Even a real-life Santa Claus cannot escape this life without taking a last ride in a Cadillac hearse.
This story comes from North College Hill near Cincinnati, Ohio. For nearly four decades, Bill Zapf has given out thousands of candy canes to people that visited his decorated him. He did this between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year as people stopped to admire his dazzling light display which he referred to as “the glow.” His display always had more lights “per square foot than any other place in town.” This year, the display had 60,000 bulbs, but they weren’t in a dazzling display. Instead, they spelled out “Bill Zapf, 1940-2008.”
The Cadillac hearse that was used to transport Zapf to his final resting place honored his memory by having antlers mounted on the two side windows and a big red Rudolph-like nose on the front grill. Zapf’s SUV was parked near the Cadillac hearse and it had a family of plastic snowmen in the front seat. The pallbearers even paid their respects at the burial site by wearing Santa hats.
Bill Zapf would’ve been proud of the sendoff he received. To some, he was as real as Santa Claus will ever get. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family this Christmas season.
