Venezuela's Carlos Andres Perez burial limbo continues

The body of the former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez will remain in a Miami funeral home until a trial in March to decide where he should be buried, a judge has ruled.

The body of Mr Perez is the subject of a legal stand-off between the two main women in his life.

His estranged widow wants to bring him back to Venezuela for burial.

But his long-term mistress insists he wanted to be buried in Florida, his home for more than a decade.

Lawyers for the two families have now agreed that his body will stay in a refrigerated unit in the funeral home until the legal stand-off is resolved, with the cost shared between them.

Mr Perez died of a heart attack in Miami on 25 December, at the age of 88.

The family feud erupted soon after his death.

Mr Perez's long-term partner Cecilia Perez Matos and their two daughters say he had made clear he did not want to be buried in Venezuela as long as President Hugo Chavez was in power.

But Mr Perez's estranged wife, Blanca Perez Rodriguez, whom he never divorced, insists she has a legal right to bring his body back to Venezuela. She and her children filed a suit to stop his burial in Florida.

Rocky presidency

Mr Perez served as president of Venezuela between 1974 and 1979, and again between 1989 and 1993.

His second term was marred by allegations of corruption. After standing down, he was sentenced to 28 months in prison for misappropriation of public funds.

He spent the first few months in a jail in Caracas, but was allowed to serve the rest of his term under house arrest.

He survived two coup attempts in 1992, the first of which was led by Mr Chavez, who was then a young army lieutenant colonel.

Based in Miami, Mr Perez fought extradition demands by the current Venezuelan government over his role in the suppression of riots in 1989, when hundreds of people were shot by the army.

Dog's presence at funeral home a surprise to some and a comfort to most

Terry Palmer remembers it well -- the moment that validated his decision to allow, of all things, a dog into his funeral home.

Palmer was making funeral arrangements for a family, and when one of the family members started to cry, the dog walked over to the woman and gently laid its head in her lap.

In that moment, Wilson, a therapy dog in training, offered the sort of solace only an animal could provide, Palmer said.

That's why the yellow Labrador retriever has been a fixture at Fawcett, Oliver, Glass and Palmer Funeral Home since his arrival this past September.

"He adds an extra dimension to what we do," Palmer said. "We notice that families are more relaxed with him around."

Palmer said it's important for a funeral home to feel like a home, not a mortuary, and Wilson helps accomplish that.

During visitations, he joins Palmer at the door where mourners appreciate his understated greetings.

"He doesn't rush to approach people, and I think they like that," Palmer said.

And yet, it's not uncommon to find kids tugging on Wilson's fur or grown men, dressed in suits, sitting on the floor and petting him.

"We tell them (families) we have a therapy dog in training and ask if it's alright. We have not had a single family say 'no,'" said Kim Palmer, Terry's daughter-in-law and Wilson's main handler.

"We've received several 'thank you' letters that specifically mentioned him," said Jon Palmer, Kim's husband.

Terry Palmer said the three of them first discussed the idea of introducing a dog into the funeral home environment a couple years ago.

"The kids took it and really ran with it," he said.

Jon and Kim Palmer were recent mortuary school graduates last fall when they first saw Wilson at the Ross County Humane Society and Animal Shelter.

"It was by chance that we ran across him, and he just had that look," Kim said.

"He came to work the very next day," Jon said. "He's been here pretty much every day since."

Like so many rescue dogs, Wilson was underweight and skittish when the Palmers adopted him. A previous owner had neglected him and left him to fend for himself in the outdoors, they said.

Thanks to a steady diet, liberal doses of affection and some obedience training, Wilson still is a little skittish, "but he's coming out of his shell," Kim said.

Wilson is docile when he needs to be, but he hasn't abandoned his canine tendencies. He occasionally chases his tail and likes to get wound up before crashing for a nap.

"He has a job, but it's very important for him to be a dog," Kim said.

A convention... for fans of undertakers?

BOURNEMOUTH is set to host the first ever convention dedicated to cult US television show Six Feet Under, which was set around a family-owned funeral business in California.

Organiser Brian Jenner hopes fellow fans will seize the opportunity to spend a weekend in the resort next August, and hear talks from an embalmer, an undertaker, academics, writers and former Daily Telegraph obituaries editor Andrew McKie.

He plans to offer them the chance to picnic in the “stunningly beautiful” Wimborne Road cemetery, sit in a hearse, watch a screening of the film Harold and Maude, and take part in sessions to discuss their favourite characters and episodes.

Although planning is in the very early stages, he also hopes to persuade some of the cast members and others involved with the programme to turn up.

HBO series Six Feet Under was created and produced by Alan Ball, who also wrote the 1999 Oscar-winning movie American Beauty and created the more recent TV hit True Blood.

Its 63 episodes – each starting with a death – revolved around the dysfunctional Fisher family and screened in the USA between 2001 and 2005. The stellar cast included James Cromwell, Rachel Griffiths, Mena Suvari, Patricia Clarkson and Kathy Bates.

Writer Mr Jenner said the programme had nearly half a million fans on Facebook, and some were already expressing interest in attending the convention.

“I was at school with Sam Mendes, director of American Beauty, which was Alan Ball’s first big hit. The fact that Alan Ball has written to me and wished me good luck I feel is an endorsement. The next step is to write to all the key members of the cast.”

Tickets are not due to go on sale until March.

Pioneering coffin cart unveiled.

A supplier of environmentally friendly funeral items is using the National Funeral Exhibition in June to showcase two of its latest products, one of which is new to the UK market.

Fine Timber Products, which is based on the border of Shropshire and Worcestershire, will be unveiling its pioneering coffin cart at the funeral service exhibition (stand C2A), as well as a water hyacinth and cane coffin which is a new addition to the firm’s portfolio.

Owner of FTP, James Meynell, said: “I can not think of a more appropriate event at which to display these products to the trade than at the NFE, though we will also be exhibiting our core range of seagrass, wicker and bamboo coffins.

“I am sure that the coffin cart, which is made of wicker and soft wood, will raise a few eyebrows but only because they are new to this country – I am pretty confident that there will be a positive reaction.

“I introduced the cart to our product list because there is often quite a distance for coffins to travel on these sites, and the carts are light, easy to manoeuvre and surprisingly robust.

“This is important because they will need to stand up well to the terrain of natural burial, which is where I see them being particularly useful. I personally like their appearance and I think they would blend in extremely well at both green and traditional funerals.”

FTP is also introducing oval examples of the water hyacinth and cane coffins to its existing range and Mr Meynell is confident that they will prove extremely popular.

“ They are certainly visually pleasing and robust, but perhaps more importantly their harvest actually aids the environment,” he said.

“We are procuring them from China where water hyacinth has to be controlled or it potentially clogs up lakes and waterways, blocking out sunlight which is vital for plants and starving the water of oxygen. Furthermore it grows like a weed and therefore it replenishes extremely easily.”

The ultimate hearse?

It’s been around a little while now, but I finally got a photo of the Maserati hearse from Intercar at Funexpo. The late Polish President Lech Kaczynski took his final journey in one, and for £250,000!!!!!!! I'll have two please.

We are back!!!

Sorry for lack of posts. I've been busy with other projects to help the cause of the independents!

This is interesting.