Mahone Funeral Home Limited

About

One can't travel the Lighthouse Route of Nova Scotia without stopping at Mahone Bay, where the architecture is a feast for the eyes and the three waterfront churches are among the most photographed scenes in the province. And a block or two from the waterfront at 32 Parish Street is Mahone Funeral Home, with a history dating back to 1883. Some say the Indians gave this town of eleven hundred its first name, "Mush-A-Mush". The French would later call it "Mahonne", a predecessor of the current name "Mahone".

The town was founded in 1754 and was once home to privateers who roamed the coast in search of booty. Grim reminders of the past are names like Murder Point, and a short distance away is Oak Island where the pirate Captain Kidd is reputed to have buried his treasure. The bay is one of Nova Scotia's sailing havens, with many inlets, coves and some 365 islands, all awaiting discovery. Each July the town celebrates its heritage of shipbuilding and sailing vessels with the Wooden Boat Festival.

It was in Mahone Bay that David Zink started an undertaking business in 1883, initially serving the area beginning at the historical fishing town of Lunenburg and extending along the coast to the retirement village of Chester. He died in 1934 and was succeeded by his son William who operated Zink's Undertaking Parlor and an ambulance service. Over the years the Zink family witnessed the change from horse-drawn hearse to motorized funeral coach. Upon William's death in 1948 the firm passed into the hands of his daughter Mildred, who later married William (Bill) MacKenzie Freeman, an employee of some standing. For some time thereafter the home was operated as Freeman's Funeral Parlor, and was later incorporated as "Mahone Funeral and Ambulance Service Company Limited".

William Freeman had apprenticed with William Zink and wrote his embalmer's exam in 1952. He had many memories of funeral service in the region — going to the homes of the deceased and embalming and casketing in close proximity to the family. For many years William Freeman, and later Robert Morse, not only performed their own embalming but also that for the Wamback Memorial Chapel in neighbouring Bridgewater. Freeman spent thirty-five years in funeral service and at the age of fifty-five entered retirement, selling the home in February 1979 to Robert Morse, who had joined the firm on January 7, 1974 and first started in the profession in Halifax in 1972.

Robert Morse apprenticed under William Freeman, receiving his professional license in 1977. The funeral home today is at the same location where the Zinks started out, but additions and alterations have given it a quiet beauty on the tree-lined street in this gracious old town where all faiths continue to be served. Besides the three famous churches — Anglican, Lutheran and United — two others are located within the town (United Baptist and Pentecostal). Roman Catholic families are served through churches in nearby Lunenburg or Bridgewater.

Robert Morse married the former Christine Rhuland of nearby Oakland in October 1988. Their family includes son Robert Andrew, son Benjamin Brian and daughter Jenny Marie Kathleen. Christine is a daughter of William Rhuland, who had assisted William Freeman for many years and later lent a hand in his son-in-law's operation until his passing on February 5, 2006.

Mahone Funeral Home operates with a staff of two full-time employees — Robert and Christine Morse — and one casual part-time employee, Annette Wagner, a licensed funeral director and apprenticing embalmer. The ambulance division of the business was sold to a neighbouring operator on January 15, 1997.

Robert formerly served as director and secretary-treasurer on the board of directors of the Nova Scotia Licensed Embalmers' and Funeral Directors Association from 1986 to 1997 and was a past director and secretary of the Ambulance Operators Association of Nova Scotia. From 1994 to 1997 he was a councillor for the Town of Mahone Bay, where he chaired the Police Commission and Fire Protection Committee.

The current chapel facility seats 150 people in air-conditioned comfort. The visitation rooms are decorated and furnished so that a homey, living-room atmosphere prevails.

Mahone Funeral Home offers a full complement of services and merchandise for burial and cremation service, designed to meet the beliefs and be within the means of the families we serve. Traditional, memorial, and simple arrangement selections are available for at-need, pre-paid, or pre-arranged services.