploma of Embalming in 2017. The Company also rejoined FDANZ( Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand} in June 2015 and was invited to join the NZIFH, New Zealand Independent Funeral Homes in 2018.
She achieved one of her dreams by becoming JP in late 2019.
Sharron became a Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand Board member in 2021.
David started in 2015 to "help out" and run the Casket/Back Room and with Funeral assistant duties. He now spends the majority of his time doing the design work, creating our themed packages, with service sheets, memorial books, signing sheets and personalized candles, adding to our website and creating our wonderful DVD reflections/Slideshows, and now doing our monumental design work, he also does sound/video technician duties at funerals as required.
Away from work, he loves to spend his time with his hobby of HO scale model trains. His (3) three "Great Little Train Show" layouts keep him busy, with one even going to the Dunedin show and a larger one in his man cave, he is also a member of the Southland Society of Model Engineers here in Invercargill and became a committee member a few years back.
Greg has been a background member of our company since 2018 and we are grateful he is able to fully join us in 2020. Greg has gained some great experience with us in the prior years before coming on board in a full-time role and is comfortable in many of the positions within Macdonald & Weston.
Born and raised in Invercargill, Greg has a proud connection to Southland with his father’s Scottish parents stemming from Ohai-Nightcaps while his mother’s whānau, raised in Colac Bay, are associated to Ōraka-Aparima rūnaka and of Ngāi Tahu descent.
Greg’s commitment to his community has extended to interacting at a committee level for most of the clubs and organizations he has been involved with, giving him a great background to engage with the many varieties of people in our community. Greg holds the importance of ‘family’ in great regard and his high level of compassion and empathy is especially evident when he is supporting families at their most difficult times.
Lori first approached us in 2016 expressing great interest in becoming an embalmer, over the next few years she showed us that she was very serious about this career choice. In 2018 Lori came onboard as a trainee Embalmer. After a short hiatus she has returned as a permanent member of the Macdonald & Weston team. She is very passionate about her job and feels it is a great honour to be able to assist families through the grief process through embalming. Lori will be starting her Embalming Diploma in August 2023, this is something she has been looking forward to doing for a long time and we are behind Lori 100%. Outside of work, she loves to spend time with her husband and children. She loves cooking and music and is very passionate about animal welfare.
Raylene has been employed for the past 19 years at Invercargill City Council, most of which was at the Eastern Cemetery and Southland Crematorium. Earlier this year after an illness within her family Raylene decided the time had come to make a change and accepted the role of Administrator at Macdonald & Weston Funeral Home. Her inside knowledge will be invaluable to us.
Raylene is a born and bred Southlander growing up in Tokanui. Outside work, Raylene enjoys spending time with her husband, two dogs and two cats. Rafa the cocker spaniel has occasionally appeared at Macdonald & Weston. Her other interests include golf, and indoor bowls, and is the regional co-ordinator for Southland/ Otago for statisticians in netball.
With Raylene’s knowledge and understanding of what happens in the funeral industry, we know she will bring compassion and care to make sure families' needs are understood.
Raylene says as long as she can help someone in their deepest grief then, she knows she is doing the right thing.
