Burb’s Eye View: The sometimes strange business of memorials

A few weeks ago I “met” a patron of the Colony Theatre whose ashes are contained within a sarcophagus in the lobby.

It’s an unusual interment arrangement, but then last month there was one stranger: A New Orleans woman’s daughters had her body propped at a table for her party-themed memorial service, cigarette and beer at the ready.

Funeral homes are sometimes stuck with strange requests when developing a memorial that captures the personality and preferences of the recently deceased. While in Burbank, the funeral services are on the traditional side, one might find an antique car, a beloved pet or a few dozen doughnuts featured during a memorial on any given day.

“I think it’s really important that we listen to families — we want it to be a celebration of the loved-one’s life,” said Blake Moses, manager at Valley Funeral Home on Burbank Boulevard.

That celebration will sometimes include that loved-one’s hobby. Moses said he’s seen train sets for model collectors included in a service.

He also remembered a memorial service for a member of the Road Kings that became an impromptu car show. Services for the car club’s members have gotten so large they have to be held at the Burbank Elks Lodge so its parking lot can accommodate the classic cars.

Even then, the cars spill out to the street.

“The biggest one we had was for Bill King (in 2006) — it was so sad, but every single Road King who was an active member brought their car to the Elks lodge,” said Road Kings spokesperson Janis Moss. “That must have lasted five hours. That was a real big to-do.”

Motorcycles do occasionally appear in the chapel alongside a casket, according to Burbank morticians. Ralph Walker of Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood remembers once fitting a Harley Davidson into the chapel.

Walker also recalls accommodating a pony at a funeral, and organizing a service for a man who collected day-old doughnuts from bakeries and delivered them to homeless people around the city.

At his funeral, six dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts appeared.

While the family of the New Orleans woman may have taken the “fun” in funeral a little too literally last month, it’s good to know there are options. Miriam Burbank’s funeral made headlines because her daughters tried to capture the essence of who their mother was, and hoped to preserve that memory with one last great party they all could enjoy.

Moses at Valley Funeral Home said since he started in this business in 1971, he’s seen services focus more on the family’s relationship with the deceased, rather than just the individual.

“If they loved baseball then it’s a baseball theme … whatever (the family) wants to come away feeling as good as they can,” he said.

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BRYAN MAHONEY writes about Burbank neighbors and the place they call home. He can be reached at 818NewGuy@gmail.com and on Twitter: @818NewGuy.