About Us

It was 1930 when Harold and Margaret Waldo founded Forest Lake Greenhouse. In 1976, Waldo’s daughter Sandie and husband Mick Roberts purchased the store from Harold and Margaret. As the area grew, so did the interest in the business of the Roberts Brothers – Blake, Corey and Kelly Roberts. In 2000, Forest Lake Floral transitioned into the third generation of family ownership.

As the Forest Lake Area saw dramatic growth in the last ten years, the Roberts Brothers began to explore the idea of building a locally owned funeral home to serve Forest Lake and the surrounding communities. Under the direction of Kelly Roberts and Funeral Director Kari Eckert, Roberts-Eckert Funeral Home opened in August of 2005 offering complete funeral and cremation care in a new, first class facility. In late 2006, licensed Funeral Director, Tim Tarmann joined the staff at the funeral home. Tim comes with 25 years experience in the funeral industry and is now leading Roberts Family Funeral Home as the only 100% locally owned and operated funeral home serving Forest Lake and its surrounding communities.

 

Kelly Roberts Owner/Operator Kelly was born and raised in the community he still calls home today. After graduating from Forest Lake High School in 1991 and earning an Associates Degree in business, Kelly joined his family in operating Forest Lake Floral and Garden Center. Kelly is a Certified Funeral Celebrant, a graduate of the Academy of Advanced Funeral Planning, and a Licensed Life Insurance Agent.  Kelly married his high school sweetheart Chaleece, and has two sons, Coleten and Landen, and daughter Olivia.  They are life long members of Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake, and Kelly is member of the Scandia-Marine Lions Club and the Forest Lake Rotary.If you have any questions please contact Kelly at the funeral home or at [email protected]

Tim Tarmann Funeral Director  Tim grew up in Toluca, Illinois, a small community in central Illinois where he was first exposed to funeral service by mowing the yard at the local mortuary. As he became more comfortable around the funeral home, he began asking lots of questions about a mortician’s responsibilities and educational requirements. At the age of 13, Tim decided to become a funeral director because he wanted to be helpful to people during a difficult time and he saw this as an opportunity to minister to people.Tim graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Mortuary Science in 1982. He has worked in mortuaries in Minneapolis, Faribault, and Cambridge from 1982 to 1991. In 1991, he left funeral service to work with his wife, Darla, in a family business and had the opportunity to be highly involved in raising their two children.In March 2002, Tim took a class on Spiritual and Personal Gifts and learned that his passion for funeral service should be re-addressed and within months he began working again as a mortician in St. Paul and Shoreview.

In November 2006, Tim joined the Roberts at Roberts Family Funeral Home. While working here in Forest Lake, he has been pleased to host an annual Valentine’s Day Luncheon for folks who have lost their sweethearts, help co-ordinate several “Blessings of the Animalsâ€, and speak to Forest Lake High School students about funerals. Tim is always willing to listen, answer questions about the choices in funeral and cremation services and offer unique ideas to personalize a service. His personal mission is to always treat each family he serves with the greatest dignity, kindness and understanding.

Tim and his wife, Darla currently make their home near Cambridge. Their daughter, Jennith and her husband, Joe live in Vadnais Heights and Dane, their son, enjoys living in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Darla and Tim enjoy entertaining in their home, spending time together, traveling and relaxing with friends. Tim and Darla are members of Eagle Brook Church where you will often find them ushering at the Lino Lakes Campus.

Marlene Keyser Funeral Celebrant The idea of training and certifying funeral celebrants is relatively new. Doug Manning, who is a retired pastor and nationally known expert on grief, felt that many grieving families were not receiving the type of closure that a quality, personalized memorial service for a loved one can provide. With about half of the population not actively involved or affiliated with a church or religious entity, he saw the need for someone to fill the role of creating and leading these services.Marlene Keyser has been a Certified Celebrant since June, 2005. Her professional career has been working in a Catholic church for fourteen years, and a local Lutheran church for the last ten years as a Church Business Administrator. A few years ago Marlene returned to Augsburg College to complete her degree in Religious Studies, and will graduate in 2007. Her interest in being a Certified Celebrant was fueled by encouragement of friends, family and funeral directors after the tragic death of her son in 2004. Marlene and her husband Joe live in Centerville and spend as much time as possible with daughter and son-in-law Maureen & Cullen Johnson, and grandchildren Cal and Gracie. They also enjoy traveling whenever they get a chance.

In Loving Memory of Bob Beattie Bob and his wife, Clarice, have been married for 56 years. They moved to Forest Lake in 1956. Bob was employed with NSP, which is now Xcel Energy, for 38 years. After he retired from NSP, he went to work for Forest Lake Floral as the delivery man. He delivered flowers for 15 years and now he is pretty much retired. Bob has also worked as a Funeral Assistant in Forest Lake for 20 years. Clarice and Bob have three children that have all graduated from Forest Lake High School. Their two sons have never been married. Their daughter is married and has one son and one daughter. She has worked in Forest Lake at G2 Dental for more than 25 years. Their church home has been Faith Lutheran Church for more than 43 years. Both Clarice and Bob are very active in the church.

John Westlund Funeral Assistant John and his wife, Nancy, have lived in Forest Lake for 46 years where they raised their three children; Ron, Carol and Jim, who attended Forest Lake Schools. Nancy and John have seven grandchildren – five granddaughters and two grandsons! John worked for Bell Telephone Company for 38 years and has been retired for almost 13 years. He was also a volunteer fireman for 20 years, now retired. John belongs to the Forest Lake Masonic Lodge. He and Nancy have been members of Faith Lutheran Church for more than 40 years. John has worked as a funeral assistant for about 9 years. Their grandchildren and church activities keep John and Nancy busy however, he appreciates helping Kelly and Tim at the funeral home when he is needed.

Janet Wiley Funeral Assistant Janet Wiley was born and raised in Forest Lake. She graduated from Macalester College and earned a masters degree from St. Thomas College. Janet and her husband, David, lived in New York and Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a short time and then returned to Forest Lake were Janet taught Business and was a Work Coordinator at Forest Lake High School for thirty-nine years. Currently, she is a substitute teacher at the school and also a hostess for a home builder. Janet and David have one daughter, Robin, who teaches early childhood in Forest Lake District, and they have three grandchildren. Janet enjoys traveling, walking, golfing, knitting, playing bridge, reading and being a mycologist. She has known the Roberts family for three generations and feels fortunate to be a part of this caring environment.