Proudly family owned, family operated and family minded. DeStefano Funeral Home, owned by Steve and Sandy Horvath, operated by their daughter Adrienne Irvine and an amazing team committed to service excellence, is truly a Canadian family business. Born in Hungary, Steve came to Canada with a group of visitors for the Olympics in 1976.
It was at the end of his ten day stay that he decided to stay and make a life for himself in Canada. As an experienced business man, Steve knew that opening a new business would require hard work and dedication. Embracing long, healthy relationships with the community, the funeral home opens its space and has become a place where neighbours can gather - a place of learning and growth.
It was at the end of his ten day stay that he decided to stay and make a life for himself in Canada. As an experienced business man, Steve knew that opening a new business would require hard work and dedication. Embracing long, healthy relationships with the community, the funeral home opens its space and has become a place where neighbours can gather - a place of learning and growth.
Services
Since a very young age, Adrienne has always dreamed of being a funeral director and having her own funeral home. While attending Dunbarton High School, she completed her co-op placement at a local funeral home. She pursued her childhood dream and completed the Funeral Service Education Program at Humber College in 1996.
When she is not working or performing, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family and friends, cooking, and singing, of course! Joy and her husband Charlie have lived in the Durham area for over 11 years and have enjoyed meeting new people and exploring all that Durham has to offer. She is the mother of three children; Daniel, Rachel and Sarah, and is part of a very large extended family.
This note has taken far too long to be written. Every time I started it, it became either too long or too hard and I had to quit. I do need to tell you all how much your support and guidance meant to my daughter, Kristy; her husband, Bryon and myself. You touched us in a way that was so important, and your caring got us through those first days of horrific pain and confusion.
The weather is warming up and its that time of year again. 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. We do not solicit, and do not allow any other organizations to attend with intention of soliciting business. We are proud to be Sponsors of the Oshawa Seniors "Legends Show and Shine" - will be a fantastic day out in Early September.
Many people plan for life events such as weddings and vacations well in advance, but many people do not plan for something that is certain to happen, their funeral. While most people do not want to think about their own mortality, the time to pre-plan your funeral is now.
The primary advantages of prearranging your funeral is to relieve the burden on your loved ones in an already emotional time, and to ensure your funeral is carried out according to your wishes, eliminating the task of second-guessing what you would have wanted.Taking the time now to arrange your funeral is one less thing your loved ones will need to worry about once you've passed.
The primary advantages of prearranging your funeral is to relieve the burden on your loved ones in an already emotional time, and to ensure your funeral is carried out according to your wishes, eliminating the task of second-guessing what you would have wanted.Taking the time now to arrange your funeral is one less thing your loved ones will need to worry about once you've passed.
Reviews (16)
Hoppy T.
Dec 11, 2021
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On behalf of our grieving family, Amitha and I would like to offer our sincere thanks, appreciation and gratitude for the beautiful arrangements for our beloved mom Starling Hopman. From the moment we met with Graham and other members of this amazing funeral home and discussed arrangements for our moms funeral, we were made to feel like we were the only people that mattered.
The experience was nothing short of relaxed, ease and caring. Every detail was never too minute to change, adjust , add or remove several times. We felt relaxed and the genuine concern along with your professionalism during
The experience was nothing short of relaxed, ease and caring. Every detail was never too minute to change, adjust , add or remove several times. We felt relaxed and the genuine concern along with your professionalism during
Elaine Buker
Oct 22, 2021
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Dear Adrienne, Graham and the staff of De Stefano Funeral Home,
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude for the first-class services you provided for the matriarch of our family, Eulalia “Nanay Aling” Jimenez.
From the initial phone call, you were able to accommodate our every hope and wish for Nanay’s funeral. We came with a list of questions that were answered before we got a chance to ask them. Your staff is amazing, always offering kind words and warm smiles, even from behind their masks. Graham provided the right amount of respectful humour to lighten the mood whenever we had
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude for the first-class services you provided for the matriarch of our family, Eulalia “Nanay Aling” Jimenez.
From the initial phone call, you were able to accommodate our every hope and wish for Nanay’s funeral. We came with a list of questions that were answered before we got a chance to ask them. Your staff is amazing, always offering kind words and warm smiles, even from behind their masks. Graham provided the right amount of respectful humour to lighten the mood whenever we had
Janina Skomra
Sep 13, 2021
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Arlenne, Graham and entire DeStefano Funeral Home family.
Please accept our sincere gratitude for the way you executed Wladyslaw Skomra funeral from start to end. You exceeded our expectations. Arleene arranging funeral with you it was like dealing with my best sister. Graham, thanks for being so helpful. You are one humorous guy! Thanks for making us laugh. Thanks to everyone who helped. All of you made things so much easier in the time of our grief. We will not hesitate to recommend your company. God bless you all.
Sincerely: Janina Skomra with children and family.
Please accept our sincere gratitude for the way you executed Wladyslaw Skomra funeral from start to end. You exceeded our expectations. Arleene arranging funeral with you it was like dealing with my best sister. Graham, thanks for being so helpful. You are one humorous guy! Thanks for making us laugh. Thanks to everyone who helped. All of you made things so much easier in the time of our grief. We will not hesitate to recommend your company. God bless you all.
Sincerely: Janina Skomra with children and family.
Stephanie Saunders
Jul 29, 2021
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Graham and Adrian made my experience with laying my father to rest seamless; especially during such a difficult time. They were so accommodating of all request; big or small. The personal touches were above and beyond. Not to mention how compassionate they were. I've dealt with other funeral homes and not received the level of service that I received with DeStefano Funeral Home. Thank you for the support during such difficult time.
Renata Leonowicz
Mar 11, 2020
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Gracie Storto
Nov 30, 2019
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Losing someone you love is already hard enough, then factor in the cost of a funeral in addition to your loved ones wishes, and it makes one extremely stressful time. I can truly say that picking this funeral home for the second time now was the best decision our family could have made. Graham was attentive, kind, consoling, and he was there from the beginning right to the end making sure everything went perfectly, We truly don't know what we would have done without him. All the staff at DeStefano are truly amazing people, but Graham, well we just have no words for how great he is. Thank you team
Courtney Leanne
Sep 13, 2019
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Jeff Gibson
Aug 16, 2019
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At DeStefano’s Funeral Home, from the first greeting until the last good-bye our experience was incredible. Graham and his staff were warm, kind and professional. The offered us comfort and put us at ease at a very difficult time in our lives.
They quickly made us feel that they would help get us through all the arrangements that had to be made, which can be very over whelming. Graham listened to all our wishes for our Mother’s “Celebration of Life” and never once did he push anything different on us. He took control of everything, relieving us from a very large burden. Every wish was
They quickly made us feel that they would help get us through all the arrangements that had to be made, which can be very over whelming. Graham listened to all our wishes for our Mother’s “Celebration of Life” and never once did he push anything different on us. He took control of everything, relieving us from a very large burden. Every wish was
Ayanna Roberts
Oct 03, 2018
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Thank you so much to the DeStefano Funeral Home for their amazing support to my family following the death of my father. We'd especially like to thank Graham and Janice for going the extra mile to understand our special circumstance. Your compassion and empathy went a long way to making a difficult time much easier. The service for our father was memorable for all.
Sincerely, the Roberts sisters.
Sincerely, the Roberts sisters.
Glenn Traill
Sep 08, 2018
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We recently put my kid brother Rick Traill to rest after a battle with brain cancer. Our experience with Graham at De Stefano was a first class experience . You know when the family is grieving. It easy to get lost in the details. But De Stefano’s Expertise, compassionate, great staff, And organizational skills can actually make your day an… unbelievable event. They managed 300 people efficiently And professionally. They actually care about you, they get to know your family. We were blown away by their facilities and media capabilities including gotomeeting technology which allowed
Lynn Manerowski
Aug 26, 2018
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How could such a sad occassion, be made to be an exceptional one everything we wanted was looked after in great detail. My experience with all the staff was nothing but kindness, caring, and professional at the same time. Graham, Adrianne,Jan and Joan treated us so well, and were the people I contacted the most.
I have returned to DeStephano Funeral home after the funeral and the staff have made me feel that nothing is to much trouble to help me. Thank you to you all. Lynn Manerowski
I have returned to DeStephano Funeral home after the funeral and the staff have made me feel that nothing is to much trouble to help me. Thank you to you all. Lynn Manerowski
D. S.
Jun 30, 2018
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From our first meeting to the last detail of the Celebration of Life - every single aspect from service to atmosphere exceeded our expectations. Adrienne was extremely helpful, kind and compassionate. She guided us through our options and helped tailor our service to meet our needs. I would, without hesitation, highly recommend the Destefano Funeral Home. In addition, the overall costs were very reasonable and clearly presented to us with a variety of options to meet our budget. There was no high pressure to do this or do that, but rather a friendly, informed and straight-forward approach to accommodating
Anne O'Regan
Jan 05, 2018
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Amazing staff and owner funeral director Adrienne...I cannot express enough how professional and family oriented this place is when it comes to having funeral arrangements done of predominately women...my son… was so very well taken care of and so were my guests...the food during the wake was exceptional as well... Please consider this funeral home for your loved ones...it the right choice
Stephanie Briggs
Oct 15, 2017
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On Behalf of the Briggs Family especially my mother Shirley Briggs who had to say Goodbye to her son at 32 yrs...we would definitely recommend DeStefano Funeral Services. The staff was professional they allowed special arrangements for our families. They were considerate of our emotions..my Brother looked like he was resting...we had so many compliments from our friends and families of how peaceful and great he looked. Thank you!!!
Hilary Fraser
Jan 21, 2017
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After the death of my father, my entire family found DeStefano Funeral Home to be a most comforting, helpful, and caring host. They made sure that we were fully prepared for the service and visitations. Offering help in every aspect of the funeral process, we felt confident that everything was taken care of. Whether it was allowing us extra time, not pushing sales, and being understanding with our grief, they always made us feel like family. The food provided after the service was well liked and everything felt seamless. Adrienne was with us throughout the entire time and she ensured that the process
Ashwayne Barrett
Jul 09, 2015
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