Our Story

The history of the Castle business stretches back nearly as far as that of our associated firm Brenan’s. In fact, it appears the two firms may come from common roots.

Existing records indicate that from as early as 1920 and until 1943 a funeral home at 103 Prince Street West operated under the name W.E. Brenan & Sons. Later that year newspaper notices reflect that Byron J. Ross Funeral Home was operating from that same address. It was Mr. Ross who purchased the former Ready home on Lancaster Avenue and moved his business there in 1955.

W.E. (William) Brenan is thought to be the son of Nathaniel W. Brenan the founder (in 1872) of the firm that still carries his name. The Ross business would be taken over by an employee, John Calvin who operated it for more than a decade with his cousin James before it was subsequently purchased by a group of local investors lead by Gilbert Boyce. This group would introduce the Castle name that has been associated with the business for nearly 50 years now.

In 1976 three funeral directors employed with the firm would take the reins. Ian Macarthur, Stephen Ritchie and Gary Waycott would guide Castle for the next decade before entering into a partnership and later selling the business to Arbor Memorial.

On April 22, 2021 the Castle story came full circle when the landmark business was acquired by Brenan's Funeral Homes and returned to local family ownership.