March 2017

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Page B13 MARCH 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on B
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National Museum of African American History Exhibit Opening
History and Culture ac-
quired the casket through
family donation.
It was released in January
2017, that during an inter-
view conducted in 2008
with a historian writing a
book on the case, Carolyn
Bryant Donham had ad-
mitted she had lied about
the claim that Till made
advances towards her.
Thacker has been in-
volved with the casket res-
toration project since 2010
when museum curators
simply visited Thacker’s fa-
cility to learn more about
the funeral industry and
caskets. After the Smith-
sonian decided to official-
ly add the casket as an ex-
hibit, the curators again
reached out to Thacker,
this time looking for help
with the restoration of the
casket.
“I visited the Smithson-
ian Research Center where
I got to see the casket in its
original state. The casket
had been put into a shed
and therefore it was rust-
ed, discolored and the fab-
ric had been in poor shape.
The Smithsonian had dis-
assembled it to do analysis
on the entire casket includ-
ing its paint, head panel
and even down to the fi-
bers in the fabric,” says
Justin Thacker, director of
manufacturing at Thack-
er Caskets. The casket was
analyzed for about a year at
the Smithsonian research
facility where every origi-
nal piece of the casket was
cataloged by Smithsonian
team members to ensure
that the restoration was as
period-correct as possible.
The casket was then
shipped from Washington,
DC to Thacker’s manufac-
turing plant in Florence,
AL where the restoration
work began. Justin and the
museum conservators met
in Alabama to begin the
restoration process. The
majority of the casket com-
ponents and parts were re-
stored directly by Thack-
er, but for those that could
not be restored, Thacker
used its network of con-
nections in the funeral in-
dustry to find and source
time-period casket compo-
nents so the casket would
be as original as possible.
In addition, select mem-
bers of Thacker’s sewing
department worked dili-
gently to sew the interior
using a method specific to
the time-period method
that is not currently used
in casket production.
In a thank you letter to
Thacker Caskets, a senior
conservator referenced the
restoration process and
Thacker’s team, “We seri-
ally disrupted almost every
section of the finishing de-
partment [specifically], but
everyone was kind and gra-
cious – and conscientious-
ly worked to re-create the
semblance of the original
1955 casket we sought.”
They went on to note, “I
don’t know that it helps
for everyone to realize that
they are playing an impor-
tant part in the regenera-
tion of the American spirit,
or that they have seen the
finished casket before Pres-
ident Obama does on Sep-
tember 24th.”
“It was true honor to be
working to restore the cas-
ket of Emmett Till, a civil
rights case that I had read
about in my high school
and college American his-
tory classes,” said Justin
who led the restoration ef-
fort on behalf of Thacker.
“Our team at our manu-
facturing plant was hon-
ored to be a part of history
in restoring the Till casket
that is such a pivotal piece
of African American histo-
ry. This casket will be seen
by millions of people and
Emmett Till’s tragic sto-
ry will continue to edu-
cate people from around
the world as they visit the
National Museum of Afri-
can American History and
Culture.”
In all, Justin and the team
at Thacker put hundreds of
hours into the casket that
will be a permanent fixture
at the National Museum
of African American His-
tory and Culture, which
opened on September 24,
2016.
Since 1939, Thacker has
been committed to serv-
ing the funeral industry in-
clusive of the restoration
efforts to this historically
significant civil rights arti-
fact. For more information
on Thacker Caskets, visit
all
800-637-8891.
Thacker Leads
Restoration of the
Emmett Till Casket
Wilbert First Responders Program helps 111 Families
Twelve Wilbert Licensees Recognized for
Special Achievements
BROADVIEW,IL— Twelve Wilbert li-
censees were recognized for sales ac-
complishments at the Wilbert Funer-
al Services, Inc (WFSI) Annual Sales
Meeting recently held inHouston, TX.
Whited Cemetery Service, Menifee,
CA received both of the top awards
for sales growth in lined burial vaults,
achieving the greatest increase in the
number of burial vaults interred in
2016 over 2015, as well as the greatest
percentage increase year-over-year.
For cremation product sales, Ar-
nold Wilbert Corporation, Golds-
boro, NC earned the award for the
greatest growth in units. Windsor
Vault Co. Limited, Maidstone, On-
tario achieved the greatest percentage
growth in cremation products.
Also related to cremation products
is the WilbertDirect award achieved
by Baxter Burial Vault Service, Inc,
Cincinnati, OH, which recognizes the
greatest growth in sales on theWilbert-
Direct ecommerce website.
Ten Wilbert Licensees received the
Wilbert 110% Club award, which rec-
ognizes those whose 2016 burial vault
sales were at least 110 percent of their
2015 sales. Recipients were: Whit-
ed Cemetery Service, Menifee, CA;
Knauer Industries, LLC, Joliet, IL;
Wilbert Vault Works, Hudson, NY;
Brown-Wilbert, Inc, Fargo, ND; The
Akron Vault Co, Akron, OH; Evans
Burial Vaults, Leola, PA; Lycoming
Burial Vault Co, Inc, Montoursville,
PA; Wilbert Funeral Services, Austin,
TX; Wilbert Funeral Services, Ce-
dar Hill, TX; and Windsor Vault Co.
Limited, Maidstone, Ontario.
“These special achievements illus-
trate the dedication and excellent ser-
vice these licensees provide to funer-
al professionals and the families they
serve,” said Mark Klingenberger,
vice-president of sales and marketing,
WFSI. “Ultimately it’s all about the
experience that families receive and
the quality of the products and excel-
lence of the service help frame a good
experience. Congratulations to these
Wilbert licensees for their exceptional
accomplishments.”
BROADVIEW,IL— The fam-
ilies of 111 fallen first re-
sponders were served in 2016
by Commemorating First Re-
sponders®, a philanthrop-
ic program of Wilbert Fu-
neral Services, Inc. (WFSI).
The program and its licensees
throughout the United States
and Canada were honored
to donate burial vaults, urn
vaults, urns, and a graveside
service to first responders who
died in the line of duty.
Families of firefighters, law
enforcement officers and
emergency medical person-
nel received a Wilbert Stain-
less Steel Triune® burial vault
when traditional burial was chosen. If cremation was chosen,
Wilbert offered families a choice of any urn in their catalog or
online; if the cremated remains were to be buried, a Stainless
Steel Triune urn vault was also provided. Each vault is able to
be customized with a Wilbert Legacy Series print depicting
the hero’s profession, donated by partner Legacy Prints, or a
print that is personalized with photos.
In 2016 the burden for the families of 72 law enforcement of-
ficers, 36 firefighters, and 3 emergency medical personnel was
made a little lighter because of the program. Since the program’s
inception in 2012, 600 first responders have been served.
The nearly 200-strong network of Wilbert licensees shared in
the contribution of the burial vault and urn vault, but also pro-
vided, where permitted, a WilbertWay® graveside setup, which
displays the vault cover and then seals and lowers the vault.
“The first responder community has been extremely ap-
preciative of the help the Wilbert network provides to
families who lose a loved one in a line of duty death,” said
Terry Whitlock, WFSI vice president, licensee relations.
“But it pales in comparison to the service provided by all
first responders.”
Visit and the Commemorating
First Responders Facebook page
WilbertFuneralServices for more information on the pro-
gram and the brave men and women who have fallen while
in service to their communities.
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