How We Got Started
Early in 2009, a group of residents came together with the expressed purpose of establishing a natural burial ground for the residents of Denman Island and members of their families. Denman Island already had a cemetery, which had been created in 1904 on land donated by a resident; however, all of the rights to cemetery plots had been sold by the mid 1970s. As a result, there was little choice for Denman islanders wishing to be buried on the Island or to bury a family member here. This problem had been highlighted by the deaths of two children in the 1990s, and the group was eager to find a solution as soon as possible. From the start, the group was committed to the principles of natural burial.
Soon after this, the group applied to the BC Registry Services for status as a non-profit society and was incorporated in August 2009 as the Denman Island Memorial Society. The following month, the Memorial Society (known locally as ‘DIMS’) received charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency. Click here to read the DIMS Constitution and Bylaws.