Personalized casket has heart

Here's a surefire way to make yourself a topic of conversation in the neighborhood: decorate a casket in your garage.

It proved true for the Johnson family, who hung out in the garage of their Stetson Hills home Tuesday and Wednesday, personalizing a casket for 52-year-old Maria Johnson.

They caught the attention of neighbors, friends and even the florist as they stained the casket, used a wood-burning tool to inscribe personal messages, attached a cross made of wood trim and added fabric and lace to the inside.

"Ninety percent think it's an awesome idea, and the other 10 percent think it's morbid," said Johnson's daughter Michelle Bowen, 28.

Johnson, who will be buried in the casket today, died of cancer June 20 at a California hospital. She had told her family she wanted a simple funeral, and they started talking about the appeal of old pine boxes, as opposed to ornate, expensive caskets.

So they bought the plainest casket they could find, brought it to their garage from the funeral home Tuesday, and set to work. Johnson's husband, Gary, daughters Bowen and Suzanne Arden, two sons-in-law and best friend Carol Mark sanded and stained and sewed and shared stories.

"It's a time to honor their mother and a time of healing," Gary Johnson said. "It's been a delightful time."

Yes, delightful. "As odd as it sounds, we've actually had a lot of fun," said Arden, 24.

As they prepared the casket, the family seemed relieved to have a tangible way to honor their mother.

She was not only the most artistic of the bunch, but was also the behindthe-scenes organizer who kept everything running smoothly.

Her daughters figured she'd be proud of their efforts to pull things together in her absence.

"I think she'd be pretty impressed," Arden said.

"Yeah, we're not usually the most crafty family," Bowen said.

When the varnish was dry Thursday, they loaded up their work of art and heart and hauled it back to the somber environs of Swan Law Funeral Directors. Funeral director Cynthia Dudley-Barton said that each year, a few families ask to take a casket home and add personal touches, but she's never seen the wood burning and other intricacies of the Johnson effort.

"I think it helps start the healing process and helps people grieve, however they want to do that," Dudley-Barton said.

Plus, they're giving their mom a one-of-a-kind going away present. National funeral experts report that funeral services are becoming more personalized as baby boomers age.

"It makes it more special than buying something anybody else can have," Bowen said.

After today's service for Maria Luisa Johnson, her family members will tuck love notes into the casket they created with care and screw the lid shut themselves.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0226 or bill.reed@gazette.com