Brown Dawson Flick Funeral Home continues a legacy of providing care and comfort to those grieving a lost one
Emotions run high after the loss of a family member, making it challenging to make weighty financial and emotional decisions right after experiencing acute grief.
Brown Dawson Flick Funeral Home has earned its reputation both within Hamilton and beyond by offering the kind of care and consideration that families need when they are facing some of the hardest days of their lives.
The company is almost 100 years old, since it was started by John Dawson in the 1920s. Well-known family members George R. Brown Sr., Mary Brown, and their son George “Bud” Brown II carried on the legacy and gained a reputation for attentive service throughout the following decades. Brian Flick joined the team in 1994 and stepped up to purchase the company in 2011 upon Bud’s retirement.
“Bud’s reputation is sterling around here, and people love Bud and Marie,” says Brian Flick, owner of Brown Dawson Flick Funeral Home.
Being a funeral director requires many things: patience and empathy with those who are grieving, a willingness to be on call and set aside personal priorities when a need arises, and a clear knowledge of what options are available for families.
“You can’t look at it as a job, it’s really a vocation,” says Michael Gedert, a funeral director at Brown Dawson Flick. “You have to want to be there for the families, and it becomes a part of your life.”
Funeral directors also educate the community about the ways that their decisions now can impact their beloved family when they pass away.
“We want to help the public be educated so they know how to get through end-of-life scenarios,” says Gedert. “Any preparation at all makes it that much easier. Making these decisions before emotions are involved can really help – I’ve had people tell me that I made it so much easier than they thought.”
Brown Dawson Flick staff work to help those who are making end-of-life plans. There can be some financial advantages to planning and paying ahead, though you do not have to pay ahead of time if you just want to plan.
Secondly, however, it can be a comfort to your loved ones if they know that your service and other choices happen exactly the way you wished.
“When a pre-arrangement is in place, guaranteed into the future, it allows the grieving family members to do what’s important after a death, which is being with each other,” says Gedert.
David Grubb, General Manager and Funeral Director at Brown Dawson Flick, points out that their many decades of service to the community also involves supporting local non-profits and organizations.
“We’ve supported little leagues, the YMCA and YWCA, the Fitton Center, the Hamilton Joes,” he says. “We try to volunteer where we can, and we want to be part of the community-driven support of all that is happening in Hamilton.”
With a staff of 17 who mostly live in Hamilton, Brown Dawson Flick is a robust team that can help in a variety of circumstances. They were able to handle the challenges of COVID-19, abiding by the regulations put in place to keep families safe, while ramping up features like livestreaming of funeral services in order to help provide closure to those who couldn’t join a service in person.
“Our motto is ‘serving families when it matters most,’” says Grubb. “We want to live up to that motto.”
To get to know how Brown Dawson Flick Funeral Home can help you prepare a valuable plan to ease your family’s future experience, visit their website today at browndawsonflick.com