Airstream funeral coach

Kevin Lynch

PCS Member
Anyone remember, see, or own one of the Airstream Funeral Coaches? There were a limited amount made. A friend of mine asked me to find one about 10 years ago then his interest shifted elsewhere. I'm guessing these were made in the 80s.....
 

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The complete story of these Airstream "funeral cars" was related, along with production numbers, in an issue of The Professional Car magazine several years back.I'll have to see if I can find that particular edition.
 
Airstream dusted off a 1930s idea for that contrivance.
https://www.airstream.com/blog/history-spotlight-the-airstream-funeral-coach/

Given the timeframe and fuel situation it should have flown, but my hunch is many FDs shied away from it because they didn't have a place to park the coach, although I do know one FD built his new location with a sunken parking stall with a 14 foot overhead door.

I've also wondered if the then President of Airstream wasn't kin to a family that invented a lot of earthmoving equipment. Never managed to get close enough to an Airstream coach to determine if it was sitting atop a John Deere frame, such would have made sense rather than building and Certifying their own frame.

As to coaches and cemeteries I can assure anyone minimally 2 nomenclatures were invented to deal with that situation; Push Up pole and SLALOM! Minimal cost of a tree meeting a rooftop AC unit in 85 was $3300- if one elected to iron out the roof rather than replace. I know 2 Coach owners who would love to interface with Cemetery designers about tree placement.
 
Anyone remember, see, or own one of the Airstream Funeral Coaches? There were a limited amount made. I'm guessing these were made in the 80s.....

The Sytsema Funeral Homes here in Muskegon, MI had one for a couple of years, not sure where it ended up and it was quite a departure for this extremely conservative and traditional funeral home to own something like that.
 
John N. Santieu & Son Funeral Home in Garden City Mi. ran 2 of them, shown here , this photo was taken a couple years back.
 

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The complete story of these Airstream "funeral cars" was related, along with production numbers, in an issue of The Professional Car magazine several years back.I'll have to see if I can find that particular edition.

#140 (2nd quarter, 2011)

Easy to find using the searchable TPC database found on this year's PCS membership CD.
 
I wouldn't want to use one of those for any of my loved ones. Too much like shoving the casket into the luggage compartment on a Greyhound bus or airliner. Not at all dignified.
 
I wouldn't want to use one of those for any of my loved ones. Too much like shoving the casket into the luggage compartment on a Greyhound bus or airliner. Not at all dignified.

One of the most dignified funerals I can recall involved a man who carried his wife's casket from SLC to Rochester in the cargo compartment of their converted MCI coach. He also flew a NY Licensed FD to SLC to accompany the body and deal with legal formalities that might pop up.
Looking back at the event, it was among the most dignified funerals I can recall. That coach was their home for a few years, and the 32 hour trip satisfied what both desired.

Pomp is not a measure of dignity, and Dollars expended aren't either. Many good men have taken their last ride in the back of a pickup in farm country accompanied by family and neighbors. Would you suggest that is undignified? Need and circumstance should and often do drive spending.

I can trace hearse/buses back to the 30s when they came to market to fill what was thought to be a need to transport the family to the then developing cemetery no longer in the city church yard. Most people in that time didn't own cars, so transport was a problem. The bus+ was designed to fill that need, and appears to have flopped as a marketed product.
Airstream's reintroduction when they did it in an era of contrived fuel shortages and crashing RV sales proved to be a solution in search of a need, and it too appears to have been a flop.
Your opinion may vary from mine. That's fine by me.
 
Totally different situation. None of the folks that rode to their grave in that airstream funeral coach had any connection to it in life. I completely understand using a vehicle that the deceased had a connection to in life, There is an un-limited number of those situations where that might be the case(Fireman, EMT, horse-lover, etc.) Not the case here.
 
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A tale my wifes little Irish grandmother used to tell was of the funeral her aunt had. They hired the Funeral Trolley yes this was in Philadelphia early 1900s. Anyway the way she told me was the family and the casket were riding on the trolley apparently it went by the FH and to the cemetery entrance. Along the way it was moving along and collided with an Horse drawn Ice Wagon. The horse was killed the wagon overturned and the trolley derailed to the point it hit a telegraph pole. The mourners were thrown off and about but no one hurt badly. The casket left the trolley landed in the street and opened the deceased in the street. Now this is where it gets interesting. According to grandma the MEN put the body back in the casket closed it up called (at a nearby store) for a horse and wagon it came they loaded the casket a livery carriage was called and the whole procession continued to the cemetery for the service and burial. She said they were torn and tattered but we all got it done.Her favorite was whats the difference between and Irish wedding and an Irish wake? Answer one less drunk.
 
The D.U.R.(Detroit Urban Railway) a private streetcar company that ran in much of Southeast Michigan in the late 19th/early 20th Century had a funeral coach. Here is a quote and a link to a Detroit News article about it.quote:
A unique trolley car was the DUR's funeral car, introduced in 1901. Detroit was one of a few cities to have such a car, and it was booked solid. It hauled anybody who had been anybody to the cemetery. The funeral car was black, with no name or number, and had an opening near the front to receive the casket. It stayed in service from 1901 to 1917. Each of the large cemeteries of the time maintained a loop of track to accommodate the car. The mourners rode right along with the corpse, coffin and family in front, guests in the rear.



http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=50&category=life

And regarding the Airstream and lack of dignity, cannot be any worse than the interment of my F-I-L's cremains. Funeral home personnel arrived at the cemetery at the appointed time carrying his ashes in the trunk of a Town Car. I kind of expected a first call vehicle but I don't think the thought of how he would be brought crossed either my wife's or my sister in law's mind when they made the arrangements nor was that discussed by the FH.
 
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My grandmother got a mine van. The problem with the motor home was that cemeteries were not designed to except that large a rig. Riding all togather is what limos are for. To me it's the wrong color and has no destination as intended use .
 
Philly's last funeral Trolly
http://www.phillytrolley.org/HarryFoesigCollection/Harry-Foesig_03.html

A remaining funeral trolly The 'Descanso' streetcar in Los Angeles is the only funeral trolley still in existence and is displayed at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum in Perris, CA. Built in 1909 and available for chartered use by funeral parties at a cost of about $25, it was quite successful in its day.

https://www.citylab.com/transportat...scanso-or-when-death-rode-rails-america/5478/

Inside pics of Descano car
https://pbase.com/franklan/descanso_trolley_funeral_car
 
The complete story of the "One Car Funeral" - funeral omnibuses and the like - from horse-drawn vehicles to the modern, was told in a lengthy, well-illustrated article by Tom McPherson in The Professional Car #140 (second quarter, 2011). This article also contained the production statistics for the Airstream funeral coaches.
 
Another big issues with these types of vehicles is the number of people who might potentially be hurt, if involved in a traffic accident. In a standard procession, you might possible have one vehicle involved in a traffic accident. With these things, you might end up with the entire group of people injured. If one of these Airstream coaches were to be broad-sided, there is a good chance that it would end up on its side.
 
Just came back from the funeral for a radio collector friend dropped dead at 60 a shame. At the FH the urn was present after the service it was loaded into a Mopar mini van with strobes and landau panels in the 1/4 windows for trip to the church and then on to cemetery. Wife said the expense of the hearse was to her was not needed due to the precremation and wanted the lunch to be "Memorable". I was the end car in the procession with a P71 Crown Vic with strobes. Once again today everyone has different views on how to handle a funeral.
 
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Airstream Coach

I worked at a FH/Cemetery combo in the early 80's that had one. It may have have been the only one of it's kind built by Airstream. It was not painted in the Silver/Grey color that most were, it was Gold & Rust Brown, instead of having a restroom on board it had an accordion door that opened to reveal the casket area where a rental casket could be displayed on a stationary bier (The Boss wanted to use it as a mobile sales office also). It had a small refrigerator, coffee maker and a small sink in a galley upfront of the coach. It was a great idea but not for a FH based at a cemetery where 90% of the services were held. I mostly used it as a limo to pick up the family and transport them to the service.
 
Our local livery service had a 1985 Airstream coach in the ‘90s. I used it once for an interment in central Wisconsin. Will never forget the look on the faces of the vault man and grave digger when they saw it. Of course, there was an arch over the cemetery gate, making it necessary for the pallbearers to carry the casket into the cemetery!

This same vehicle was our “command post” for the 1996 PCS International Meet in St. Paul, MN.
 
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