Staff
Staff
Our dedicated staff members are here to provide support, compassion, and information to help you through your journey of grief and the celebration of your loved one’s life.
Jeff & Kathryn Hoyt
Serving grieving families has been an interest of proprietor Jeff Hoyt’s for a long time. Close family friends owned funeral homes that he often visited as a young child; then job shadowing at a Beaverton mortuary in high school sparked his interest again. Jeff decided to pursue a career in the funeral industry while studying premed at the University of Oregon in the late 70’s. He apprenticed at the Beaverton mortuary – Pegg, Paxson, and Spring Chapel – before attending the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science.
After earning his license, Jeff worked at the funeral homes he knew from his youth in Puyallup, Washington. Returning to Oregon, he managed the Fuiten Mortuaries before purchasing the Forest Grove and Vernonia Chapels in 1992. He bought the Forest Grove Memorial Chapel four years later.
Jeff is a member of the Forest Grove Rotary Club and the Forest Grove Elks Lodge.
Jeff’s wife, Kathryn, was born and raised in Minnesota. She moved to Oregon after living in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Phoenix. After working in Human Resources for twenty-five years, Kathryn works for the funeral homes. The couple’s pastimes include kayaking, paddleboarding, and caring for their dog Roma and birds Peppa and Oscar.
Chris, Jeff’s oldest son has decided after working in the funeral business for many years, to pursue other career avenues. Greg is following his father’s career path, having completed the Mortuary Science Program at Mt. Hood Community College and is a fully licensed Funeral Director working in Sonora, California.
Tyler Epperly
Tyler Epperly was born in Portland but lived in Oregon City throughout his youth until moving to Portland with his parents in his early teens. Tyler lived and worked various jobs in Portland until meeting his future wife, Kelela Epperly, on the job in 2007. Fueled by the desire to build a good life for his wife and himself, Tyler made the life changing choice to go back to school and get his degree. He attended Mt. Hood Community College and graduated from the Funeral Service program in 2011. After finishing school Tyler worked for Portland Cremation Center and had the pleasure of working with many funeral directors in Portland and the surrounding cities from Estacada, Oregon to Longview, Washington and many places in between. Tyler and his wife settled in St. Helens in late 2014. He apprenticed under several well established funeral directors before becoming fully licensed in early 2014. Tyler is looking forward to serving the residents of Forest Grove and being a part of such a wonderful community.
Rob McNeilly
Rob McNeilly was born in Spokane, Washington and raised on a cattle ranch near Davenport, Washington. He graduated from high school in 1974. A short time later he began working at Strate Funeral Home in Davenport. He began his apprenticeship with Strate, working between there and Riplinger Funeral Home in Spokane, where he also attended college.
He moved to Portland, Oregon in 1978 where he attended and graduated from Mt. Hood College of Mortuary Science. In 1979 he became a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer. He began working for Fuiten Mortuary Chapel in the fall of 1979, later becoming Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home and Forest Grove Memorial Chapel. Rob has served families in Western Washington County throughout this time.
He married Lisa Sherman in May of 1985. Rob and his wife Lisa have four adult children, Sarah, Jack, Joe and Sam McNeilly, and four grandchildren.
Rob is a member and past president of the Cornelius Eagles #4177, Rocky Mountain Elk foundation, and Life Endowment member of the NRA.
Rob enjoys fishing, hunting, and cooking.
Lani Vandehey
Lani Vandehey grew up in the Portland area and graduated from Beaverton High School. She was united in marriage to Earl Vandehey and they became parents to 7 children. She and Earl moved to a 50 acre farm in Vernonia in 1975 and became an active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. in 1990 she was given the position of Pastoral Associate for the community. After the youngest of their children went to college, in 2002 she and Earl moved to Forest Grove and she was hired as the Pastoral Associate for St. Anthony's. She served until 2015 when she retired.
Lani had a long admired the thoughtful, caring service that Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt gave to families in their time of grief and was pleased when she was welcomed to the staff.
Since she was widowed in 2019 she stays active with her volunteering with Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Verboort, her Airbnb house, gardening, spending time with her grandchildren and outings in her tiny convertible.
Dan Raney
Dan graduated from Milwaukie High School and joined the Army the summer of 1966. He worked as a Pathology Assistant and Laboratory Technician while serving in Vietnam and Germany until his discharge in 1972.
He served an apprenticeship at Donelson, Sewell and Matthews Mortuary in Hillsboro while attending Mt. Hood Community College. He received his Oregon State and National Board Certificate of Funeral Directors and Embalmers License in August of 1976 and continued working at Donelson, Sewell and Matthews Mortuary. After working at several funeral home in Washington County he went to work at Fuiten, Rose and Hoyt Funeral Home in 2005. He enjoyed working with and serving families at a time of their deepest need.
He's a past member of the Hillsboro Kiwanis Club and served as President and Lt. Governor of Division 64. He is also a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Cornelius and serves as an Elder.
He is married to his lovely wife Cynthia and together they have five Sons and Daughters-in-law, and eight grand children and several siblings.
Terry Crovo
Terry has over 25 years of experience serving families in the funeral industry. He was born in Santa Cruz, California, after pursuing careers in Hospitality and Department Store retail and a great need to serve others, Terry found his calling when accepting a position with a long-standing family owned funeral home in Modesto, California. Starting his apprenticeship in 1998, and later became licensed as a Funeral Director in 1999. In 2001, Terry returned to his hometown of Santa Cruz to work for local owned family funeral home, serving his community, close friends and family. Moving to Coos Bay in 2018 and working for a local funeral home, Terry secured his Funeral Practitioner’s License and Insurance License. He later found Forest Grove, and it reminded him so much of his hometown growing up, he decided to make Forest Grove his new home and accepted a position with Fuiten, Rose and Hoyt Funeral Home in September of 2019 as the Preplanning Specialist.
Terry has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for over 30 years, recently transferring to the Hillsboro Council 1634.
In his spare time, Terry enjoys spending time with his family, especially his two grandchildren, gardening, traveling, and visiting the Oregon Coast.
With his over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of Funeral Service, Terry is committed to helping all families heal through completing an intentional plan for one of the hardest days in their loved one’s lives. Please let him know how he can help.
Jodi Applegate
Jodi was born in The Dalles, Oregon. She grew up in Central Oregon. After graduating from Redmond High school in 1985, she moved to the Portland area. Jodi attended Mt. Hood Community College. She has been working in the medical field for over 20 years.She is a proud parent to her daughter Alexandria "Lexi" and her son Zackery "Zack". Jodi is an American Indian, her heritage being Seneca-Cayuga and Cherokee. Jodi's hobbies are road cycling, running marathons, and cooking "country style".
Raymond “Ray” Pelster
Ray was born in Forest Grove, Oregon and was raised and received his education in Vernonia, Oregon.
He graduated from barber college in 1961 and has been a barber in Vernonia for thirty-six years.
He is a Vietnam War Veteran and a member of the American Legion, where he is the Chaplain of Post #119.
He is an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, where he sings with the choir.
Ray has some hobbies, but are mostly work related; small jobs with his Kubota, mowing lawns and anything he can do at the funeral home, where he has been for the last thirty-five years.
He likes to travel, but more than that, he loves time with his large family, of which he is the oldest of nine. He has six sisters and one living brother, and a deceased brother Emil.
Margie Hoag
Margie grew up in a large family in Burns, Oregon, where she loved to hunt, fish, and play multiple sports for the Burns Hilanders. She went to beauty school in Corvallis after graduating from high school and enjoyed watching the Oregon State Beavers and the “Orange Express” era of Beaver basketball. Sports kept calling her name, and at age 20 she went to Mt. Hood Community College to get her chance to play college basketball. She continued with the sports theme by becoming a high school and college volleyball official for 25 years.
She moved to Hillsboro, Margie met her husband, Pete. They are married and have 2 children. Sports kept her busy with her kids enjoying volleyball, basketball and track & field.
She loves to travel, watch college volleyball, go to George Strait concerts, and visit friends and family in eastern Oregon, because she’ll always be a country girl at heart.
Contact Information
Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home & Crematory
2308 Pacific Avenue
Forest Grove, OR 97116
Phone: (503) 357-2161
Our Guarantee
The caring and experienced professionals at Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home & Crematory are here to support you through this difficult time. We offer a range of personalized services to suit your family’s wishes and requirements. You can count on us to help you plan a personal, lasting tribute to your loved one. And, we’ll carefully guide you through the many decisions that must be made during this challenging time.
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