Lyken/Newburg Funeral Parlour is 90 years old

Apr 01, 2012 News

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-poised for the new technological challenge  

The Newburg Funeral Parlour now in its 90th year, is the oldest funeral home

in the history of Funeral Services in Guyana.
The history of the Lyken Funeral Home runs parallel with the history of technological development in Guyana over this 21st Century.
The first period dates back to the 1920s when the late Joseph Eleazor Lyken established the “Croal Street Livery Stables”.
There were no funeral parlours in those days. The funeral businesses were all called “Livery Stables” because the service offered was of horse-drawn hearses, carriages and Landaus. The coachmen were dressed in fine livery top-hats or beavers and frock coats and gloves – all symbols of grace and dignity for the solemn occasion.
There were no soul funerals but the Druids and Lodges, with their music and regalia, attracted crowds as you see them today.
The Croal Street Stables located at the head of Alexander Street became one of the leading funeral services in the country.
Joseph Lyken, who was said to be a man not content to go along the beaten track, created a new design for the coffin – a coffin with a triple lid.
This, now known as the ‘3-lid’, has come down through the years as a fitting alternative to the elaborate casket, and is much sought after. It has been duplicated by all the funeral homes that followed.
The Croal Street Livery Stables, then a successful enterprise, seemed poised in the 1930’s for expansion. The King Street Stable located at Robb and King Streets then up for sale, was bought and the Croal Street Stables moved into that location.
The merger became known as the Georgetown Livery Stables.
Although expansion seemed prudent at that time, it occurred at the most disastrous period in the history of the business.
The King Street business was riddled with debt; expansion had taken place in the depression of the 30’s and this and the imminent approaching World War II took its toll on maintenance and supplies.
The sale of the business was a source of grief and great concern to the young Robert Lyken (Joseph’s son), who was then only 18 years old. He had prevailed on his father not to sell, but to hold out and give him a chance to turn the business around.
But the elder Lyken considered his son too young to give advice, and proceeded with the sale. Undaunted, Robert took photographs of the best hearse sold and that photograph was used to take the Lyken Service into the present period.
The Newburg Funeral Parlour
Robert was determined to create his own business and worked towards this goal, against the wishes of his father, who had given him clear instructions that he was not to get involved in the Funeral Business.
Arrangements were made for him to be interviewed for a position in the then British Guiana Police Force, but on the day of the interview, Robert failed to show up.
When his father found out that he had disobeyed him, he threatened to put Robert, who was then 21 years old, out of the family home.
Dauntless, Robert set to work stripping an old wagon that was long out of use and lying under the family home.
Using the photograph, he designed and built his first horse drawn hearse.
When his father discovered what he was building, Robert was ordered to remove the unfinished hearse from the premises. He moved it to his friend’s home – the Lee Brothers – and there completed it.
Robert was 21 years old on November 10, 1938; his father died on November 1, 1939.
The way was then open, with the permission of his mother, to use the property for the development of his Funeral Service.  Horse drawn transport and a 24-hour burial were still in vogue.
The motor vehicle was then taking its place as a mode of transport in Guyana and Robert bought a second hand Erskine motorcar from an expatriate and this he used as transport for funerals in the countryside, while the horse drawn hearse was used in the city.

His brother, Joseph, known as ‘Big Joe’ left school and joined Robert known as “Pipe Man” in the business, and later when another brother Arthur, aka ‘Soldier’ returned from the Second World War in 1945 he also joined Robert. The business was now “The Lyken Brothers”.
The advent of the radio, refrigeration, air travel and motor transport had a direct influence on the changes wrought after the 1940s.
Indeed it was refrigeration that put an end to the time restrictions on burials.
The business continued to flourish and the next generation of Lykens were to further enhance it.
In the 1970’s, the young Joseph “Little Joe”, studying Bio Chemistry at Philadelphia University, was asked by his father ‘Big Joe’ to move on to the Mortician’s Course.  This he did and returned home to join the staff as a professional mortician.
‘Lil Joe’s’ brother, Gordon, completed the Associate degree at New York University in Mortuary Science.
However, Gordon was not a great lover of the programme and was inspired by his aunt to continue his studies in another field; he went on to study mechanical engineering for which he gained a Bachelors of Science Degree.
It was Gordon who played a pivotal role in the mechanics and supply chain aspect in the funeral business along with Joseph and Arthur.
With their skills, the Newburg Funeral Parlour is one of the other funeral services in Guyana offering professional embalming. It was from the Newburg that the bodies of US Congressman Leo Ryan and officials who were victims of the Jim Jones massacre at Port Kaituma were exported.
The parlour had developed such a reputation that it secured a government contract to handle the bodies of persons whose deaths were the subject of police investigations.
The past 90 years were punctuated by ups and downs.
The facility has had its fair share of the hard years when foreign exchange was scarce and costs of equipment and material rose constantly.  It almost became too expensive to die.
But the late 80’s and early 90’s brought new hope. The parlour has endeavored at all times to keep its prices reasonable, hence it became known as the ‘poor man’s parlour’.
In the late 90’s the Lykens experienced the loss of two of the elder Lyken brothers, ‘Big Joe’ and Arthur. The parlour was now under the leadership of Joseph (Lil Joe).
In the early 2000’s the parlour went thought another tremendous loss to the Lyken’s family when ‘Lil’ Joe was called to rest, leaving a temporary void.
Olive, a retired teacher and sister of the brainchild of the business, Robert, quickly sprang out of retirement to anchor the business which was now in transition.
Olive introduced a new programme, the pre-need packages, allowing families to pre-plan for their own or their loved one’s homegoing.
In the mid 2000, Gordon resigned from his engineering career in the USA and returned to the fold of his first course of study, Mortuary Science to head the Newburg Lyken Funeral team.
This 90th anniversary marks another milestone, and legacy on the road to progress.
According to the parlour administrators, it offers great prospects and it is envisaged that in the not too distant future it will usher in the evening funeral service and viewing, followed by the morning interment by relatives and close friends.
There is also a plan to establish a website where families could place obituaries from all over the world for loved ones. This is the beginning of the technological era for Guyana’s funeral business, and Lyken is well positioned for the challenge.

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