Our Staff

Alexander & Kayla & Aiden & Nico Van Geest

Owners

Alexander Van Geest

Owner, Funeral Director & Embalmer

It is with great pleasure to announce that we, Alex and Kayla Van Geest, have purchased B. Wilson’s Funeral Chapels. It is our goal to bring professional, meaningful services to Lacombe and the surrounding communities with honesty, integrity and hard work.

Alex and Kayla have been married since 2016 and have been blessed with their first child, Aiden J. in January 2018, and their second Child Nico A. in January 2020.

Alex and Kayla both have deep roots in the farming communities with Kayla still farming alongside her family in the Lacombe area and Alex growing up on a cattle farm in Taber, Alberta.  Alex and Kayla attend Woody Nook Christian Reformed Church where Alex volunteers in many ways one being a Youth Elder.  Both Alex and Kayla were born in Canada and are from recent Dutch immigrant families. This has instilled a great value on building relationships within community and therefore our neighbors are now our family, and as such we want to treat all who come through our doors as family. 

Our two main goals are to provide a level of service that we are proud to put our names behind. This means having empathy toward families, understanding their situations and working to provide exactly what they are in need of.  Second, to invest back into our community.  We want to create relationships through being involved and supporting local.  These relationships in the community are the best way to understand the needs bereaved families have within Central Alberta. 

 With the upmost appreciation we want to thank those families who B. Wilson’s Funeral Chapel has already served and to those we may serve in the future. We want to continue to serve the families of Central Alberta and earn their respect.

Family Focused, Remembering Those We Love

Thank You

Alex and Kayla Van Geest (Ekkel)

Maryann Hansen

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Maryann was raised in Calgary, Alberta where she received all her schooling within the Calgary Catholic School District.  After completion of Senior High School, she started her career in Personnel & Management.  She received her Personnel Management Certification from the University of Calgary. 

She entered her second career at 30 years old with McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes in 1987, a career she had been passionate about since Junior High School.  She graduated from the Alberta School of Mortuary Science as a Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in 1990, and moved to Central Alberta with her career in 1992 where she has remained since. 

While working 31 years within the Funeral Industry in Red Deer and area, both full time and contract, she has taken several courses with Red Deer College in the Leadership & Management Program as well receiving the Highest Award of Achievement with Dale Carnegie and a Long Service Award with the Alberta Funeral Service Association. 

Maryann started with Wilson’s Funeral Chapel and Crematorium in August of 2018 and has fallen in love with the community, its Sense of Pride, Value of History and Compassion it has for each other.  She is very excited to be part of the Wilson’s Team, working with colleagues and sharing her 31 years of experience. 

In her spare time Maryann is busy on her acreage surrounded by her gardens and animals, and helping her husband, Dwayne, with their home-based Construction company. 

Lynn Engel

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Lynn was born and raised in Stettler, Ab and started with Funeral Service in 1983 in East Central Alberta working as a Bookkeeper, Funeral Attendant and helping with the Ambulance side of the Funeral Business.  She started her apprenticeship in 1991 and graduated from the Alberta School of Mortuary Science in 1993.  Lynn and her husband Allan, have two children and live in the Nevis / Erskine area.

Ashley Brown

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Ashley was born and raised on the shores of Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie, Ontario.  She completed her Honours Bachelor of Science at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, specializing in Anatomy and Microbiology, before attending Law School at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton.  She moved west in 2008 and found her forever home in Central Alberta.

In 2011, Ashley took advantage of a job opportunity in the funeral industry and immediately knew she had found her calling.  She attended Mount Royal University, obtaining her Funeral Service Diploma and became a licensed Funeral Director & Embalmer.  She was awarded the Dodge Top Embalmer Award for her graduating class.

Ashley has had the privilege of working as a funeral director in many different communities around Alberta - large and small - and even spent a year as a licensed funeral director in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ross Funk

Embalmer

Ross was born in Whitecourt, Alberta and moved to Red Deer, Alberta to attend high school. After high school he worked briefly with The New Apostolic Church becoming a Deacon. His funeral career began in 2013, where he found his true calling caring for the Deceased. He attended Canadian College of Funeral Service, and became a licensed Embalmer in 2017. He is very excited to be apart of the Wilson's Team, working with colleagues and getting to serve the community.

Jack Dening

Funeral Attendant

Jack was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. After he married his highschool sweetheart, they moved to Lacombe area to raise their family.  He dedicated his career to agriculture related businesses for 40 years. Jack was on track to settle into retirement when the opportunity to join the Wilson's Family came up in January 2019 and he has not looked back since. 

When Jack is not working, he is busy with his wife, 5 children and 7 grandchildren.  He is an active member in his community and church, and loves to spend time curling and participating in winter sports. 

Sheldon Thiem

Sheldon grew up in Lacombe, AB and graduated from the Lacombe Composite High School in 1989.  Apprenticing as a Funeral Director/Embalmer from 1992-1994, Sheldon graduated from the Alberta School of Mortuary Science in 1994 and was received the highest academic standing in the Province of Alberta.  Following his 20 years in funeral service in Calgary, Sheldon relocated back to Lacombe and joined the Wilson's family on a casual basis in December of 2012.  Apart from his full time position with the Railway, his passion for serving and caring for families in their time of sorrow will always remain a strong desire that he holds close to his heart.  Sheldon resides at Gull Lake and has a daughter, Kaylee.  Being an avid outdoorsman, Sheldon enjoys campfires, fishing, motorcycles, and sports such as hockey and football. 

Ralph Bochinski

After Care Specialist

Ralph was born and raised in Ontario. In 1987 he graduated with his bachelors degree in business administration and moved to Alberta that same year. Ralph managed the Adventist Book Center for a number of years.

Ralph started at Wilson’s Funeral Chapel in 1999 and worked as a funeral attendant and a prearrangement counselor until 2002. In 2008 Wilson’s Funeral Chapel welcomed Ralph back as our prearrangement counselor as well as to over see our aftercare program, which is offered to each family we have the honor of serving.

Ralph was married to Angela on May 23, 1999. They have a little boy, Cayden. He enjoys camping, quadding, auto body and spending time with his family.

Ralph is grateful to have the opportunity to assist families with both pre and post funeral care.

Kori-lyn Barry

Apprentice Funeral Director and Embalmer

Kori-lyn was raised in Kelowna, British Columbia and relocated to Central Alberta with her daughters in 2018. Previously, she worked within various wineries of the region before graduating from Okanagan College in 2016 with certifications in Accounting and Bookkeeping; she went on to work with an accounting firm, and eventually opened her own bookkeeping company in 2019. Although she found contentment in the business she grew, she knew for many years that her true passion lay in Funeral Service.

Kori-lyn began attending Mount Royal University in early 2023 working towards her dual license as a Funeral Director and Embalmer and began working with Wilson’s Funeral Chapel not long after as their First Year Apprentice. She is eager to advance her career and honored to serve her community.

When Kori-lyn is not busy with work or university she spends most of her free time with her teenage daughters, Lexxi & Karrah, adventuring their way through Central Alberta, making memories, and spending time with friends.