Article by Alyssa Newcomb, ABC News
While it would be alarming for a taxi driver to be asleep at the wheel, Victor Perez Cardona’s final trip is the one exception.
After the Puerto Rican taxi driver died of cancer at age 73, his family honored his final request over the weekend by propping him up in a spot he occupied for the last 15 years of his life: The driver’s seat of his cab.
Wearing a pressed button-down shirt, a tie and a fedora, Perez Cardona’s hands grasped the steering wheel as mourners filed into the funeral home to pay their respects — even climbing in the taxi with him for a final goodbye.
“This is a funeral of the people. People have come from all over the island. Some climbed in the taxi with him,” his daughter Generosa Perez Torres told the Associated Press.
After his final trip, the taxi driver was buried on Monday.
The Marin Funeral Home in Puerto Rico has created thematic wakes for several funerals, including a slain boxer and a deceased man who loved his motorcycle.
Christopher Rivera, for instance, was remembered for his love of boxing. His body was propped up in a fake boxing ring during his wake in San Juan, Puerto Rico in January 2014.
With a glass of Busch beer, a menthol cigarette and a New Orleans Saints-themed manicure, Miriam Burbank attended one last soiree for her June 2014 funeral.
Burbank was posed sitting at a table in a living-room setting, with a disco ball glittering overhead to set the mood for her final fete.
The Louisiana woman’s daughters, who called her “Maw Maw” told ABC News’ New Orleans affiliate WGNO that it was the perfect send-off for their vivacious mother.
Louisiana seems to be the place for “extreme embalming.”
Last April, Mickey Easterling, a New Orleans socialite who passed away at the age of 83, was celebrated one last time at a grand memorial service, where the flamboyant philanthropist wore a pink feather boa and held a glass of champagne.
