These days, it feels like the traditional coffin-in-the-ground funerals are being slowly fazed out in favor of some wacky new ways of remembering loved ones, including but not limited to launching their remains into space on one of Elon Musk’s Space X rockets or freezing their bodies via cryogenics in the hopes of bringing them back in the future.
But now there’s another new method of memorialization creeping onto the scene: extreme embalming. The practice involves posing bodies in scenarios and activities that the person would’ve often engaged in/enjoyed during their life. The practice was first documented in 2008 in Puerto Rico as a more “festive” way to remember the dead, with the Marín Funeral Home propping up a boxer in the ring and showcasing a motorcyclist on his ride.
Dead Puerto Rican boxer posed standing in the ring for wake http://t.co/gRFfjqsje2 pic.twitter.com/jUgusg0hPt
— TheMarcAndKimShow (@MarcAndKimShow) February 4, 2014
Then in 2012, the trend made its way to the US, specifically New Orleans. It was seen in some notable local deaths, like that of Lionel Batiste, the drummer of the famous Treme Brass Band, who was leaned against his bass drum with his hand resting on his signature cane. Then there was Mickey Easterling, the classic Big Easy socialite who was posed in her trademark feather boa with a smoke in one hand and a glass of bubbly in the other. Or Miriam Burbank, a Saints diehard whose daughters arranged her final stand faithful to her life: draped in black and gold, holding a menthol with a can of Busch in front of her.
Only in NOLA 2: Uncle Lionel Batiste at his wake in 2012 http://t.co/vB6CvMZ9rB pic.twitter.com/daVVTnIjLs
— Manuel Torres (@1manueltorres) April 23, 2014
Only in NOLA 1: Mickey Easterling at her wake http://t.co/WhpG9Obgxq pic.twitter.com/7dQWvRabyw
— Manuel Torres (@1manueltorres) April 23, 2014
#SEC New Orleans woman posed with Busch beer and menthol cigarette at her funeral. http://t.co/DyvVk9UJx2 pic.twitter.com/bKK5oyu3LJ
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) June 26, 2014
Most recently, it was Renard Matthews, a young man living in New Orleans who was tragically gunned down in the streets at age 18. At his wake, they posed him in his favorite gear doing his favorite pastimes: rocking a Celtics jersey, flip-flops, and sunglasses while playing NBA2K and snacking on Doritos and root beer.
NOLA family chooses unique but loving way to say goodbye to son https://t.co/bE0KzGbcAX pic.twitter.com/ZWEtvGLIup
— WGNO-TV (ABC) New Orleans (@WGNOtv) July 8, 2018
But how do people react to such an extreme memorial? According to New Orleans funeral director Patrick Schoen who carried out the wake of Mickey Easterling, they’re pretty well received.
“No one was shocked, or thought it was inappropriate, or anything like that. I mean, you’ve got to realize: Services like that don’t happen every day. So it was quite a surprise for anyone who did come. But we essentially wanted to make sure that her service was going to be remembered, and it was. It went all around the world. I did place a hearse out in front of the theater, so people wouldn’t be so shocked, and so it actually looked like it was a funeral. Just to make everybody feel a little bit more comfortable, even though she didn’t get there in a hearse. Everything was done here at the funeral home, and of course she had to go there in a regular van, basically, because she was in position already.”
When asked about any backlash, Schoen said, “I think people were just surprised. People who don’t understand it, or get the chance to see it, of course you always have that: ‘Oh wow, that was very different.’ That kind of thing. But I wouldn’t say anybody said anything derogatory. They just thought it was so—outlandish?—but I guess the point is, it was Mickey Easterling. And that’s the way she lived her life, and that’s what she chose.’
The bottom line is, people should have the right to be remembered as they, or their loved ones, chose. As long as everyone involved is happy about paying their respects to the dead, why not let them do that by any means they see fit? Life is such a fickle and fleeting experience, why not just have fun paying tribute to it?