Yetanya brought casket maker to tears
Throughout his career, Kenrick Moore has made more than 1,000 caskets and kept a dry eye. It was, however, quite the opposite when the father of three realised he was building the casket for young Yetanya Francis. “I didn’t know at first that it was Yetanya’s casket that I was making until I saw her picture. I was on the phone listening to my daughter and just seeing the picture of Yetanya make water fall from my eyes. I had to stop what I was doing and go take a strong drink. Me is a man weh nuh really show emotion, but it break me down man,” he said. Yetanya left home in Arnett Gardens, St Andrew, on August 23 to go to a nearby shop to purchase food. When she did not return home, a search was launched by residents of the community, but she was not found. Her nude, partly burnt body was found in a section of the community by residents the following day. At her funeral on Sunday, entertainer Wayne Marshall broke down. He later told THE STAR that: “It was terrible, I felt it to my core. Meanwhile, Moore, who operates from Grafton Road, Kingston, said he has built caskets for many popular figures among them dancer Bogle.
A past student of Tivoli Gardens High, Moore, 34, was introduced to the trade by a few friends who operated a small business in his Waterhouse, St Andrew, hometown.
“It’s six of us that operate this business for about two years. I have been in this field for more than 16 years. After leaving school, there are only two common options; it’s either
you find a little work or turn to badness and the badness thing wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to work for anyone, so I ventured into this and now, on average, I am making at least 15 [caskets] per week,” he said.
“I would encourage a lot of youths to take on this trade because it’s not something that you have to go to school for. You can make a casket in a day once you have the right team. It’s easy to learn. All a man need to do is go around his friend and learn it. At the end of the day, you have a good little money in you pocket,” he said.
Moore said he would consider making his own casket.
“I would love to build my own casket someday, but the last friend I have that do that keep on a build his casket and sell it back anytime him realise that him never dead. Him keep on a do it and sell it back, and one day as he sold the last one, him crash on the way back from St Thomas and dead,” Moore said.