Dale Dougherty of MAKE writes: "My friend Larry Marten's father passed away last week and Larry set out to build his coffin. But figuring how to build a coffin was the easy part of this DIY story."
He was required to get a permit from the county to transport his father. The woman at the county office said that they don't issue permits to individuals but to businesses licensed to do this work. She refused to issue the permit but Larry refused to leave without one. He thinks that he just finally wore her down and he got the permit.
At every point, he met resistance as though it was the craziest thing they'd ever heard of. Only professionals are allowed to do it, he was told, and there are all kinds of regulations. He was determined, however, and in the end, everyone at the hospital and county turned around and became helpful and came to respect his decision.
Larry said they brought his father's body out on the stretcher to the loading dock, which was strangely situated next to the cafeteria. He picked up his father, and by himself, placed the body in the coffin in the back of his truck. Larry told me that he felt his father was with him, driving up I-5 to the small town of Orland.
When he got the body to the mortuary, the mortician couldn't believe it. Earlier in the day, the mortician had said that there was no way Larry would be allowed to move the body himself.
After a day, the mortician called Larry to say that the coffin he built was too large, despite the fact that the same mortician had given him the dimensions.
