State-of-the-art chapel

Our beautiful chapel comfortably seats up to 180 people. We are one of the larger chapels in the area, so we are especially equipped to handle larger funerals. The chapel is a well-lit, accommodating space with a monitor to display multimedia tributes (which we are happy to help you create) during a service. Outside the chapel, a covered area provides some shelter from the harsh weather. The building is wheelchair accessible to accommodate the elderly and physically challenged.

We celebrate life

Every person's life deserves to be celebrated. At Arthur Funeral Home - Barton & Kiteley Chapel, we help families plan unique and memorable funeral services that truly reflect their loved ones' lives. Whether it's a traditional funeral service in our chapel or a place of worship or an imaginative celebration of life with live music, themed decor and personalized keepsakes, we go the extra mile to make your vision a reality.

To plan a one-of-a-kind tribute, our caring and compassionate associates meet with family and friends to learn about your loved one’s life and discover who they were and what they loved. From there, we design a ceremony that embodies and celebrates that unique life.

We’ve had a ceremony for a dairy farm owner where we displayed his business’s life-size statues of cows. For car lovers, we've arranged to have favourite vehicles displayed outside. We’ve had fishing-themed events for avid anglers and sports-focused events for sports enthusiasts. For those who love busting a move on the dance floor, we can create a dance party with a playlist of favourite songs. When it comes to celebrating a life, the sky's the limit.

We will work tirelessly to achieve the ceremony that’s right for you and your family. We’re happy to transform the visitation area and redecorate our facilities however you desire, making our home your home.

Cremation services

We specialize in cremation services that honor loved ones in personalized ways, and families love our transparent pricing. With expertise in scattering ashes and a friendly team who pays attention to every detail, we provide service that is second to none.

More and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burial, but most aren’t familiar with the many options:

• a cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind.
• a funeral with your loved one present, followed by cremation.
• a cremation followed by a scattering, cemetery memorialization or celebration of life—or all three.

For those who wish for a more momentous memorial, Neptune Memorial Reef is an underwater cremation garden off the coast of Florida. A Celestis Memorial Spaceflight takes ashes into space for a little while or forever.

There are many options for cremation—and they're not all equal. Here's what you can expect when you choose us for your loved one's cremation:

• Custody of care guaranteed. Our custody-of-care program helps safeguard the identification of your loved one from the time we bring them into our care until the time we return them to your family. We check, cross-check and check again, every step of the way.
• Exclusive custody of your loved one. We use only crematories owned and operated by Dignity Memorial^® providers or trusted partners. Once your loved one is in our custody or that of a trusted partner, they’re in our care until they’re returned to your family.
• Licensed, certified, conscientious staff. All Dignity Memorial crematory operators are licensed and certified by Cremation Association of North America, or CANA. Only one person at a time is cremated, and the cremation chamber is thoroughly cleaned before the next person is cremated.

Read more about our cremation services.

Partnerships with area cemeteries and crematoriums

We are experienced at coordinating with cemeteries in our area and abroad. Simply let us know which cemetery you’ve chosen and we’ll coordinate with its staff. Over the years, we’ve coordinated with all the cemeteries in the Algoma District and can work with any cemetery in the province of Ontario.

When someone wishes to be buried in a cemetery outside Ontario, we can coordinate the dignified transportation of earthly remains.

For cremations, we coordinate with a local crematorium and provide funeral services at our location or a location of your choice.

Dedicated and caring team

We’re proud of our facilities and the physical comfort they provide our families, but we believe it is our people who make the real difference. Everyone on our large team is committed to helping families with respect, dignity and integrity.

The vast majority of our associates have their roots in Ontario, and we consider it an extreme honour to serve the community we love so dearly.

We also believe in continuing that service for years to come. That’s why we invest in internships with local students, training younger generations how to serve in a compassionate, dignified manner. This internship program also allows us to improve the community by keeping our most talented youth in Ontario.

Trusted funeral provider

As a member of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery providers we offer exclusive benefits, compassionate care and personalized service. Please call us for any reason. We are here for you day and night.

History

Arthur Funeral Home & Cremation Centre was the first of its kind in Sault Ste. Marie. It opened in 1938.

In years past, we also conducted ambulance services, but in modern times, we focus solely on providing high-quality funeral and memorial services.

Funeral home expansion

In the 1940s, we had a growing demand for space. We added an office, showroom and family room. We purchased a property west of our funeral home in 1948 to make accommodations specifically for Roman Catholic funerals.

In 1952, we constructed a new garage with an upstairs apartment for staff. We continued to expand west, moving our chapel to its current location, where we added an upstairs showroom and a covered drive. The old chapel was converted into a family room, and we added a large sitting room, washroom and solarium upstairs.

As the years progressed, we needed more parking. In 1991, we purchased the four properties adjacent to our location and created a large parking lot. During the construction, we made improvements to the pavement to make our facilities wheelchair accessible.

Construction continued in 1996 with an elevator, a second lounge and improvements to our chapel, including set pew seating.

In October 2017, with the closure of Barton & Kiteley Funeral Home on Brock Street, we chose to take the Arthur name in honour of the history of the two funeral homes operating together since the early 1980s, hence our new name: Arthur Funeral Home – Barton & Kiteley Chapel.

We care about Sault Ste. Marie

Our community involvement reaches approximately 100 areas with staff memberships in different service clubs and organizations. We not only work during normal business hours, we spend many hours out in the Sault Ste. Marie community and surrounding areas, supporting events, serving on boards and providing education. Our associates participate with the Masons, Eastern Star, YMCA, MS Society, Alzheimer’s Society and many others. 

Here are a few more ways we make a positive impact on the community:

We sponsor Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie, including the Rotaryfest, Easter Seals Telethon and Thrive Child Development Centre.

For more than 20 years, we've decorated a Christmas tree to raise money for the Algoma Lung Association at its Festival of Trees. The decorated trees are auctioned off in late November, and each tree typically raises around $1,500 for the cause.

For Operation Christmas Child, we collect shoeboxes from community partners, businesses and schools with useful items to be given to less fortunate children, so those kids can celebrate the holidays.

We’re regulars at The Soo Sings for Kids. Each year, our team competes in a song and dance competition. The winner gets $5,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Our charity is the Jumpstart Charity via the Canadian Tire Association. We regularly place in the top three.

We have sponsored and participated in the Bon Soo Winter Carnival for many years.

We sponsor a program to help combat teenage drinking deaths with PARTY (Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth). The program sends guest speakers to high schools to promote its “contract for life” idea. Additionally, we participate and sponsor the Sweet Life Roadshow—an interactive experience to raise awareness among teens about road risks and show simple strategies for staying safe on the road.

We participate in the Lions Club Rose Day, delivering roses to nursing homes and other members of the community.

People on our staff also coach and help support local ringette teams. Our funeral home has sponsored Arthur’s Angels for more than 20 years.

We have had the privilege to sponsor a family suite at the new Usi Koti part of the Ontario Finnish Resthome. The suite gives family members a comfortable environment to stay near their loved ones for a visit or when attending to a loved one who has passed.

We are involved with the Military Support Group, assisting with bringing fallen servicemen and servicewomen home for final arrangements.

We also help with many other community programs: Gideons, 100 Women/Men Who Care, Algoma University, Community Living Algoma, Heart & Stroke, Cancer Society, Algoma Family Services, Cub Scouts, Soup Kitchen and others.

We’ve been a member of the Chamber of Commerce for more than 60 years.