Recently, we reported on a man who was to be buried in a casket made of wood from a tree he had fought to protect. Now, here's another story involving someone with a passion for wood and his final resting place:
After his wife passed away, lifelong finish carpenter Ray Sullivan began thinking about his own mortality. His wife was buried in a casket handmade by monks, and Sullivan decided he would be buried in a handmade casket, too-but he would do the making.
A neighbor of Sullivan's in Robins, Iowa, cut down a walnut tree, and Sullivan took the opportunity to count its rings. It had 80, proving that the tree started growing around 1930, the same year Sullivan was born. "This tree is my age. We'll be going together," Sullivan told the Associated Press.
The 6-foot-long casket has brass handles and a screw-down top. Sullivan included a decorative border with 144 break-off tabs bearing his initials. "I don't know that I've got that many friends," Sullivan told the Associated Press, "but for however many that show up, they can take one."
