Ted Kennedy 's Hearse.

Watching the D.C. portion of the funeral now. Same FH plates in the window and of course a black Masterpeice. Could be a different car though (possibly a Gawler's car since in D.C.) since SCI pretty much orders the same thing in most cases across the board. Looks like the same guys in D.C. as at the Kennedy Compound to. And lots of Dignity umbrellas about too.
 
SCI-Dignity

From a non-funeral home person, what is the connection between SCI and Dignity. I noticed one of our local single outlet FH's here in San Diego County now has the Dignity logo next to their original name along with a complete remodel of their facilities. MM
 
Mike McDonald said:
From a non-funeral home person, what is the connection between SCI and Dignity. I noticed one of our local single outlet FH's here in San Diego County now has the Dignity logo next to their original name along with a complete remodel of their facilities. MM
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Dignity Memorial is a branding name that SCI has for the funeral services that they offer. They have anything package wise from just a basic funeral and cremation services that go all the way up to Platinum packages that offer how ever many limos you want for a service, bronze caskets and vaults, leather bound register books with gold foil lettering, custom matted portraits of the deseased and fully catered meals at a funeral and the like. These packages even have the memorial DVD packages, aftercare planning, grief counseling and insurance rider policies for children and grandchildren. And they put that Dignity logo on everything even the flower truck, register book and even on the mass and memorial cards.
 
John Dorgan said:
"The world will little note nor long remember what he said here, but it can never forget what he did here".
Rest in peace Mary Jo.
John Dorgan
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Here's another famous quote: "Let those without sin cast the first stone".

Jim
 
I saw Bob Boetticher in one of those scenes.

SCI special projects guru Bob Boetticher who also runs the museum in Houston is obviously running things.
 
While we knew of Senator Kennedy's health situation, it's still somewhat hard to believe that the "Lion of the Senate" is indeed gone. I would like to think that he is now enjoying the company of his siblings, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.

God bless you, Senator. You are already deeply and truly missed.
 
Change of hearse

I just finished watching some of the highlights of the Kennedy funeral, specifically the DC portion. The coach was changed to a Federal Oval Window hearse. I don't know who provided it as I did not see any nameplates in the window. My guess is that the casket was flown down from Boston thus the change in coaches. And for what it is worth, the coach was a 2008 body style while all the limousines appeared to be the 2000 body style.
 
Yes, they flew the casket down, it would have taken too long to drive.

Here's a really bad photo of the DC coach (yes, I took a picture of the TV screen, best I could do, but better than nothing). No nameplates, but it did have license plates on it. I've not seen this car around, though I'm not in DC every day. It's nice, though, that they used a limousine-style coach.
 

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I've never been a big fan of the oval window design and have not seen that many used in funeral service. But now that the design was thrust in to the public eye due to the Kennedy funeral, does anyone believe that funeral directors may start looking more towards that design or keep with the traditional landau design? Just food for thought.
 
I wonder if any thought is given to using a classic coach when a high profile funeral is planned. It would, in my opinion, be very dignified and memorable.
 
Did anyone notice the second (landau) hearse towards the end of the funeral procession?
 
Jim Staruk said:
Did anyone notice the second (landau) hearse towards the end of the funeral procession?
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Thanks for posting that question Jim. I had other things going on but as I was watching the procession via dvr I spotted the second Hearse in the back just in front of a black Mini-bus. :confused:

Any ideas folks other than for the flowers?
 
The second hearse was for backup in case anything happened to the hearse carrying the casket. In any high profile funeral I was involved in the second hearse was always there if needed. Sometimes driving in procession or driving a parrallel route.
 
Tim Cenowa said:
The second hearse was for backup in case anything happened to the hearse carrying the casket. In any high profile funeral I was involved in the second hearse was always there if needed. Sometimes driving in procession or driving a parrallel route.
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Thanks for the explanation...So much for faith in the machinery. :(
 
Tony Karsnia said:
It is virtually impossible to tell the year of an S&S coach from 2006-2009. I suppose there may be some minor interior trim differences (and I have doubts about even that), but the exteriors look exactly the same to me.

Personally, I think the 2000 - 2002 Masterpieces looked better with the forward slanted "C" pillar. I know of one funeral director (PCS member Chad Oolman) who had an '03 Masterpiece specially built with that feature because he did not like the redesigned "C" pillar with the rearward slant.
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Oooooo, I hadn't noticed this change in Masterpiece styling! Those cars are so rare around here I haven't seen enough of them to notice. Does the Northland site have some reference photos, Tony? I guess it's interesting that two different make hearses were used for Ted K's service, though I've always thought Federal styling to be awkward. The oval window idea must have come from the old horse drawn oval shaped hearses, right? At least there have been some attempts at "new" styling ideas lately, like the Echelon and Imperial/Premier.
 
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