How It All Began
TCF was founded in Coventry England in
1969. Following the deaths of two young boys,
Billy Henderson and Kenneth Lawley. Billy
and Kenneth had died just three days apart in
The Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital
where Reverend Simon Stephen was an
assistant to the chaplain. Simon had
mentioned kBilly’s death to Iris and Joe Lawley.
The Lawley’s decided to send flowers to Billy’s
funeral and just signed the card simply “Kenneth’s Parents” realizing the Henderson’s
would know who they were.
Bill and Joan Henderson then invited the
Lawley’s over for tea, and an immediate bond
was formed as the two couples spoke freely
about their boys sharing all their memories and
dreams that died with Billy and Kenneth.
They continued to get together regularly and
Rev. Stevens, 23 at that time encouraged them
to invite other very newly bereaved parents to
join them. In 1969 another grieving mother
had accepted their invitation to meet with
Simon and the other two couples. They
decided to organize a self-help group and had
actively began reaching out to newly bereaved
parents in their own community. The word
COMPASSIONATE kept coming up, so this
very newly developed organization was called “The Society of the Compassionate
Friends” . Simon became a Chaplin in the
British Royal Navy n the 1970’s. He was met
by bereaved parents at different posts around
the world and helped them develop their own
chapters. TCF had become very well-known
through out the UK and USA due to such
magazines as Time and Good Housekeeping.
Paula and Arnold Shamres of Florida had read
of Simon’s interview in Time Magazine and
invited him to visit them in Florida and speak
to the bereaved parents there. He and the
Shamres had subsequently founded the very
first U.S. Chapter in 1972. Word of that
organization spread rapidly due to the interest
generated by “The Phil Donahue Show” and
columns of Dear Abby and Ann Landers. The
Compassionate Friends was incorporated in the
United States as an non-profitable organization
in 1978
In November 1984 Queen Elizabeth presented
Iris Lawley with a medal, “The Most Excellent
of the British Empire”, in recognition for her
fine work on behalf of TCF.
I n 1 9 8 9 ”TCF o f G re a t B r i t a i n ”
commemorating the founding of the
organization at Coventry and Warwickshire
hospital were TCF had begun. A plaque was
unveiled by their own patron Countess
Mountbatten, who herself was a bereaved
parent.
There are now TCF chapters in every state in
the U.S. with almost 600 chapters. Hundreds
of chapters in Canada, Great Britain, and
many countries throughout the world. In the
U.S. chapters are open to all bereaved parents,
siblings, grandparents and also other family
members who are grieving the death of a child
of any age, from any cause. |