Maniak Harley-Davidson Dimakamkan dengan Motor Besarnya
Ohio Biker is Buried in His Beloved 1967 Harley-Davidson
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
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KELUARGA seorang maniak motor Harley Davidson mengungkapkan kesedihan atas kematiannya secara unik, dengan menaruh jenazahnya sedang mengendarai motor dalam peti mati kaca untuk dimasukkan ke liang lahat.
Berpakaian lengkap dengan jaket kulit dan kacamata hitam, dan duduk di atas motor Electra Glide keluaran 1967, Billy Standley, duduk di atas motor Harley Davidson kesayangannya.
Jenazah pria 82 tahun, yang meninggal dunia akibat kanker paru-paru, ditaruh di dalam kaca tembus pandang Plexiglass sebelum masuk ke liang lahat, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
Beberapa tahun sebelum kematiannya, mendiang telah memberitahu keluarga dan teman-temannya bahwa jenazahnya jangan ditaruh dalam peti mati, tapi dia ingin dunia melihatnya menuju liang lahat dalam kotak kaca tembus pandang.
Mendiang yang unik ini mempersiapkan sendiri pemakamannya, dengan membeli tiga makam di samping istrinya, Lorna agar lubang kubur itu cukup besar untuk menampung peti matinya yang unik.
Kedua anaknya, Pete dan Roy memesan kaca Plexiglas dan di bagian bawah diperkuat dengan kayu dan baja agar kuat menahan beban berat.
Lima petugas dari rumah duka Vernon Funeral Homes Inc membalsem tubuhnya serta memasang penyokong dari logam agar tubuh Standley tak merosot dari jok Harley.
"Kami berupaya sebaik-baiknya... tapi tidak ada tindakan ekstrim," kata Tammy Vernon, dari rumah duka kepada Dayton Daily News seperti dilansir Mail Online.
"Mendiang adalah sosok yang kreatif, untuk mewujudkan impian dimakamkan di atas sepeda motor. Kami sangat senang untuk membantunya."
Keluarga mendiang pun mengaku senang dengan rencana pemakaman unik dan langka tersebut, dan akan mempertontonkan peti mati, yang disimpan selama lima tahun di garasi, kepada para pelayat.
"Dia bangga impiannya sebelum meninggal dunia terwujud," kata Roy Standley, putra mendiang.
Sementara keluarganya setuju bahwa prosesi ke pemakaman, jenazah duduk di sepeda motor, bakal mengejutkan banyak orang, namun mereka ingin mewujudkan keinginan terakhir ayah mereka.
"Dia adalah ayah yang baik bagi kami selama ini, dan setidaknya kami bisa mewujudkan keinginannya saat dimakamkan," kata Pete Standley.
Putrinya, Dorothy, tidak menampik bahwa almarhum ayahnya adalah orang ´aneh´.
Almarhum Standley, mantan pemain rodeo, diantar menuju pemakaman dengan prosesi unik.
Peti mati transparan itu diderek ke pemakaman dari rumah duka Vernon dan para biker dari seluruh pelosok negeri datang untuk mengantar Standley ke peristirahatan terakhirnya.
THE family of an Ohio biker has fulfilled his dying wish by burying him astride his beloved Harley-Davidson in a see-through casket.
Dressed in his leathers and sunglasses, and sitting on top of his 1967 Electra Glide cruiser, Billy Standley, who died on Sunday, was taken for one last ride.
The body of the 82-year-old, who died of lung cancer, was visible through the transparent Plexiglas coffin that his bike has been placed in.
For years the Mechanicsburg man had told family and friends that he didn´t just want to ride off to heave, he wanted the world to see him do it in a big see-through box.
He started the funeral preparations himself, buying three large burial plots next to his wife, Lorna so the hole would be big enough to accommodate his unique casket.
His sons Pete and Roy fashioned a casket out of Plexiglas and reinfornced the bottom with wood and metal.
To ensure Mr Standley didn´t become unseated on his final journey, embalmers prepared his body with a metal back brace and straps.
´We’ve done personalization … but nothing this extreme,´ Tammy Vernon, who works at the funeral home, told the Dayton Daily News.
´He was the one who kept throwing this idea out there, to be buried on his bike. We were glad to assist him.´
The family man was pleased with his funeral plans and would show off the casket, which was stored for five years in a garage, to visitors.
´He was proud of it,´ Roy Standley said.
While his family agreed that the procession to the cemetery, during which the body was on display, may be shocking, they wanted to honor their father´s last wish.
´He´d done right by us all these years, and at least we could see he goes out the way he wanted to,´ Pete Standley said.
His daughter, Dorothy, added that he was ´a quirky man´.
Mr Standley, who used to work as a bareback rodeo rider, was be escorted to the ceremony by a procession of bikers.
Some of the mourners at his graveside donned motorcycle jackets for the occasion as they watched the extra large coffin be lowered into its massive plot.
