On September 1, 2005, Friends Funeral Service opened its doors in Winnipeg with two principle owners, Walter Klassen and Harry Froese, and then Harold Koslowsky joined the partnership that year. Klassen was a longtime funeral director and former owner of Klassen Funeral Home, an endeavor he began in 1970, where both Froese and Koslowsky worked. Not only are the three friends, they are also family. Froese and Koslowsky are married to Klassen's nieces.
"So we blame him (Klassen) for what we've got into," laughs Froese. "We worked together for almost 10 years and even then, a lot of people did not know that we were all related."
Since opening, four long-time staff members of Klassen Funeral Chapel, hostess Barbara Mueller, casual driver John Olfert and office administrator Betty Plett joined the partners.
Friends Funeral Service began in response to requests asking Walter Klassen to provide funeral services after he had retired from Klassen Funeral Chapel. He made arrangements with another funeral home that if family or close friends called, he would be able to use their facility to do the funeral. " Lo and behold, a family called."
The family was very pleased with the arrangement and word quickly spread that Klassen was still available to assist families in need. Harry Froese joined Klassen in assisting families, and a new partnership was realized.
"The interesting thing is that we did about 50 funerals without a name, without a building, without an address or phone number," said Klassen. Since they were not officially open for business, and were operating out of other funeral homes, they ran into a dilemma of how to advertise the funeral in the newspaper obituaries. They decided to keep it simple: 'Friends of the Family' in care of arrangements. Klassen said this really gained attention and they decided to use the name Friends Funeral Service once they became incorporated.
In May 2010, Walter Klassen retired from Friends Funeral Service, leaving the business fully in the hands of Harry Froese and Harold Koslowsky. In December 2018, Harold Koslowsky retired. Keeping it in the family, Harold's son Jotham Koslowsky and Harry's daughter Danielle Froese graduated from the Canadian College of Funeral Service in 2018 as licensed Funeral Directors.
In July 2022, the ownership of Friends Funeral Service transitioned to the third generation; Danielle Froese and Jotham Koslowsky, carrying on the values and traditions that Friends Funeral Service was founded on. Harry Froese continues to work full time.
Friends Funeral Service is independently owned by Danielle Froese and Jotham Koslowsky with a full complement of staff. We provide a full range of services including earth burials, cremation, memorial, inurnment and graveside services, and prearrangements.
We serve all churches and cemeteries.
Friends Funeral Service
2146 Main Street
Winnipeg, MB R2V 3S5
Fax: 204-339-5225
Email: info@friendsfs.ca