Delivering a Dignified and Cost Effective Vehicle Solution for Conveyance and Display
Philosophy
The funeral services profession including the care of the deceased’s body and the comfort and
confidence of the deceased’s family and friends is a very noble, esteemed, and needed profession. Since
the beginning of recorded history the care and final disposition of the human body and the basic if not
profound respect including viewing and identification for the dead has been a matter of prominent
cultural importance. It is the opinion of the founders of Coasson that the popular concept of “closure” is
a misnomer and that comfort and confidence are the services the funeral industry delivers.
The medical examiner renders closure. A thorough autopsy of President Lincoln was conducted
including the removal of his brain. At the age of 56 he died from a .41 caliber derringer with a muzzle
velocity of about 400 feet per second shot at close range to the head. Case closed. Public viewing and
expressions of sympathy followed the caisson transport to the Rotunda with the intent of restoring
comfort and confidence to the public. President Kennedy died from a gunshot wound to the head from
a rifle discharging a bullet at 2,500 feet per second and witnessed by the masses on television nationally
if not internationally and an official cause of death was issued. Case closed. A caisson rolled through the
Washington D. C. streets again with the intent of restoring comfort and confidence to both a very public
family as well as to the public in general.
But the legacy prevailed in both cases as it does in all cases. That time between death and final
disposition is unique in the human condition. We must not rush to be done with the recognition of
the legacy of loved ones. We have one opportunity to establish our own comfort and confidence in the
matter of a loved one’s legacy. Billy Graham for example was taken to a funeral home in his home town
of Asheville, North Carolina. The family held a private service and he was taken by coach in a 3 hour
procession to Charlotte, North Carolina to his library. However the paying of respect included a 2 day
laying in state in the U. S. Capital Rotunda as well. According to his personal physician, Graham “just
wore out”. Case closed. But by the response of the throngs of people in these cases through history,
comfort and confidence was not served by the closing of the case.
The management holds that the Beatitudes deliver an Eleventh Commandment to funeral directors. It
says “Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted”. Not that they shall receive closure but
rather comfort. And that they shall be without option comforted. Funeral directors are the ones through
all history who care for those who mourn.
In designing the Coasson, care was given to that ultimate mission. More than human remains in
whatever form, we are caring for and carrying human legacy; hence the military emblems, religious
logos, first responder insignias, and open frame as well as the American flags being utilized with the Coasson.
In the open frame can be a portrait, family photo, poem or verse,
picture, or other meaningful representation. The intent is not to be a billboard. Rather it is to discreetly
salute the legacy specifically for those immediately involved, and at the same time to provide custom
opportunity for individual salute and private appreciation of those on the perimeter as they witness the
Coasson and recognize that its cargo is human legacy. What happens between birth and death builds
legacy but what happens between death and final disposition is human legacy. Legacy is what is in
our care; and comfort and confidence are our greatest services renderings. To deliver those services in
creative while professional, sensitive and supportive, custom but tasteful, cost effective yet fully service
inclusive ways is the mission of the Coasson.
The UrnArk® is dedicated to the same goals. The visibility afforded the urn or the casket,
the flag, the floral offerings, or other tributes are what acknowledge and salute legacy.
The history of the caisson in funeral application is primarily one of high ceremony and public
acknowledgment as in the case of Presidents Lincoln or Kennedy for example. Seeing the flag draped
casket in those cases was so very important to the legacy. The use of a coach has become common
place and its passing is now little more than a common occurrence on a busy street despite the fact
that human legacy is therein contained. The Coasson with its design and presence wishes to capture
an awareness and acknowledgment, a renewed regard, as it passes with content and emblems visible to
all. The Coasson is built on the heritage of a caisson with the prestige of a coach and it proudly carries
a legacy. Absent any of the emblems, the Coasson design is intended to speak to this purpose and the
mission.
Closure leaves emotions and relationships suspended and unfinished. Comfort and confidence provides a sense of strength and satisfaction for those close to the event as well as those on the perimeter of the event. The Coasson and UrnArk® intend to be a recognized sign of and a tool for facilitating comfort and confidence in the delivery of funeral services.