Interest sought in coffin-making club

This coffin was designed and painted to replicate the tram driven by a tram driver all of his working life.

The jokes are obvious, and probably old, but there is a serious side to the idea of building your own coffin.

Katikati's Dennis Beach has a coffin, all measured up and ready, in among the other tools and timber in his garage.

He built it with the help of a coffin-making club in Tauranga, and says he believes the Katikati community would benefit from a similar club.

Next week he will hold a public meeting to gauge interest.

Dennis began thinking about the idea after a friend's wife died last year and, in his grief, the friend had very few ideas about his wife's wishes for her funeral.

He then saw an article in The Shed magazine about the Rotorua-based Kiwi Coffin Club.

"That's when I thought 'why not have one here?' There's nothing in it for me, it's purely because of the distress I saw from the family in Auckland."

There is much more to the idea than simply nailing pieces of plywood together. Underlying the concept is the chance to make sure affairs are in order to make things easier for loved ones.

Dennis looked into the various requirements, and the more he discovered, the more he realised could be done in advance.

He got in touch with members of the Rotorua club and discovered members have put together a folder called My Final Workbook. In it there are the forms and places to record funeral wishes and details of bank accounts, insurance policies and a will.

"Everything is in there for the people who are left behind to sort the whole thing out. If you complete all the paperwork and put everything in a box inside the coffin, when the event occurs, all someone has to do is take the box out and add the final details."

Dennis would like to bring people with the necessary woodworking skills on board to help with the practical side of making a coffin - possibly retired builders or carpenters - and has a space lined up to be used.

One of the beauties of the idea is that, once they are built, people will be able to put their own personal touches to their coffins.

"Another advantage, of course, is the cost," says Dennis.

By definition, clubs are likely to have a high turnover of membership, but even taking this into account the Rotorua club currently has 40-50 members.

The club also provides coffins for the police, if required, and makes small caskets for the local hospital for still births.

Dennis' meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 7 at Katikati Community Resource Centre between 3pm and 4pm. He can be contacted on 549 0390.

He says he feels he has now done as much as he can on his own and needs to see if there is enough interest to take things further.

"I just feel that, perhaps, such a thing here would be a big service to the community," he says.