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The only thing missing from this bizarre scene was the camera crew from “Cops.” While a man was helping to load his father’s casket into a waiting Cadillac hearse in North Carolina, five deputies zapped him with a Taser while serving an arrest warrant for him.

The charges for which the man was being arrested was threatening his ex-wife. The deputies in New Hanover County felt it was necessary to confront the man at this inopportune time and now they are being reprimanded. They were told to wait until after the services were over before they confronted him. However, two detectives in plain clothes decided to serve the warrant at the Cadillac hearse without even identifying themselves.

In addition to all of that, one deputy’s gun fell to the ground during the scuffle.

Other pallbearers were amazed at the incident. A couple of them were so frightened that they almost dropped the casket of the man being buried with military honors. Some were afraid of what was happening because they didn’t know the men were with the police force. As a result, they fled the scene in fear.

I don’t like to criticize the police, but it seems like they dropped the ball on this one. Couldn’t they have waited another five minutes?

When Marks Comeaux began in the funeral business nearly 65 years ago, Cadillac hearses were not just used to transport the dead.

When Comeaux began working in the funeral industry, hearses had more than just one purpose. Since they were one of the few types of vehicles that could transport people lying down, they were also used for ambulances. As a result, Comeaux “helped welcome thousands of new babies into the world on one end while giving a loving good-bye to their parents and loved ones on the other.”

After 65 years, Comeaux has probably done all there is to do in the funeral industry. However, the 83-year-old retiree said he has no idea how many funerals he has helped with during his 65 years in the business. But, he said, he is sure that figure is in the tens of thousands. He started in the business at First National Funeral Home at the age of 19. He only stayed there for about a year when another director offered him five times as much money in addition to free lodging.

The one major change he has noticed in the industry is that more people choose to have their funeral services at a mortuary whereas they were once held in the person’s home. But with tough economic times, more people in recent months have opted to have services at home in order to save money and have a more intimate service. It’s funny how things eventually come full circle, isn’t it?

We’ve written about Cadillac hearses and funeral cars a lot on this blog. We’ve mentioned how people have turned coffins into funeral cars and several other odd stories from across the world. I’m not sure that any of those can compare with this one, though.

Derek Lewis, a member of the Kaos Funeral Cars club, has a funeral car that gets a lot of attention at Halloween. But his hearse is probably unlike any other. You see, his hearse also has a BBQ grill built into it.

While I can’t imagine grilling hot dogs or hamburgers on any part of a hearse, I’m sure Lewis would be fairly popular at tailgating parties and cookouts when he rolls up in his morbid ride, opens a lid and lights a flame. Odd or not, it’s one of the most creative things I’ve heard of somebody doing with funeral cars thus far.

Lewis also makes appearances at charity events in his local area with his unusual funeral car. He gets a lot of people asking him questions about his creation and what possessed him to do such a thing.

Have you heard of any other creative things that people have done with hearses? If so, let us know. We might just do a short write-up about them!

Every time you see someone in a Cadillac hearse, there’s a good chance that they got that vehicle from a local hearse dealership. There are many misconceptions about hearse owners, but the fact is that many of them are as “normal as you and me. Their purchase from the hearse dealership does not necessarily make them morbid, it just makes their interests different than the interests of the mainstream. And for many hearse drivers, there is a story behind their unusual possession.

One driver – Amber Hallacy – started driving hearses when an elderly friend asked her to take care of his funeral coach when he could no longer care for it. At first, she didn’t want to drive around in a car that once carried corpses, but she grew accustomed to the idea. After four months, she fell in love with it. But when that hearse broke down, she bought another one and put the motor from her first hearse into the new one. “Actually a lot of that car is in her…so there is still a piece of it on the road,” she said.

This is just one story of how hearses can grow on people. We’ll have more stories about hearse owners in the days and weeks to come. Until then, visit a local hearse dealership today and see if maybe one of these vehicles are for you.

As economic times continue to get tough while putting strains on our finances, one place where people are making cutbacks is at funerals. Instead of opting for all the bells and whistles, people are cutting out the use of Cadillac hearses, fancy caskets and even funeral services to save money.

This story comes from the Detroit Free Press in Michigan and talks about some of the alternatives that families are making when loved ones pass away. One mother decided to have private services at her home when her son died because the cost of having the services at a funeral home were simply too expensive. A local funeral director did, however, help prepare the body and the room for a funeral service for a small fee.

More and more funeral directors are offering base services for a fraction of the cost of traditional services. Some of those base-priced services are around $800 and some directors will even work out payment plans.

My heart goes out to the people that cannot afford anything but the base-priced services. I recently went through this heartbreaking event when my father-in-law passed away. Even so, there is something to be said for the images of our deceased loved ones being taken to their final resting place in a Cadillac hearse. Either way, we can all agree that funerals are more for the living rather than the dead. As such, we must make our decisions based on that rather than letting our emotions get the best of us.

Although joking about funeral cars isn’t always funny, there are times when we have to laugh about death in order to keep our sanity. Having a sense of humor helps us deal with our own mortality and the mortality of our loved ones. That’s why I’ve decided to post this joke that I heard recently. I hope it gives you as much of a chuckle as it gave me.

A man was walking home one day when he noticed a procession of funeral cars and mourners. There were two Cadillac hearses in front, one in front of the other. Behind the second Cadillac hearse was a man walking a dog. Behind him was a single-file line of about 200 other men.

The man that was walking home quietly approached the man walking the dog. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said, “and I hate to disturb you at a time like this, but I’ve never seen a funeral procession like this. May I ask what happened?”

“Well,” said the man with the dog, “the first hearse is carrying my wife. Her dog attacked her and killed her.”

The first man inquired further. “Well, who is in the second hearse then?”

“The second hearse has my mother-in-law. She was trying to help my wife and the dog attacked her, too.”

The first man thought for a second before breaking the silence. “Can I borrow the dog?” he asked.

The man with the dog got a smile on his face and replied, “Get in line.”

Look for more jokes about funeral cars in the future.

We’ve reported on here several times about the home in Huntersville that looked like a dilapidated hearse dealership. If you don’t remember, a man left his home cluttered with a number of old funeral cars and Cadillac hearses in his yard causing it to look like a rundown hearse dealership.

But it appears that problem is over.

After months of levying unanswered fines and other penalties on the owner of the home, the local government was finally able to foreclose on the home and remove the old hearses that were scattered around the yard.

When a town official showed a picture to the crowd at a recent meeting, neighbors that were disgusted at the house broke out into applause.

The owner of the house – Tom Davis – racked up more than $13,000 in the last few months. He has not paid those fines and the town has not heard from him in months. That didn’t stop them from levying fines so they could foreclose on the home, though. Upon the official foreclosure proceedings, town officials began removing the old hearses from the property. The new owner came to own the home with a bid of more than $225,000 and plans to keep the yard uncluttered.

If you’re trying to create a professional look for your funeral home, one way to do this is to polish your Cadillac hearses and give them a nice shine. Sparkling Cadillac hearses undoubtedly create a better impression than dirty ones. Here are some tips you can use to make your Cadillac hearses sparkle.

• Use recycled diaper cloths. These are soft and they have a great surface for providing a spectacular shine.
• Wax your Cadillac hearses regularly. This helps keep the paint from fading and helps protect from damaging dirt and grime.
• Rub the wax into the vehicle with small circular motions rather than back-and-forth motions.
• Wash the vehicle first. Waxing and polishing a dirty hearse will only spread the dirt around and it could damage the paint job, too.
• Wax and polish your vehicles in a shady spot. The sun will dry the wax too quickly and could make it more difficult to remove.
• Consider hiring a professional. Electric buffers and polishers can give your Cadillac hearses that sparkle that you desire. However, if you’re not experienced with these machines you could do more damage than good. Work out a deal with a local detailing shop to ensure that your Cadillac hearses always have the best shine in town.

With more and more choosing to be cremated these days, the growing need for funeral cars is uncertain. Of course, funeral cars and Cadillac hearses will always be needed for the people who choose traditional burials. Although that number is only at about 30 percent right now, it’s likely going to increase with the baby boomer generation getting ready to start dying off.

In preparation for this occurrence, funeral homes across the country are getting creative with their offerings. Many of them are trying to make the process better and more interesting for loved ones of the deceased.

One company – Eternal Reefs – will take your cremated remains and make them into a “reef ball.” The company then places the “reef ball” into the ocean or sea as a place where fish can congregate.

For the more traditional burial, another company in New Jersey specializes in building luxury crypts. These facilities offer heating, air conditioning and other amenities for the person laid at rest. With accommodations like this, it’s almost like you’re glad to be dead!

In addition to all of this, a cemetery in Michigan offers free concerts, contests and charity runs for future customers while they are still able to enjoy life.

As you can see, the death industry is striving to reach out to the people that will need their services one day. Let’s see what they’ll think of next!

Whether you are buying a car from your local car dealer or nearby hearse dealerships, today’s economic times could be discouraging to anybody. However, by taking some simple advice and using your common sense, car and hearse dealerships do not have to be such a scary place. Here are some things to consider so you can make a good financial decision.

Consider an older model. New Cadillac hearses cost more than a used one at any of the hearse dealerships that offer these coveted funeral cars. They also depreciate more than a used one. Instead of getting a new one, get last year’s model or an older one and save thousands of dollars.

Shop at different hearse dealerships. There are likely several hearse dealerships within driving distance if you look around. When you shop around, you are more likely to find a better deal. Just because one Cadillac hearse is one price at one dealership doesn’t mean it’s the same price everywhere else.

Get what you want. One reason people feel the stress of spending money on a car is because they settle for something they don’t really want. You can avoid this by only buying what you want so you’re not making large payments on a car you don’t even want.