Colorful Coffins Lighten Mood at New Zealand Funerals
Voice of America
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - When the pallbearers brought Phil McLean's coffin into the chapel, there were gasps before a wave of laughter rippled through the hundreds of mourners.
The coffin was a giant cream doughnut. "It overshadowed the sadness and the hard times in the last few weeks," said his widow, Debra. "The final memory in everyone's mind was of that doughnut, and Phil's sense of humor." The doughnut was the latest creation by Phil's cousin Ross Hall, who runs a business in Auckland, New Zealand, called Dying Art, which custom builds colorful coffins.
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