Diane Shaw - Mortician

Previously I've been working at Dunedin Hospital for over 30 years in many different roles.  My final role with the DHB started over 20 years ago and was as the Charge Mortician in the hospital mortuary.  I loved this position as it was such an honour to be part of helping families get answers about their loved one's death through the postmortem examination. I was involved in forensic, paediatric and routine post mortems working with an awesome team of professionals. I gained my QTA certificates in 2001 and received an extra award for gaining the highest mark in New Zealand.

I found working with the deceased very peaceful and a huge privilege. Now working on the funeral side of the industry,I still feel the same. It is nice to be able to make the funeral side of things a little less daunting for our families. We are not the "suit and tie" type of funeral home, that option is already out there. We are a bit more relaxed but still care immensely about how we help the families that choose to come to us.  Here at Exit Funerals we treat all our deceased people as we would our own family members.  We are guided by what the family want to do for their loved one, and we aim to make this part of the process as easy as possible, but still with dignity, care and compassion.