Do-it-yourself funerals come to life
A woodworker and two others advise Mainers on having services at home, customized coffin and all.

April 13, 2009

— By ABIGAIL CURTIS

Bangor Daily News

UNITY — In Chuck Lakin's competent hands, the plain pine box can double as a bookcase, or even as an entertainment center.

During a session of Saturday's Rural Living Workshop at Unity College, the Waterville woodworker cleared a little space at the front of the classroom and quickly assembled two such boxes -- handmade coffins. He also showed photographs of his more multipurpose models, which evidently can serve a useful life long before turning to the traditional business of death.

"Why isn't every home furnished like this?" one workshop attendee called out.

For Lakin, the customized coffins' best use is that they spark conversations about something that often makes people feel uncomfortable -- home funerals.

"When my father died, I wanted to be part of whatever happened next, but I didn't know how," he said. "What I would do now is that we would have built the box, and he would have been kept at home. I don't think people know this is possible. I'm providing the possibility that they'll have a more meaningful experience."

Lakin and two like-minded colleagues have created a resource guide for do-it-yourself funerals titled "Last Things," and they are working to educate Mainers about home funerals.

They are part of a trend that's on the rise for reasons as diverse as economizing, environmentalism and an increased desire to honor loved ones at home, he said. The last time having home funerals was a widespread custom was during the 1950s, but that is changing fast.

"Home funerals right now are where home childbirth was 30 years ago," Lakin said. "I'm not trying to put funeral directors out of business, but I just want people to know there is an alternative."

Lakin shared some surprising facts about the funeral and cremation industries, including that one-sixth of the mercury pollution in the air comes from cremation.

Perhaps the most surprising fact he shares is also the most basic.

"Home funerals are perfectly legal," Lakin said. "There's no part of the process you can't do yourself."

For Susan Lachlan of Waldo, Lakin's presentation wasn't just handy information to file away for an undetermined future. Lachlan's mother is dying, she said, and has made it clear that she wants no part of a funeral home funeral.

"With her death being imminent, this gave me more of an idea for the possibilities," Lachlan said.