Funerals during Covid-19: Local woman opens up about losing loved one during pandemic

In an effort to let others who have lost a loved one during Covid-19 know they are not alone, a Prince George woman is sharing her experience grieving the sudden death of a loved one during a pandemic.

Karla Seaward lost her father, Doug Seaward, to Parkinson’s and Lewy-Body Dementia earlier this month.

Due to current Covid-19 restrictions, Seaward’s extended family in the Maritimes were not able to make the trip and instead attended the funeral remotely.

“It’s been difficult that people can’t necessarily come and visit,” said Karla. “The hardest thing for me, I think, is it’s a really awkward time when you’re going through something like this and you can’t hug someone.”

“It’s missing that personal connection that you would have normally, having your whole family and friends in the house at the same time, sharing stories, and laughing and crying together. ”

Instead of closing the funeral off completely, the Salvation Army Church offered to stream the funeral on its website.

The Church has a current capacity limit of 50 people, so chairs were already set up in ‘bubbles’ of six or less, Karla explained.

“That was really helpful for us and really helpful for all of our extended friends and family back east,” she said. “Or even in Prince George. Like my dad’s coworkers, things like that, who didn’t feel comfortable, with COVID, coming to the church.”

Karla says having a large family spread across the country has been both a blessing and a curse during the pandemic.

“We had a really hard time saying ‘invite-only’ because we are Newfies, number one. We have a large amount of extended family and friends. My father also worked for CN Rail for over thirty years, here in Prince George,” said Karla.

“So he knew a lot of people,” she laughed. “We were quite nervous about having to turn people away.”

For others going through something similar, Karla says her biggest piece of advice is to connect with friends and family, no matter where they are, as much as possible.

“Whether it be through Zoom, or Facetime, whatever you can do,” she explained. “Try and keep that connection going as much as you can, because when you are going through a loss like this, you’re going to need to rely on those people.”

“When you can’t see them in person, or hug them, you need to do the next best thing.”