Thompson Funeral Directors is a well-known and respected Hokitika business with a long history of serving the community. First established in 1894, the company originally traded as Thompson and McMillan Ltd until 1913, when it was taken over by the Thompson family and became H A Thompson Ltd.
Fourth-generation funeral director Wayne Thompson and his wife Sylvia Thompson retired in 2023. To maintain West Coast ownership, the company was sold to Westland Funeral Services. Thompson Funeral Directors continues to provide the same professional care and attention that the Hokitika and South Westland communities have come to know and expect.
Kris Holland
Kris has served as a funeral director for nearly 30 years, providing compassionate care and support to families throughout the community. An experienced embalmer and skilled stonemason, Kris has dedicated his working life to helping others through difficult times with dignity and respect.
Kris is recognised for his long-standing service as a firefighter, earning a Gold Star for 25 years of commitment and dedication to the fire service. Alongside his funeral directing and embalming, Kris is an experienced stonemason, bringing additional craftsmanship and care to memorial and monumental services. His contribution to both his profession and the wider community reflects a lifetime of care and service.
Tom Newman
Tom is a funeral director and embalmer gaining his New Zealand embalming qualification in 2014, proudly serving families with compassion, professionalism, and care. Originally from Buckingham, England, Tom moved to New Zealand in 2007 and has gained valuable experience in several large funeral homes. As a member of the New Zealand Embalmers Association, Tom is committed to maintaining high professional standards within the funeral industry.
In 2024 Tom and his young family moved from Karamea to take up his role with Thompson Funeral Directors. He and his wife Mandy are raising two young children, and family remains at the heart of his values and approach to community service. Funeral service runs strongly in the Newman family, with Tom’s brother also a qualified embalmer.
The newly redecorated funeral chapel offers an intimate, warm, and peaceful setting for small funeral farewells, creating a comforting space for families and friends to gather and reflect. The chapel is equipped with state-of-the-art livestreaming capabilities, allowing loved ones who cannot attend in person to be part of the service from anywhere in the world. Visual tribute facilities and a revamped sound system further enhance each farewell, enabling families to personalise services in a meaningful and memorable way.
The comfortable and stylishly refurbished arrangement lounge and offices provide a welcoming environment where families can meet privately and make arrangements with care and support.
Thompson Funeral Directors also provides monumental masonry services throughout the Westland District, offering guidance with selecting new granite memorials, restoring existing family plots, and assisting with family history research and plot identification. A range of memorials on display in our showroom, along with examples of our craftsmanship, can be viewed in our gallery.
Serving families across the Westland District, we can also assist with repatriation arrangements both within New Zealand and internationally. Many Coasters travel away from Hokitika for medical care or relocate closer to family - we are experienced in helping bring your loved one home for burial or cremation.
The company is a proud member of the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) and operates in accordance with the Association’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
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.
