Who says there is nothing to do when someone dies? That’s not true, especially if you have a wake at the Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes & Crematory in Dover, Ohio. Unlike most funeral homes where visitors are sometimes “bored to death”, there is actually something to do here. “Buried deep” in Amish Country, Toland-Herzig Funeral Home’s Famous Endings Museum started back in 1996 when founder John Herzig’s hobby as an autograph collector grew into the world’s largest funeral collection with some 1,500 celebrity-death-related items. What began with boxer Joe Louis’s 1981 funeral program, now includes the funeral programs for Princess Diana and Michael Jackson, an original crypt marker for Humphrey Bogart, documents from the memorial service for the Titanic victims, the guest list for the private funeral of Marilyn Monroe and a number of audio recordings from famous funerals. An inscribed flashlight from the funeral of James Doohan (who played Scotty on the original Star Trek film) and a cookie with the cartoon face of actor Rodney Dangerfield that was handed out to guests at his funeral are some of the museum’s strangest items. The funeral memorabilia wouldn’t be complete without some stuff related to U.S. presidents and other historical figures like Robert E. Lee’s funeral card, a shell from JFK’s 21-gun salute, the original train menus from Dwight Eisenhower’s funeral train, and a mourning ribbon and lantern from Abraham Lincoln’s horse drawn funeral carriage. Herzig opened the museum to show funerals and death can be positive and not just morbid. It’s about preserving a collection of artifacts for their artistic, cultural and historical importance…to celebrate the lives these people lived. And don’t think he is done adding to his collection just yet, famous people die all the time. Herzig still doesn’t have items related to his favorite celebrities: Gilda Radner, Dorothy Fuldheim (who?), Ed Sullivan and Steve Irwin. Well, I guess that’s your funeral (museum).
Famous Endings Museum, Ohio
