Unique Burials

Humans lay their dead to rest to the prescribed rhythms of tradition. Culture is the choreographer, prop artist, set designer, and director for the last pageant of life. For many, there is comfort in the familiarity of ritual and security in knowing what will happen at the end. But there are others who prefer to march to the beat of their own drum and shrug off the chains of custom for themselves or their loved ones. These unique burial requests honored the individuality of the deceased and the love of their family.

Cruising to the Grave in Style

For some vehicle aficionados, the thought of being separated from their rides is a fate worse than death. With a little help from cooperative cemetery officials, funeral directors, and family members these decedents better hope that the afterlife offers valet services.

Decades after her death in 1977, Sandra West is referred to as the “Paris Hilton of San Antonio.” Ms. West was worth around $5 million when she died of an overdose at age 37. As stated in her will, she was dressed in a lace nightgown and her body was placed in the driver’s seat of her 1964 powder blue Ferrari “with the seat slanted comfortably.” The car was enclosed in a concrete box and placed in a grave measuring nineteen feet long, ten feet wide, and nine feet deep. Concrete was poured in on top to prevent grave robbers, and there she rests in Alamo Masonic Cemetery, San Antonio.

Another car lover was George Swanson, a beer distributor and retired army sergeant who died in 1994 at the age of 71. His final ride was his white 1984 Corvette. Twelve cemetery lots were needed to accommodate the vehicle with an urn containing his ashes in the front seat. His widow also left a love letter in the car and a cassette in the tape deck ready to play “Release Me” by Engelbert Humperdink.

For every car lover, there is a biker who wouldn’t be caught dead without their ride. Billy Standley rode to his eternal rest astride his own 1967 Harley Davidson cruiser he restored and custom painted. Before his death in 2014 at the age of 82, he and his sons created a metal brace to hold him upright and a Plexiglass case to house him with his bike. He appealed to the cemetery board, which granted permission as long as the motorcycle was drained of fluids and he bought three plots to hold it. For a man who was affectionately called “Toilet Mouth,” he lived by a simple and honest code: “You don’t lie, you don’t steal. If you can‘t get what you want by working, you don’t deserve to have it.”

Foodies Forever

People have been burying their loved ones with provisions for the afterlife since prehistoric times. Our connection between death and food has inspired recipes and traditions from ancient Egyptian tombs to Amish funeral pie. Food is an expression of love, and the gift of food to the deceased is a final act of care.

Richard Lussi was a devoted patron of Pat’s King of Steaks, the restaurant often credited with inventing the Philly cheesesteak. According to his grandson, when he was asked if he wanted to be buried with anything he responded, “Pat’s cheesesteak! Pat’s wiz — with no onions because they’ll come back to haunt me!” When he passed away of heart complications at the age of 76, his son and grandson made sure they honored his wishes. He was laid to rest with two of his favorite subs-hold the onions.

Some people are known for their connection to food. Dr. Frederic Baur was an aviation physiologist and held a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, but his real claim to fame is his invention of the Pringle’s can. He was cremated after his death in 2008 from Alzheimer’s. On their way to the funeral, his adult children stopped at a Walgreen’s and bought a can of original flavor Pringles. His ashes were buried in the can he invented in Arlington Memorial Gardens, Mount Healthy, Ohio.

Like Dr. Baur, Willie McCoy’s legacy is forever connected to food. He was a successful singer in his own right but you have most likely heard him as the “barbecue sauce, barbecue sauce, barbecue sauce” baseline of Chili’s Baby Back Ribs jingle. His barbecue-themed funeral was featured on the TLC show Best Funeral Ever. The clergy were dressed as chefs, live pigs made guest appearances, and he was borne to his final resting place in a casket shaped like a rib smoker by aproned pallbearers.

Sentimental Souvenirs

Many survivors like to tuck something into the coffin to accompany the dead to their final resting place. From a beloved childhood toy to family photos, it can be comforting to think of the dead as having these special objects with them forever. It is important, however, to make sure that whatever you put into the coffin you will never want to see again.

English artist and writer Dante Gabriel Rossetti was heartbroken when his wife Elizabeth died in 1862 from an overdose of laudanum.
As an expression of his love, he tucked a notebook containing the only complete manuscript of his unpublished poems in her coffin with her and sent her to her rest.

However, she would be disturbed a mere seven years later when his somewhat eccentric agent persuaded him to have her exhumed and the poems retrieved. Even though he was not present for the exhumation, the thought of her grave being opened caused Rossetti deep anguish and trauma. His distress was compounded when the poems he endured so much to recover were lambasted by critics. He descended into alcoholism that led to a nervous collapse in 1872. He recovered but lived a reclusive life until his own death in 1882.

In a turn of events, sometimes grave objects find a way to disturb the living. Lesley Emerson was a beloved matriarch of her family who was well known for her love of texting. When she died at age 59 of cancer in 2011, her family wanted to make sure she was not separated from her phone and buried her with the device. They also contacted their cell phone provider and requested that the number be discontinued, which the company agreed to. As the family grieved, they would sometimes send Lesley text messages as a way of keeping her memory alive. It was quite a distressing shock when one day Lesley responded. The first-ever text message from Heaven read, “I’m watching over you, you’ll get through this, you’ll be all right.” At first, the family worried that grave robbers had taken her phone from her coffin. Eventually, they learned that when the cell phone provider agreed to discontinue the number it became available for other companies to use. A different company reassigned the number to a new customer. The unwitting recipient of the family’s heartfelt messages thought his friends were messing with him so he played along. The family’s cell phone company worked with the new provider to retrieve and permanently discontinue the number so they can keep texting grandma without worry.

Resting in Peace

What we bury our loved ones with, or in, can speak to their individuality and personality. What would you want to be laid to rest with? For myself, I want to be buried in a biodegradable cardboard coffin decorated by my friends and family at the funeral. I want to return to the elements in a natural burial cemetery, surrounded by messages of love. Comment below with your wildest or sincerest internment ideas!