Our History

V.J. McGillivray Funeral Homes, established in 1938, 
Glace Bay & New Waterford, N.S.  

Objectives

     •    Always improve the quality of service
     •    Give strong and concrete support to family members at all times and by all possible means
     •    Continuously renewing ourselves to provide a cutting-edge and cost-effective service

Left to Right: Len Leudy, Archie Dunlop, V.J. McGillivray 

Glace Bay Location, Circa 1958

Glace Bay Location, 2025

8 Ambulances the McGillivray family used between Glace Bay & New Waterford, Circa late 1970’s, early 1980’s

Basil McGillivray, New Waterford Location, Circa 1977

Basil & Vince Jr. New Waterford Location, Circa 1978

1936:  Vincent James  “V.J.” McGillivray left the coal mines of New Waterford & Glace Bay, Cape Breton in the early 1930’s to travel to Boston, USA where he attended and graduated from the Boston School of Anatomy & Embalming in 1936. 

It was agreed upon by mine manager Dave Morrison at the time, that McGillivray’s Job would be open in the mines if he did not like the funeral profession as a career. It is a matter of record that he dedicated his life to the profession and the rest is history.

In his younger years, V.J. was part of a group of musicians that played in Sydney, Glace Bay and New Waterford and he always had a love of Scottish and classical music. He composed  music that is still played and recorded to this day. He married the former Margaret “Peggy” Munro from Ayr, Scotland and they had six children. They resided in Glace Bay where V.J. managed that location. Len Leudy of New Waterford managed and worked in the New Waterford branch for more than 50 years.

1938: in 1938 V.J. McGillivray purchased F.M. Brown Funeral Homes on Brodie Avenue, Glace Bay &  Plummer Avenue, New Waterford, N.S. The new name of the funeral home was McGillivray & Dunlop Funeral Homes & Ambulance Service, the latter being Archie Dunlop (Coal Mine Official and brother-in-law of V.J.) During this period the local funeral homes provided ambulance service to their communities as they were the only one’s in town that had a vehicle with a stretcher and were on call 24 hrs, 7 days a week.

1951: In 1951 McGillivray bought out the shares of his brother-in-law, Archie Dunlop. The business was now named V.J. McGillivray Funeral Homes Ltd. and Ambulance Service.                                       

1972: Owner and founder V.J. McGillivray passes away in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Glace Bay. The second generation, his two sons, both licensed funeral directors & embalmers, Vince Jr. & Basil McGillivray assume the role of ownership.

1988: In 1988, after 50 years of service, the ambulance operation was closed in Glace Bay and in 1990 the New Waterford ambulance business was sold to Paul Ratchford of New Waterford, an employee of the firm.

2005:  On December 26th, 2005, Vince McGillivray Jr. succumbed to cancer and passed away at his residence in Glace Bay. Basil and Vince Jr. dedicated over 80 years of combined service to the communities.

2008: In July of 2008, the third generation of the McGillivray family, Basil R. and Kenny McGillivray purchased V.J. McGillivray Funeral Homes in Glace Bay & New Waterford. Both are licensed funeral directors and embalmers.

Basil R. and Kenny, sons of Basil Sr., are current owners and operators of the funeral homes and  vow to maintain a high level of professional commitment to the families and communities they serve. We are here to listen to your loved one’s story and the memories they left behind. From this, a meaningful service can be arranged to pay tribute to a life well lived.

Basil Sr. is still active in both funeral homes as licensed funeral director/embalmer and brings a wealth of knowledge to his field.