Dean Brombal never forgot his home.
Whether it was moving to the big city to pursue a career as a funeral director, or even honing his craft in nearby Waterloo, the allure of coming back to Guelph always stuck out.
Now, the 49-year-old is back in his hometown, taking the reins at the newly-branded Brombal Funeral Home & Cremation Care at the corner of Delhi and Eramosa Road.
He becomes the sixth owner in the history of Guelph's longest serving funeral home, first established in 1932.
"I've always been connected (to) my city," Brombal, the president and managing director, told GuelphToday.
"But in terms of practicing as a funeral director, it was almost one of those things (where) it's gonna always just be just that little bit out of reach."
He said he was content working in a senior position at Erb & Good Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Waterloo. But he always wanted to have his kick at the can as an owner.
Last June, Brombal got the phone call he had been waiting decades for, from a man he's worked with in the past, retiring owner Cam Skipper.
"He was looking to sell his funeral home, and he had identified me as the person that he'd like to sell it to," Brombal said.
"I was pretty humbled. I don't think it even took me a blink to say 'absolutely, let's see what we can do to work on this.'"
After several months of work, the deal was done and Brombal moved back to Guelph with his family in February.
The Brombal name has been part of Guelph's business community for almost 70 years.
His dad Sidonio moved to Canada from northern Italy in the late 1950s, and founded Sidonio's Custom Men's Shoppe.
Dean's brothers Marc and Paul still own and operate Sidonio's and Art of Denim at Norfolk and Suffolk Street to this day.
But Dean? He wanted to find his own path.
"I would be daydreaming out the windows, and just watching, and I would see the funeral processions come and go into the Basilica, and it always struck an interest in me," he said, thinking back to his days as a student at Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School – when it was still on Norfolk Street.
"I liked the idea of ceremony, I liked those things. That's one thing that maybe I'd consider and it grew in me."
Brombal took that interest into a high school co-op placement, graduated from Humber College and became a licensed funeral director in 1996.
Since then, he's worked at large funeral homes in Ottawa and Toronto. But wanting to get out of the big cities, he started with Erb & Good and moved to Waterloo in 2002.
He got some experience in management, and saw the corporate side of funeral service along the way, setting the table for this latest venture.
"Over the years, Waterloo became home, became where I was," Brombal said. "But, trust me, every day I would read the obituaries from Guelph to see who had passed. I never forgot my local roots."
He said he's happy his parents got to see his dream become reality, and is able to support his wife and two teenage kids.
"It's nice because they're able to see their dad – they've heard forever what dad wanted to do – and they're enjoying it," Brombal said.
"Do I know if one of them will take the reins from me someday? I don't know that. But all I can do, like my dad did to me is, let me follow my dream. And if it means something else, that's fine.
"But it's kind of nice right now to have my son come in when he can to help around, and to just be with dad."
And as a reminder of Dean's roots, a painting of Caselle di Altivole, the little Italian village dad came from, hangs in a prominent spot at the funeral home, a housewarming gift from Sidonio himself.
Now, Dean is setting his own roots, not just as a business owner, but also a community member.
"Promotionally, (the) first thing I did was get my Storm tickets," the avid OHL fan said with a laugh.
Community is big for Brombal, and it's the feel he wants to bring by being hands-on with his business, and being involved day-to-day.
"Very few families that would come through here that wouldn't have some sort of interaction with me," he said.
So what can people expect?
"I think what families are going to see is an enhanced level of service," Brombal answered.
"A broadened amount of service, whether that be service, whether that be product option. There's going to be some new ideas that are going to be brought forward, and going to be implemented."
He said over time, they'll start looking at how to make and evolve the facility to make it as relevant as it can.
Putting cremation to the name is also by design, he said, adding 75 per cent of the families he serves select the option, when before it was considered a bad word.
Former owners Doug Gilchrist and Skipper are still involved too, and Brombal's competitors have even offered to help him get situated in what's been a lifelong goal.
"I guess I'm a living example of (how) sometimes dreams do come true," Brombal said. "(You) might just have to work at it a little bit longer, but there's possibilities in life for things to happen that you've always dreamed of."
And now that he is back, Brombal isn't going anywhere.
"This is my NHL," he said.
