My friend passed away a few days into 2021. Due to the border being closed during this pandemic, I…read morecould not fly into the States to pay my respects. Although I appreciated attending her funeral virtually thanks to an online feed, I needed to visit her final resting place. I have thought about making this trip down to Elma, IA, in Howard County, for months. It all unfolded on Saturday. There was a lot of research conducted beforehand. How does one rate a cemetery? It's a first for me. I have deducted one star for a lack of information about this cemetery anywhere. There isn't really an address other than it's on Garden Avenue in Elma. Elma is a small town, so I suppose that locals know. For this Canadian dropping by this town for the first time, it was not evident to me at all. Luckily, my map app got me here safely. I also wasn't sure where my friend's burial place was. I asked the funeral home. The woman didn't know. She recommended contacting the director of this cemetery. I couldn't reach him. I ended up getting an old map of the lots in this cemetery, a local site that had a directory of tombstones, and my friend's daughter's photo of the tombstone with another one behind it for me to piece everything together. My friend was located in lot 1. My drive from Saint Paul down to Elma would have taken well over two hours if I drove like a crazy woman without any breaks. I did break my trip up by having lunch in Rochester. My map navigator had me pull into a makeshift road or path in Howard Cemetery. It's a one-way road. I basically guessed and ultimately found my friend's tombstone, thanks to her last name being in huge block letters that was closest to my side of the car. I was tearing up roughly four kilometres away from the cemetery. When I saw where she was, the tears came down my face. I had to pull over, so I moved to the right of the rough road. I got out of my car and was thankful that it was a nice day. I spent some time talking to her and said what I wanted to share with her. I think of her often and feel that she's with me in spirit. It was a sunny day with a full blue sky on her funeral in Markham. It was the same thing seeing her in Elma. It was a good sign. This cemetery is sandwiched between two farms. One looked like a grain farm. I'm not sure about the other. The cemetery seemed decently maintained. She always wanted to visit me in Canada. I decided to bring a bit of Canada to her. I left a twoonie with her tombstone. It was a windy day and the twoonie seemed fine where it was placed. I noticed the cemetery sign when I was about to leave. It is difficult to spot unless you are actively looking for it. Thank goodness for my map navigation! I am glad that I got to visit my friend and pay my respects at long last. Losing someone during a pandemic and trying to mourn that person from another country has been such a challenge during this pandemic. (431)

There's a first for everything. My review is from the point of view of attending a funeral remotely…read moreand using Conway-Markham Funeral Home's streaming feed. A dear friend of mine had her life cut short. She passed away a week ago from Leukemia, a blood cancer. Her family arranged her funeral with Conway-Markham. Her funeral was yesterday. My friend did was she does best. She was a planner. If you are a planner, I likely love you as a friend, because I work the same way. She planned her entire funeral. It's not that she was a control freak. It was what she did best and she wanted to take care of others. She always thought of others before herself, which happened right up to her death. She was truly one of a kind. She had lived most of her life in Iowa, which is where she was born and raised. However, she had stints living in Minneapolis and Boston. I know that she wanted her friends in these cities to be able to participate and celebrate her life from afar. Then, there's me. I was her only friend across the border in Canada. I am thankful that Conway-Markham invested in the best equipment to stream their funeral services during this pandemic. The Canada-US border has been closed since mid-March of last year. If we weren't in a pandemic, I would have flown down to see and support my friend. Instead, we got through this obstacle by communicating with each other through e-mails and text messages right up until her passing. The service was wonderful. It highlighted how selfless she was and how much joy she brought to everyone in her life. Staff at Conway-Markham skillfully and carefully shifted a few items before closing the top part of my friend's casket when transitioning from the visitation to the actual funeral service. They shifted the video camera to make sure that remote attendees got the best view during the service. The streaming quality was excellent. There was no lag or issues. It was my first time attending a funeral online. I would have been devastated if I couldn't attend my friend's funeral, but it was realized through technology. I was able to grieve properly, while celebrating how wonderful of a person she was. There were songs that were played. The audio was excellent. At one stage, my friend had recorded a voice message to all of us. The person who was trying to play it was experiencing some technical issues. A staff member from Conway-Markham swooped in to fix the issue. It was great. The voice message was poignant and many of us lost it, including me. It was also comforting to hear her voice again. My friend was a foodie. She made sure that everyone left the service with a packed lunch when it was over. It made me smile. It was so her. They were available from a different room at the funeral home where the reception was held later on. The service lasted for an hour. It stopped with the funeral director talking about everyone heading over to my friend's final resting spot. The service was smooth and it had everything that my friend had wanted. Conway-Markham made things as stress-free as possible for my friend's family and guests, so they could all focus on grieving and reflecting about such a special person. I appreciated the staff's professionalism throughout the service. Thanks to Conway-Markham for holding a modern service during a pandemic and allowing me to say goodbye to my friend a country away. (5)

From the owner: Conway-Markham Funeral Home & Cremation Services read more

My Dad had arranged a prepaid cremation with this funeral home. Very pleased with communication and…read moreservice. Highly recommend!

From the owner: Our "Tradition of Excellence" began 90 years ago, in 1923, when Bill Larkin established the first…read morefuneral home in New Hampton and Lawler, Iowa. Words like integrity, loyalty, honesty, friendship, compassion, caring, understanding and trust were not only spoken, but put into daily use providing service to families in need. This tradition was continued when Emmett Martin took over the business in 1961 and Leon Hugeback in 1979. Today, in the new millennium the tradition continues as Bryan and Gayla Hugeback, Drew and Maggie Johnson, Andrew Hugeback, Gary Olson, Craig and Judy Chenoweth, along with their talented and compassionate staff, continue serving families with kindness and care, at prices affordable to every families needs. In 2003, the firm merged with the Chenoweth & Son Funeral Homes in Nashua & Fredericksburg, widening our circle of compassionate care. Outstanding service to area families has earned the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Homes an unsurpassed reputation for excellence.

Found this company on Yelp. I was calling from Michigan. Immediate good response regarding help…read morewith ordering a monument 600 miles away! Stated he would go to the cemetery 28 miles away and give me feed back! Thought it was extraordinary service that far away from me.