Thompson Funeral Directors is a well known and respected Hokitika company. It was first established in 1894 and traded as Thompson and McMillan Ltd until 1913 when it was taken over by the Thompson family to trade as H A Thompson Ltd. Offices and chapel are located at 88 Gibson Quay and we also have the only registered and licensed mortuary in the Westland District (Kumara to Haast).
Staff
A selection of memorials from our showroom and examples of what we can produce can be viewed at our gallery.
The Company is a member of the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand Inc (FDANZ
Serving the funeral needs of the Westland District, we are also able to assist families to repatriate their loved ones throughout New Zealand and internationally. With many people having to seek medical treatment away from Hokitika or moving to be with family in other parts of New Zealand, we can also assist in returning loved ones home for burial or cremation.
Thompson’s have the facilities and resources to provide a comprehensive and professional service.
Our Community
Two headstones smashed by vandals at the Hokitika Cemetery have been replaced free of charge by Thompson Monumental Masons. Just who was responsible for the upkeep and repair of the old headstones was bandied around at a Westland District Council meeting earlier this year after it was decided that finding any descendants was highly unlikely.
However, last month Thompson Monumental Mason’s offered to repair the two headstones – more than $1,500 each – as a community gesture. Funeral director Wayne Thompson said a lot of research had gone into the old monuments. The correct locations of the plots where Sarah Ward and Patrick Halligan had been laid to rest many years ago were also found. The old headstones had been shifted in a big cleanup of the cemetery in the 1970s. Sarah Ward’s sandstone memorial was smashed beyond repair.
“We had a similar style of granite headstone in stock, which we engraved the original inscription on to and the memorial was then erected in the correct location, about 60m away.”
Meanwhile, Patrick Halligans marble memorial, which was broken in half, was pinned and fixed back together and also relocated to its rightful spot, about the same distance away in another direction.
Westland Mayor Maureen Pugh thanked Thompson Monumental Masons, says the repaired headstones would make a significant and positive difference to the presentation of the cemetery and restore respect due to those buried there.
