Member Spotlight Member Spotlight Spotlight on Nelson Bros. Funeral Services – Port Melbourne, Australia Adrian Nelson is the CEO of Nelson Bros. Funeral Services in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He shared his experiences with running a successful funeral home that has been around since the 1850s. How was your funeral home founded, and how does it operate today? Our family business started in the 1850s in a small mining town during the Victorian gold rush by my great-great grandfather. He ran a general store and was a cabinet maker, and thus also a coffin maker. Over 160 years later, we have grown to a thriving business with five funeral homes across the city of Melbourne, which has a population of over 5 million. families. The gratitude and thanks we receive from them is a wonderful reward. What makes your funeral home unique? An obvious distinction of our funeral home is our fleet of black Rolls Royce hearses and coaches. We have the only Rolls Royce funeral fleet in Australia. Over time, whilst other funeral companies have moved away from tradition, we have embraced it, whilst at the same time celebrating and creating new traditions with families. Traditions and ceremony are integral to everything we do, and it is a joy to adapt them to be relevant to the families we serve. Nelson Bros. Funeral Services’ original location in Linton, Victoria, Australia (photo provided) Why do you believe funeral service is important? It helps people at their most difficult time. We continue to see the positive impact and importance of rituals and ceremony in helping families with their grief. What is the most rewarding part of working in funeral service? Witnessing first-hand the difference we make to 28 www.ogr.org | Spring 2021 Nelson Bros. Funeral Services has a fleet of Rolls Royce hearses and coaches. (photo provided)
29 Publizr Home