Okay, so this is new.
Marin Funeral Home in San Juan, Puerto Rico are spearheading a new trend of embalming the deceased to look like they’re still alive. This is 26-year-old Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato who was tragically shot and killed outside his home.
His family told Buzzfeed that they wanted to remember Fernando as the active young man that he was. The funeral home has pioneered “standing” funerals since 2008. The first was 24-year-old Ángel Luis Pantojas, a murder victim in Puerto Rico.
“When he died, the family told us they would like him to be standing up,” Damaris Marin, the home’s director, told BuzzFeed News. “We thought that it was a joke. Then his mom came to the funeral home and we realized it was serious.”
Lhizz Díaz Beato told Buzzfeed that her mother kept a chair covered in protective plastic and her brother would often try to sit on it.
He often joked that he would “only be able to use it when I die”.
He was most commonly found sitting with a cigar and black cap and that’s how his family wanted to remember him.
“Some people say that it doesn’t look good,” said a spokesperson from the funeral home. “They prefer something more traditional. But if that’s something that the family wants, why wouldn’t you do it?”
