MacKenzie Marble Urns

he MacKenzie Family has been serving the funeral industry in the United States and Canada since 1897, and for more than a half century MacKenzie Vault, Inc. has continued a strong family tradition and commitment to top-notch craftsmanship, uncompromising product quality and superior customer service. Three generations strong, MacKenzie Vault is now the most trusted name for cultured marble, granite, onyx and stone-tone memorial urns.

In the late 1800s The MacKenzie Family found it’s way into the funeral industry when John MacKenzie arrived in Nova Scotia from his native Scotland. As a skilled woodworker and blacksmith, MacKenzie was know for building fine wagon wheels and custom wagons. These wagons where soon transformed into funeral coaches and MacKenzie also began manufacturing his own branded wooden caskets. Finding their niche in the industry through production and sales, MacKenzie’s three sons took the next step and began training at The Boston School of Anatomy & Embalming (The New England Institute) in the early 1900s.

The two older sons graduated in the early 1920s and returned to Canada, where they opened their own family funeral home. The youngest son, Robert MacKenzie graduated in 1927 and decided to stay in the United States to follow his dreams. He spent a majority of his career as a funeral director and embalmer with The Graham Corporation, all the while wishing to get back to using his craftsman hands and invent something new.

Working out of the Graham Funeral Home in Springfield, Massachusetts, MacKenzie noticed more of his client families choosing cremation (still only about 1% of the population in 1950). He set out to build a more affordable vessel and more dignified tribute to a loved one. At the time, families only had the options of a very expensive urn or a plain-old paper bag full of remains from the crematory. MacKenzie sat down at the drawing board and soon arrived on a shape (today trademarked as the MacKenzie Classic) that would have the appearance of a mausoleum from the inside and out. The original “MacKenzie Vault” was crafted from composite concrete and hand-painted by MacKenzie’s wife Irma MacKenzie. The two set-up a production bench in the basement of their home and by 1960 where producing enough “vaults” to warrant a separate shop. MacKenzie retired as a funeral director and focused his efforts on the cremation urn business. His son Neil MacKenzie took over the business in 1965 when it was incorporated as MacKenzie Vault, Inc. In the summer of 1969, the industry was introduced to the first cultured marble urn by MacKenzie. Cultured granite and onyx were introduced in the late 1980s, and stone-tone which was the original finish of the “MacKenzie Vault” is still available today. Scott J. MacKenzie – the founder’s grandson and John MacKenzie’s great-grandson now continues the century-long family tradition.

MacKenzie urns are available in eight shapes and sizes and more than thirty select colors.