Tweet
Funeral service pioneer Ferdinand Madden Sr dies
Observer Reporter
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Ferdinand Leslie Madden Sr, the man who buried thousands of Jamaicans - many of them paupers - and who was widely regarded as the father of the modern funeral business, died peacefully at his Barbican, St Andrew home last Tuesday, relatives said. He was 81.
Madden, who had been ailing for 10 years, as a boy fresh out of St George's College in 1949, obeyed his father, Leslie Ferdinand Madden, founder of the Madden's Funeral Establishment, and put aside his own dreams of becoming a medical doctor to learn embalming, restorative art and general funeral management at the American Academy McAllister Institute in New York.
With his training he was able to transform the rudimentary burial business that his father operated in the heart of poverty-ridden West Kingston, into an empire that today covers final care services, caskets, burial spots, embalming, cosmetics, floral arrangements, cremation and the like.
After his father died in 1966, he took over the helm of the Madden business, becoming a "Jack-of-all-trades" as driver of the hearse, embalmer and the operator of the workshop. He had the distinction of being one of the first black Jamaicans to obtain a bank loan, which he invested in the business by modernising the equipment, replacing the old horse-drawn hearse and importing the first motor hearse in Jamaica.
Ferdinand Madden continued his father's well-known practice of contributing to the well-being of the people who were eking out an existence in the gut-wrenching poverty that was a feature of life in the sprawling slums of Kingston's west end.
He developed a relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, which remained just as strong today as the company continues to assist with burials for persons who died in the care of homes for the elderly run by the Church.
Madden was one of the most dedicated members of the Mechanics Lodge, rising to become Grand District Councillor in the Mechanics Order Mystic Rose Lodge, and did the unconventional by getting the lodge to hold a service in a Roman Catholic Church. This is a tradition that was unheard of in Lodge circles.
His dexterity with the violin and membership in the Jamaica Philharmonic Orchestra led to his founding the Madden's Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a past president of St George's Old Boys Association, which honoured him in November 2003.
Madden is survived by his wife, Inez Madden nee Smith, and 10 children: Ruel, Ferdinand Jr, Francis, Fabian, Paul, Patricia, Angela, Marcia, Christine, and Jacqueline.
Ferdinand Leslie Madden will be buried at the Dovecot Memorial Park, St Catherine on Thursday, April 6, following funeral services at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, North Street in Kingston.
Observer Reporter
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Ferdinand Leslie Madden Sr, the man who buried thousands of Jamaicans - many of them paupers - and who was widely regarded as the father of the modern funeral business, died peacefully at his Barbican, St Andrew home last Tuesday, relatives said. He was 81.
Madden, who had been ailing for 10 years, as a boy fresh out of St George's College in 1949, obeyed his father, Leslie Ferdinand Madden, founder of the Madden's Funeral Establishment, and put aside his own dreams of becoming a medical doctor to learn embalming, restorative art and general funeral management at the American Academy McAllister Institute in New York.
With his training he was able to transform the rudimentary burial business that his father operated in the heart of poverty-ridden West Kingston, into an empire that today covers final care services, caskets, burial spots, embalming, cosmetics, floral arrangements, cremation and the like.
After his father died in 1966, he took over the helm of the Madden business, becoming a "Jack-of-all-trades" as driver of the hearse, embalmer and the operator of the workshop. He had the distinction of being one of the first black Jamaicans to obtain a bank loan, which he invested in the business by modernising the equipment, replacing the old horse-drawn hearse and importing the first motor hearse in Jamaica.
Ferdinand Madden continued his father's well-known practice of contributing to the well-being of the people who were eking out an existence in the gut-wrenching poverty that was a feature of life in the sprawling slums of Kingston's west end.
He developed a relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, which remained just as strong today as the company continues to assist with burials for persons who died in the care of homes for the elderly run by the Church.
Madden was one of the most dedicated members of the Mechanics Lodge, rising to become Grand District Councillor in the Mechanics Order Mystic Rose Lodge, and did the unconventional by getting the lodge to hold a service in a Roman Catholic Church. This is a tradition that was unheard of in Lodge circles.
His dexterity with the violin and membership in the Jamaica Philharmonic Orchestra led to his founding the Madden's Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a past president of St George's Old Boys Association, which honoured him in November 2003.
Madden is survived by his wife, Inez Madden nee Smith, and 10 children: Ruel, Ferdinand Jr, Francis, Fabian, Paul, Patricia, Angela, Marcia, Christine, and Jacqueline.
Ferdinand Leslie Madden will be buried at the Dovecot Memorial Park, St Catherine on Thursday, April 6, following funeral services at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, North Street in Kingston.
Comment