Custom-made coffins that help ease loved ones’ suffering
A New Zealand man designs quirky custom-made coffins to ease the pain and heartache of grieving loved ones
WHERE there’s a will, there’s a way – that’s this guy’s motto. In his case, that will is the thing you sign to say what should happen to your assets when you die. And the one thing he didn’t want was a boring brown coffin in which to have his last send-off on Earth. He wanted something flamboyant – a red casket with flames on it, please.
And that is how his business all started, Ross Hall says. Turns out he wasn’t the only person he knew who wanted an over-the-top box to house his body and he seized the gap in the funeral market.
The name of his business? Dying Art – a company that celebrates life, love and humour, making unconventional coffins that tell far more about the person who’s passed away than a mahogany or pine casket ever could.
“There are people who are happy with a brown mahogany box and that’s great,” says Ross, who’s from Auckland, New Zealand. “But if people want to shout it out, I’m here to do it for them.”
Phil McClean’s family wanted to shout it out when he died of bowel cancer earlier this year. Phil is Ross’ cousin and when he got sick he and his wife, Debra, asked Ross to do something that really spoke of his life. And what spoke of it more than anything was doughnuts.
So Ross and his team got to work. “We used shaping foam and glued it to the side of the standard casket and then we spent about two days actually shaping the foam into a cream doughnut.
“Once we had a decent-looking form, we painted it all with acrylic paints,” Ross says.
And when the showstopper of a coffin arrived at the church in Auckland, a wave of laughter rippled through the crowd.
“It overshadowed the sadness and the hard times we’d had in Phil’s last few weeks,” Debra says. “The final memory in everyone’s mind was of that doughnut
‘I GET SO MUCH JOY OUT OF MAKING A TRAGIC DAY A LITTLE BRIGHTER FOR FAMILIES’
and Phil’s sense of humour.”
Some of Ross’ amazing coffin creations include a sailboat, a chocolate bar, Lego blocks, a fire truck and even a casket inspired by the movie The Matrix.
“With the yacht coffin, we built a full sail jib, keel and rudder and everything,” Ross says. But the doughnut is probably the one he’s proudest of.
“It was pretty spectacular,” he says.
WHEN the idea for Dying Art first started taking shape, Ross went to a few funeral homes with his concept hoping people would be as passionate about the project as he was.
“I did up to 20 different designs and got a little brochure made up and went, ‘Hey, how about this, you guys?’ and they all thought I was mad.”
Undeterred, he persisted and slowly but surely his business took off. Ross now employs a team of 15 people and receives up to five orders a week.
The price of the custom-made coffins varies from R30 000 to R75 000, depending on the intricacy of the design.
But Ross insists he’s not in it for the money. “I get so much enjoyment out of making a tragic day a little bit lighter for families.
“We get a fantastic response about what a difference the casket made. When they looked at it, they saw their loved one because it’s symbolic of what they were all about. It puts a whole different spin on a sad occasion.”
Simpler coffins take about four hours to make but more complex designs can take a few days.
“As you can imagine, when we get an order we have to drop everything and get straight onto it because it’s a fairly quick turnaround,” he says.
“We have custom-designed handles made of clear acrylic to put on the caskets so they don’t block any of the graphics.”
THE way funerals are perceived has changed over the years, Ross says. “People think of them as a celebration of life rather than a mourning of death. And they’ve been willing to throw out stuffy conventions in favour of getting something unique.
“I like to see people get what they want,” Ross says.
And cousin Phil got just that. Debra says her husband, who was 68 when he died, loved eating doughnuts and trying different ones while touring the country in their camper truck.
When he was diagnosed with cancer he told Debra that not only did he want to be buried in a doughnut coffin, he wanted doughnuts served at his wake too. Debra obliged, ordering 150 of the sugary treats from his favourite bakery.
Ross is passionate about the environment and ensures his coffins are all biodegradable and suitable for burial or cremation. But for the doughnut coffin Ross had to use polystyrene and shaping foam, which is harmful to the planet.
So Phil was switched to a plain coffin for his cremation and the doughnut casket will live on at Ross’ business premises as a memento to his cousin and his dream funeral.
As for Ross, he’s changed his mind about the coffin he wants to be buried in when his time comes. Instead of a casket decorated with flames, he wants a clear box so everyone can see what he’s wearing: a leopard print G-string. Understandably, his children aren’t keen on the idea. “They say they won’t come,” he says, chuckling.
Ross loves what he does and says he’s grateful for the opportunities he’s had.
“You’ve got to be a certain sort of person to be a funeral director, there’s no two ways about it. But it’s definitely changed my outlook on life – every day I’m determined to live my life to the full. We see so many people pass away and when the lid of the coffin goes on, that’s it. It’s over.
“This process has made me thankful for waking up every morning.”