Family Builds Custom Hearse as Tribute to Father

Funerals all over the world are becoming more and more personalized. Personalization is a great way to help families see the value in the funeral service. The following article is a great example of this:

THE family of a frugal farm contractor who died aged 87 paid tribute to him by building his hearse out of scrap. For just

?He really loved horses and originally it was my sister Sally?s idea to take him on a coach behind her horse.

?So we tried to get a him a cart to put him on but when we couldn?t find the right one I decided to make one instead.

?All I had was the wheels and then from there we made it up out of a load of old bits and pieces.

?It was hard work but I had a lot of help and I guess you could say it was a labour of love.

?We live in an unique community and the neighbors were fantastic.

?They all kept asking whether there was anything they could do to help and for that we?re really grateful.?

Mr John was born in Machin on the family farm but grew up in St Donats near Cowbridge.

He married his wife Pat in 1953 before moving to Rudry in 1962 where they settled and started a family.

His son added: ?He loved being outdoors and loved working around these parts; he was even working right up until a few months before he died doing little jobs for the farms.

?Everyone around here knew him. There were a lot of people at the funeral which was a real celebration of his life.

?It was fitting. My wife said in the eulogy how he never threw anything away in case it could be used again.

?He always kept things because he knew he could make something out of it.

?I guess he was like that because of growing up in the time he did during the war they didn?t always have everything so they would just make it instead.?

Daughter-in-law Julie John said: ?We started off with two axles and nothing else and the whole thing cost us just