Ask the Undertaker: Advice to DIY

http://finalembrace.com/2007/03/

DIY Casket by Joe Scanlan

Dear Undertaker - 

Being a rabid-do-it-yourselfer, I was wondering what issues there are (if any) with making my own casket? I have seen plans online and think it would be the ultimate personalization of the experience. Also, Are there any issues or tips for doing my own headstone (other than adding my expiration date)?

-Handyman in Houston

http://finalembrace.com/2007/03/

DIY Casket by Joe Scanlan

Dear Handyman,

Making your own casket can be a rewarding and challenging project for a do-it-yourselfer.  The rewards would be, as you said, the ultimate personalization.  You'd have the opportunity to make your final resting place an expression of your own taste, handiwork and artistic vision.  For some inspirational ideas for creative caskets (which would unfortunately not meet any of the specifications normally required in the states), visit my post on Ghanaian caskets 'Art and Death intersect in Ghana'.  There are some real challenges and restrictions to be aware of before you start your project.  The casket must be made within the dimensions that would allow it to fit into a standard burial vault (which are required at most cemeteries).  It must also fit inside the hearse with the handles in an open position.   A flat bed truck could be used to transport your casket if you have one available and desire this mode of transportation, but it would be very difficult for pallbearers to safely load and unload with such a vehicle.  Your casket should have handles that provide a good grip for your pallbearers (Rope handles don't work very well), and be light enough and strong enough to easily carry.  The homemade caskets I have seen usually are not strong enough to be supported by the handles, are too heavy to carry, or are too large in at least one dimension.  On the other side of the size issue, if you make your casket a tight fit for yourself now, and then gain weight before you die, your casket may be too small for you to fit into, or to look comfortable in, when the time comes.

If you desire a viewing, it's important to realize that the caskets available at the funeral home feature adjustable mattresses, pillows, and fabric that drapes over the edges. This allows the funeral director to make adjustments to the positioning of the deceased, allowing them to look comfortable while in state.  I posted a piece on the stagecraft involved in viewings in April  'Embalming Part 3: Stagecraft'.   If you are still interested and confident after reading this, pay a visit to your local undertaker and ask to take a close careful look at the features and dimensions that standard caskets have, and decide if you have the skills to incorporate them into your own casket.

In any case, at the time of death, your undertaker will ask your family to sign a waiver releasing the funeral home from liability should your handiwork fall apart on the way to the grave, or fail to fit inside the vault.

 

This weekend, I was at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's 'Return to Function' exhibit which, along with some other witty pieces, featured an Ikea style casket, by artist Joe Scanlan, that looked just like the Swedish furniture that many of us have had to put together at one time or another.  Anyone who has had to move this furniture will attest to the fact that it falls apart even without one hundred or more pounds of cargo inside.   For more of Mr. Scanlan's work visit the site of his gallery, Galerie Chez Valentin.

Making your own headstone is not quite my department, but here are some basic issues to consider:

• What kind of materials , dimensions and footings are acceptable at the cemetery?
  
• Will anyone be able to engrave information on the marker without ruining it after it's installed?
  
• Who will the cemetery allow to install the marker?
  

Many people have their markers installed before death, and if you are making your own, I would recommend installing it and enjoying it right away.  A neighbor of mine had a boulder that she loved and was able to get the local monument company to engrave and set it for her.  It looks great.

Cemetery in Romania vividly reflects the lives of it's residents

http://www.rounite.com/2008/04/17/merry-cemetery/

In the remote little village of Sapanta near Romania's border with Ukraine, the Merry Cemetery draws more paying visitors than mourners. Busloads of tourists pay about 40 cents each to meander the narrow paths among the 600 wooden crosses that capture the wit, work and daily life of a rugged and traditional peasantry. Everyone from the local barber, lumberjack, shepherd and gamekeeper to the village drunk are kept alive through carved and brightly painted pictures and earthy, sometimes witty, epitaphs.
The crosses were created by a carpenter, Ion Stan Patras, who, in 1935, began personalizing his simple monuments. After attending the traditional three-day-long funerary vigils where Romanians gather to down plum brandy and tell stories about the deceased, he started composing brief poems to accompany his carvings.

For the full article by CHRISTINE POPP in the New York Times, follow the link
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407EEDD1230F93AA1575AC0A9649C8B63&scp=1&sq=merry%20cemetery%20romania&st=cse

Gypsy graves have a life of their own in Portland, Oregon

In Portland Oregon's beautiful Rose City Cemetery, there is a section of Gypsy graves. The monuments on these graves are interesting enough during most of the year because of the photographs of men in big hats smoking cigars, and ladies in scarves toasting us with wine glasses that are displayed on many of the large monuments. During Christmas and Easter, though, the graves take on a life of their own as they are decorated with an unbelievable amount of baskets, candy, cigars, bunnies, full sized artificial Christmas trees and toys. This always looks odd next to the quiet graves nearby, but think about it, and it makes a lot of sense. Even though our dead are gone, they live on in our minds and memories. They are still in our thoughts and in our lives, just as they were when alive. Our dead are in our thoughts especially during the holidays. Maybe if more of us had a ritual that kept our dead as a part of our holiday traditions, the holidays wouldn't be so difficult to enjoy without them.