Honorable way to be buried'
By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff Friday, July 04, 2008
And what the 79-year-old Korean War veteran wants is a casket made by veterans, for veterans.
Lecy is near the end of a two-year battle with prostate cancer that he knows he will lose. When he does, he plans to be buried at Black Hills National Cemetery in a simple wooden casket from the Veterans Honored Interment program.
VHI caskets, each built from two sheets of laminate-enhanced plywood, are the brainchild of the late Paul Redfield, a former resident of the Michael J. Fitzmaurice South Dakota Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Redfield began the VHI program in 1999, with a little help from his friends -- Gary Schuh, the manager of PRO-Build in Hot Springs, and Les Zimiga. Redfield was buried in the prototype casket a few years ago, but he wanted to guarantee that all veterans, regardless of their financial circumstances, had a dignified burial vessel.
Initially, all of the caskets were made at the veterans home, but the demand for them soon outpaced the limitations of the residents' age and woodworking abilities. Now, additional coffins are crafted by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 268 in Sioux Falls.
The caskets are available to any veteran or their spouse who is a South Dakota resident. The only other requirements are an honorable discharge from the military and a South Dakota burial, according to VHI treasurer Peg Sperlich. The program asks for a suggested donation of $250 per casket to cover the costs of materials, but the caskets are free to anyone who needs one. To date, the VHI program has made 71 caskets and 20 cremation urns, and they have gone all throughout South Dakota.
Sperlich tries to keep about 10 finished caskets and 10 urns on hand, but they can also be reserved well in advance. Currently, there are 68 names on a waiting list, she said.
Although the mortuary business might be expected to be less than enthusiastic about the inexpensive casket program for veterans, Sperlich said funeral directors have come to embrace it.
"We get great support from our funeral homes. They know it's an honorable way to be buried," Sperlich said.
Lecy's casket -- with its dark mahogany stain and its six brass handles -- looked exactly like any VHI casket, until Sturgis rosemaler Evelyn Morrison got hold of it.
The casket is now adorned with the uniquely Scandinavian floral artwork called rosemaling in its trademark jewel tones of red, blue and gold. Like Lecy, Morrison is a full-blooded Norwegian. She is known in the area for her rosemaling, her lefse and the sugar cookies she paints with rosemal designs. But this is the first casket she has ever rosemaled.
"My granddaughter-in-law said, 'Grandma, from cookies to caskets, you've come a long way,'" Morrison said.
She also painted a small image of the armored tanks that Lecy drove in Korea on the lower right-hand corner of the lid. He earned a combat infantry badge after serving a year on the front lines in Korea.
"I'm a Korean War vet, and I'm 100 percent Norwegian, so it seemed to fit," Lecy said from his hospice bed at Fort Meade VA Medical Center.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars on an expensive commercial casket, Vern Lecy gave the VHI program a $500 donation to cover the cost of two "vessels of honor." One for him, and one for an indigent veteran.
The low-cost casket also appealed to Lecy's "frugality," according to his wife, Eileen. At first, she admits, she wasn't thrilled with the idea.
"I joked that I was going to have an asterisk at the end of the obituary that said, "Eileen did not choose this casket," she said. "We're not rich people, but we're not poor. We could afford any casket he wanted."
But she has come to understand and to appreciate the deep meaning this simple casket holds for her husband of 21 years.
"He's very proud of being a veteran. This casket is made by veterans for veterans. It's a special thing because it's made by people he honors and who honor him," Eileen said.
Like many veterans of the "Forgotten War," Lecy -- one of four Minnesota cousins who were activated by the National Guard at the same time -- didn't speak about his combat experience much over the years. "When we got back, a lot of people didn't want to hear our war stories," he said.
Eventually, he opened the Linoleum Center in Rapid City with Art LaCroix and Cy Pettigrew, later moving to Spearfish, where he owned another flooring business, Versatile Carpets.
Korea was hard, cold and miserable, he said. He once went 30 days without a shower, and he saw too many good friends die. The frigid Korean winter also caused an intense, lifelong attachment to his long underwear. He wants to be buried in them, he said.
Later in life, Lecy got involved in the Korean War Veteran group in Rapid City, and it was through that group that he first heard of VHI caskets.
About six months ago, doctors told the Lecys there was nothing else they could do to fight the cancer that had recurred after 12 years.
That's when Vern Lecy decided to do something for the people he loves but will have to leave behind soon. He started making arrangements, right down to asking the neighbor family to sing at his funeral and another family friend to play "Taps" at the gravesite.
"Most people don't want to talk about it. They don't want to face it," Eileen said. "He has faced it head-on and done all his planning."
He even sent his son, Robin, a Rapid City chiropractor, to Hot Springs to pick up his casket.
"It's kind of strange, driving through town with a casket in the back of the pickup. I was going through the fast food drive-thru when it really hit me that I had a casket in the back," Robin said. "But I think it kind of helps the whole family deal with this. We're all involved in this project. It puts us all on the same page. Dad's willingness to talk about this stuff has made it easier for people who visit him to come in and be more comfortable."
If he were able, Lecy might tell visitors that his casket is of the same European design as the one used by monks at Blue Cloud Abbey near Milbank, where coffins are handcrafted by fellow monks.
Or he might tell them that PRO-Build gives free shipping on their corporate trucks to ferry the caskets, as space allows, from Sioux Falls, to Huron to Rapid City to Hot Springs, where they are stained and varnished by other veterans.
Or that Dorothy Stroh, a resident of the Fitzmaurice home, sews all the fabric linings for the caskets.
But Lecy wouldn't have to tell Randall Meyers, operations director at the state veterans home who also serves as a VHI board member, how much he appreciates the program. Meyers already knows that.
"They're very appreciative of the fact that they're available," Meyers said about the caskets.
"That camaraderie and that kinship between veterans makes it unique."
Another grateful veteran's family recently gave a $50 donation to buy small engraved brass plaques for future caskets that say, "Made for a Veteran by Veterans."
Vern Lecy may want one of those, too.
By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff Friday, July 04, 2008
And what the 79-year-old Korean War veteran wants is a casket made by veterans, for veterans.
Lecy is near the end of a two-year battle with prostate cancer that he knows he will lose. When he does, he plans to be buried at Black Hills National Cemetery in a simple wooden casket from the Veterans Honored Interment program.
VHI caskets, each built from two sheets of laminate-enhanced plywood, are the brainchild of the late Paul Redfield, a former resident of the Michael J. Fitzmaurice South Dakota Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Redfield began the VHI program in 1999, with a little help from his friends -- Gary Schuh, the manager of PRO-Build in Hot Springs, and Les Zimiga. Redfield was buried in the prototype casket a few years ago, but he wanted to guarantee that all veterans, regardless of their financial circumstances, had a dignified burial vessel.
Initially, all of the caskets were made at the veterans home, but the demand for them soon outpaced the limitations of the residents' age and woodworking abilities. Now, additional coffins are crafted by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 268 in Sioux Falls.
The caskets are available to any veteran or their spouse who is a South Dakota resident. The only other requirements are an honorable discharge from the military and a South Dakota burial, according to VHI treasurer Peg Sperlich. The program asks for a suggested donation of $250 per casket to cover the costs of materials, but the caskets are free to anyone who needs one. To date, the VHI program has made 71 caskets and 20 cremation urns, and they have gone all throughout South Dakota.
Sperlich tries to keep about 10 finished caskets and 10 urns on hand, but they can also be reserved well in advance. Currently, there are 68 names on a waiting list, she said.
Although the mortuary business might be expected to be less than enthusiastic about the inexpensive casket program for veterans, Sperlich said funeral directors have come to embrace it.
"We get great support from our funeral homes. They know it's an honorable way to be buried," Sperlich said.
Lecy's casket -- with its dark mahogany stain and its six brass handles -- looked exactly like any VHI casket, until Sturgis rosemaler Evelyn Morrison got hold of it.
The casket is now adorned with the uniquely Scandinavian floral artwork called rosemaling in its trademark jewel tones of red, blue and gold. Like Lecy, Morrison is a full-blooded Norwegian. She is known in the area for her rosemaling, her lefse and the sugar cookies she paints with rosemal designs. But this is the first casket she has ever rosemaled.
"My granddaughter-in-law said, 'Grandma, from cookies to caskets, you've come a long way,'" Morrison said.
She also painted a small image of the armored tanks that Lecy drove in Korea on the lower right-hand corner of the lid. He earned a combat infantry badge after serving a year on the front lines in Korea.
"I'm a Korean War vet, and I'm 100 percent Norwegian, so it seemed to fit," Lecy said from his hospice bed at Fort Meade VA Medical Center.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars on an expensive commercial casket, Vern Lecy gave the VHI program a $500 donation to cover the cost of two "vessels of honor." One for him, and one for an indigent veteran.
The low-cost casket also appealed to Lecy's "frugality," according to his wife, Eileen. At first, she admits, she wasn't thrilled with the idea.
"I joked that I was going to have an asterisk at the end of the obituary that said, "Eileen did not choose this casket," she said. "We're not rich people, but we're not poor. We could afford any casket he wanted."
But she has come to understand and to appreciate the deep meaning this simple casket holds for her husband of 21 years.
"He's very proud of being a veteran. This casket is made by veterans for veterans. It's a special thing because it's made by people he honors and who honor him," Eileen said.
Like many veterans of the "Forgotten War," Lecy -- one of four Minnesota cousins who were activated by the National Guard at the same time -- didn't speak about his combat experience much over the years. "When we got back, a lot of people didn't want to hear our war stories," he said.
Eventually, he opened the Linoleum Center in Rapid City with Art LaCroix and Cy Pettigrew, later moving to Spearfish, where he owned another flooring business, Versatile Carpets.
Korea was hard, cold and miserable, he said. He once went 30 days without a shower, and he saw too many good friends die. The frigid Korean winter also caused an intense, lifelong attachment to his long underwear. He wants to be buried in them, he said.
Later in life, Lecy got involved in the Korean War Veteran group in Rapid City, and it was through that group that he first heard of VHI caskets.
About six months ago, doctors told the Lecys there was nothing else they could do to fight the cancer that had recurred after 12 years.
That's when Vern Lecy decided to do something for the people he loves but will have to leave behind soon. He started making arrangements, right down to asking the neighbor family to sing at his funeral and another family friend to play "Taps" at the gravesite.
"Most people don't want to talk about it. They don't want to face it," Eileen said. "He has faced it head-on and done all his planning."
He even sent his son, Robin, a Rapid City chiropractor, to Hot Springs to pick up his casket.
"It's kind of strange, driving through town with a casket in the back of the pickup. I was going through the fast food drive-thru when it really hit me that I had a casket in the back," Robin said. "But I think it kind of helps the whole family deal with this. We're all involved in this project. It puts us all on the same page. Dad's willingness to talk about this stuff has made it easier for people who visit him to come in and be more comfortable."
If he were able, Lecy might tell visitors that his casket is of the same European design as the one used by monks at Blue Cloud Abbey near Milbank, where coffins are handcrafted by fellow monks.
Or he might tell them that PRO-Build gives free shipping on their corporate trucks to ferry the caskets, as space allows, from Sioux Falls, to Huron to Rapid City to Hot Springs, where they are stained and varnished by other veterans.
Or that Dorothy Stroh, a resident of the Fitzmaurice home, sews all the fabric linings for the caskets.
But Lecy wouldn't have to tell Randall Meyers, operations director at the state veterans home who also serves as a VHI board member, how much he appreciates the program. Meyers already knows that.
"They're very appreciative of the fact that they're available," Meyers said about the caskets.
"That camaraderie and that kinship between veterans makes it unique."
Another grateful veteran's family recently gave a $50 donation to buy small engraved brass plaques for future caskets that say, "Made for a Veteran by Veterans."
Vern Lecy may want one of those, too.
