Our Team
Each of our staff members is committed to providing your family with the finest in personal care. It is comforting for area families to know that we are available to help at any time of the day or night.
John Cunningham
President & Managing Director
Email: John@CommunityAlternative.ca
John Cunningham has been an Ontario Funeral Director – Class 1 since 1985. He is the Owner and Managing Funeral Director of Community Alternative Funeral Home, and Ashburnham Funeral Home. He is also the founder and owner of Kawartha Aquamation, all located in Peterborough.
John’s father’s family settled in the Warsaw area in 1831 and his mother’s family has been providing funeral services to Ontarians for 5 generations. John earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Diploma with Honours in Funeral Service Education from Humber College. In April of 2014, John became one of a very few funeral directors in Canada to earn the designation of Certified Funeral Service Practitioner.
John currently serves as the President of the Ontario Funeral Service Association. He is the Chair of the Bereavement Authority of Ontario Aquamation sub-committee, and is a Charter member of 100 Men of Peterborough charity where he served on the Steering Committee for several years. He is a Past President of the Bay of Quinte Funeral Service Association, a Past Chair of Guaranteed Funeral Deposits of Canada, and has been a member of the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce since 2004. He is current Board member of Show Place Performance Centre in Peterborough, is a member of the Peterborough Estate Planning Council, the Bereavement Ontario Network, and serves on the Marketing Committee of Mapleridge Activity Centre.
Volunteer activities have included Rotary, Caring in Action, James Strath School Council, and Activity Haven. John speaks to many groups throughout the year about various topics relating to funeral service and Aquamation.
In October 2023, John was named the Peterborough + Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce Business Citizen of the Year. In 2024 he was inducted into the Junior Achievement Northern and Eastern Ontario Business Hall of Fame. In March of 2025, John was awarded the King Charles Coronation Medal for contributions to his community.
In his spare time, John plays tuba with the Peterborough Concert Band, and Vintage Brass Quintet.
Cindy Koshowski
General Manager, Funeral Pre Planner, Transfer Service Sales Representative and Funeral Celebrant
A life-long resident of Peterborough, Cindy has provided business & personnel management support to businesses in our community for over 26 years. Cindy is a graduate of the Funeral Services Education Transfer Service Sales Representative program as well as Funeral Pre Planner program from Humber College and Funeral Celebrant, by the Authority of Celebrating Life Ministries. Cindy is currently serving her 2nd year as the Treasurer for the Women's Business Network of Peterborough and has been a member of the 100 Women of Peterborough for 3 years. In her personal life Cindy has spent many years volunteering with local youth sports teams, cycling, gardening, cooking, travelling and spending time with her family.
Gary Stewart
Funeral Director - Emeritus
Gary earned his Funeral Director's License in 1960 and spent the early part of his career as a funeral director in the City of Peterborough. Gary went on to a very successful career in private business as the founder of Stewart Travel. He served as Peterborough County Warden for three terms, followed by two terms as MPP for Peterborough Riding and Cabinet Minister in the Ontario Government.
In addition to serving families in need at Ashburnham Funeral Home & Reception Centre, Gary is very active in our community. Gary is celebrating his 65th year as a Funeral Director and is in his 20th year of providing unwavering commitment to our families and communities. Gary is not only a mentor to all staff, he brings strength, comradery and leadership to our team year after year!
Stuart Ridley
Funeral Director - Class 1
Stuart has been an Ontario licensed funeral director since 1994. He has served Ontario families for over 25 years with professionalism, integrity and respect. Stuart is honoured to serve the local Peterborough community. Having always worked with family owned firms, he is excited to work with his new family at Ashburnham and Community Alternative Funeral Homes.
Stuart is an avid hockey fan, having played, coached minor hockey for many years he is still playing now as an Oldtimer. He loves to explore the outdoors and can be found riding his motorcycle on off days now in the Kawartha region. Travel and scuba diving are also high on his activity list.
Victoria McAuley
Funeral Director - Class 1
Victoria graduated with honours from the Funeral Service Education: Funeral Director Class 1 program at Humber College. Raised in Palmerston and Waterloo, Ontario, she moved to Peterborough with her partner, Scott and dog, Groot in 2019. Before becoming a funeral director, Victoria completed a degree at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she was also the captain of their Varsity Swim Team. She then went on to complete a Social Service Worker diploma at Conestoga College. Victoria believes she has finally found the career for her – serving her community with compassion, professionalism, and integrity as a funeral director with Community Alternative and Ashburnham Funeral Homes. In her spare time, she enjoys doing crosswords, writing short stories, making various crafts, and DIY projects. In 2017, Scott and Victoria built their own cedar strip canoe, which they use when they go interior camping in Algonquin Park
Jessica Cerveny
Funeral Director - Class 1
In 2012 Jessica graduated from Humber College with her Class 1 Funeral Services Education diploma with Honours. She worked in Toronto at the Giffen-Mack Funeral Home while in school and then apprenticed at Ward Funeral Home in Brampton. The Ward Funeral Home family hired her as a full-time director, and she worked at all four of their chapels. Jessica also has a BSc. with Honours in Biological Anthropology from Trent University. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling internationally, riding her motorcycle, camping in her vintage trailer and living life to the fullest.
Nancy Ueckert
Funeral Director - Class 1
Biography to be updated
Patricia Schwass-Sheppard
Bookkeeper
Originally from Southwestern Ontario, Patricia brings over 25 years of finance and accounting experience to Ashburnham and Community Alternative. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier in Commerce, she returned to Lazaridis Business School in 2017 to study Social Enterprise at the post graduate level.
An enthusiastic equestrian, she is a founding member of a non-profit dedicated to providing lessons and experiences to children from all walks of life. Patricia is also a published author, her first book was released in 2019. She serves at the behest of local agricultural charities and is proudly a 4th generation Canadian farm owner.
Patricia resides in the Kawartha Lakes with her daughter, horse Leo and border collie Roxie, her spare time is spent volunteering at an equine rescue, hiking and reading.
Barry Johnson
Funeral Director Assistant
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Barry moved with his family to Peterborough. He met his wife-to-be, Cathy, at Adam Scott Vocational Institute. They have been happily married 40 years, and have three daughters, two son-in-laws and two grandchildren. After 39 years at Quaker Oats, Barry has enjoyed semi-retirement providing maintenance services and assisting the Funeral Directors at Ashburnham and Community Alternative Funeral Homes. Besides enjoying time with his family and dogs, he manages to squeeze in time for golf, fishing, baseball, water colour painting, drawing and playing the bass.
Tracey Ormond
Chef & Owner of That's A Wrap Catering
Receptions are becoming an increasingly important part of funerals and memorials. They are a time of fellowship and food shared amongst family and friends. Community Alternative Funeral & Cremation Services can provide reception services to accommodate any taste and budget. Tracey Ormond is our in-house Chef and is the owner and operator of That's A Wrap Catering Company. She was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario where she attended SSFC and Trent University. Tracey has over 20 years’ experience in the food and customer service industry. Her passion is taking care of people, and when she is not creating a beautiful display of food, you will find her preparing her specialty wraps for delivery all over Peterborough and surrounding area. Tracey is especially pleased to provide custom food orders for families at Community Alternative.
