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NOVEMBER 2014
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
My friend Lee came to me four years ago to put his
arrangements in writing. When Lee began to describe
his wishes, I stopped him and had him put them down
pen-to-paper in his own handwriting.
Lee always led his life in a unique manner. In the
late 1980s Lee created the first of its kind AIDS Hos-
pices. Places where men and women with AIDS could
be cared for and die with dignity. Remember, this was
a time when convalescent hospitals would not accept
AIDS patients. Lee stepped up to the plate over and
over again when families turned their backs on their
deceased relatives due to the social stigma surround-
ing AIDS. Lee helped those who were abandoned
by arranging their cremation usually out of his own
pocket. Today those AIDS Hospices are now used as
private residences where individuals living with AIDS
What Would You Do?
Ken McKenzie puts final touches on his work.
By Kenneth McKenzie, McKenzie Mortuary Services
and HIV can rent a room to call home. He was truly
one-of-a-kind.
So back to my story, Lee wrote down his request. He
wished to be embalmed, placed in a sitting position
on an elaborate throne, and dressed to the nines in a
new tuxedo with his favorite drink next to him. Lee
was a “young” 70-year-old, who died suddenly with
brain cancer recently. When I got the call that he had
died at home I was a bit shocked and nervous. How
was I going to have to explain to the family what his
wishes were?! (Thank god I asked him to write the
wishes down in his own penmanship!) When I arrived
at the residence his family and friends were gathered
around his bed crying, knowing that Lee had left
these unusual requests they said, “Lee told us he had
left instruction for you and he trusted you to care for
him.” I felt a bit relieved they had broken the ice and
opened his file and began
to read his words:
“Everyone knows I have
lived my life the way I see
fit, so my funeral will be
the same. Ken is to place
me in throne, dress me in
a new tuxedo, place my
favorite drink on an an-
tique table next to me, and
light some candles. It shall
be a viewing meant for a
King.” When I finished
reading I looked at the
eight sets of eyes that were
looking through me. My
brain quickly came up
with… “More like a view-
ing for a QUEEN!” The
laughter softened up the
tone in the room.
I embalmed Lee’s body
and placed him in a large
elegant chair that I had lo-
cated at an antique store
down the street. While I
was preparing Lee’s body
I kept thinking to my-
self, “This doesn’t seem
right, should I really be
doing this?” I had to stop
myself and correct my
thinking: it would only be
wrong if I had ignored his
wishes.
What would you do?
Kenneth McKenzie found-
ed
McKenzie Mortuary
in
Long Beach, CA in 1994, and
has made a name for himself
not only as a funeral director,
but as a public advocate for
the industry. McKenzie, a fu-
neral director of 24 years, first
became interested in the profes-
sion when he was 12, just after
his father’s suicide.
He created the
Men of
Mortuaries
monthly calendar
in 2006, which then inspired
his first book
Mortuary Con-
fidential: Undertakers Spill
the Dirt
. Proceeds from both
the calendar and book benefit
Breast Cancer Awareness. His
latest book is
Over Our Dead