A Brief History of the Memorial and Funeral Society Movement
Pearl Davie
President, Federation of Ontario Memorial Societies
Many people have heard of Memorial Societies or Funeral Information Societies
but few are sure of just what the terms mean.
Memorial Societies began in the 1930's in the USA and were formed by people
who did not agree with the form the traditional funeral was taking, with increased
cosmetology, elaborate caskets, overabundance of flowers and resulting high costs.
These people felt that the public was often unaware that an alternative arrangement
could be made and felt that information and education was essential so that those
consumers who prefered a simple funeral arrangement could have one at moderate cost.
The idea spread and many memorial societies were formed in the USA and eventually
in Canda as well. All memorial societies are non-profit and primarily or entirely run
by volunteer boards of trustees and special committees. A very modest lifetime fee
(usually about $15) provides a member with considerable information on funerals and
alternatives, pre-arragement forms to plan a funeral and the annual news letter of that society
updating changes in the funeral industry.
A Brief History of the Funeral Information Society of Ottawa
Condensed from Eric Inch's "A Brief History of the Ottawa Memorial Society
The Ottawa Memorial Society officially began on April 15, 1958, When its organizational
meeting was held in the old Unitarian Church on Elgin Street with 57 persons in attendance.
An organizing committee, chaired by Ruth Cook, had been working for a year to lay the
groundwork.
The expressed purposes of the society included, in addition to those we still list in
our current aims, "to promote the establishment of a crematorium in Ottawa". Ross Colvin
was primarily responsible for this effort, and conducted a study which led him to
conclude that, because of Ottawa's relatively small population and a number of Roman Catholics
who, at that time, did not favor cremation, a crematorium would not be economically feasible
at that time. (One opened in 1962).
In his introductory remarks, Mr. Young, first president of the board, emphasized that the
Ottawa Memorial Society did not intend to perform the function of a Funeral Director,
nor to be a cut rate burial society, nor a Unitarian Memorial Society, nor an anti-Funeral
Director Society.
During the first year of operation , the board established working relations with 8 of the
12 Ottawa funeral homes. the board were invited to attend a meeting of the Ottawa
District Funeral Service Association to explain the purpose of the Society. The president of
this Association expressed the opinion that funeral directors were prepared to
cooperate with memorial societies. An illustration of the good relations which prevailed
was the fact that Joe Tubman was the guest speaker at the Annual Meeting in 1960.
It is important to remember that, until 1962, each North American Society was an isolated
entity. Much of the work of the Ottawa Board was in completing reciprocal membership
arrangements with 22 societies, including 6 in Canada.In 1961 there were discussions on possible
national and/or continental organizations, and in 1962 the Continental Association of
Funeral and Memorial Societies (CAFMS) was formed. The Ottwa Memorial Society (OMS)
was invited to join. But because the OMS had lifetime, rather then annual dues, the
OMS Board felt that membership in CAFMS was not practical.
The period from 1963 to the end of the decade was one of steady, if unspectecular,
growth and consolidation for the OMS. Support was provided to the Toronto society in its battle
to modify some of the more objectionable features of a proposed new "Embalmer and Funeral
Director Act" and to obtain the appointment of a non funeral director to the Board of
Administration.
OMS was incorporated provincially in 1968 and received charitable status at about the same
time. In 1971 the Canadian Memorial Societies formed the Memorial Society Association of Canada
(MSAC). Now, for the first time, all Canadian Memorial Societies, including OMS, were part of a
single national organization. This Association run into difficulties because of personality
conflicts but out of it grew the Federation of Ontario Memorial Societies (FOOMS), primarily
to provide a single voice to speak to the provincial government on behalf of all Ontario
Memorial Societies.
After a spurt of growth in 1971-72, when membership in OMS jumped from 1000 to 1850,
the remainder of the seventies was a period of consolidation and relatively little growth.
Our relations with funeral directors, which had been generally good for 20 years, soured suddenly
in 1978 and the number of cooperating homes dropped from 7 to 1. The only reason given was that
quoting prices to OMS might be construed as price advertising.These misunderstandings
gradually got resolved and today we have good relationships with all Ottawa funeral homes.
During the 1980 and 1990 growth has been slow and steady. At the annual Meeting in 1990 OMS
adopted its constition. In 1995 OMS lost its charitable status but FOOMS is trying to win it
back. In the year 2002 the membership roll stood at about
3000. In that same year at the annual meeting the the Board of Trustees recommended and the members
accepted that, OMS change its name to Funeral Information Society of Ottawa (FISO), in order
to reflect more accurately its functions.