26-Year-Old's Family Had Him Embalmed to Look Alive for His Funeral
The San Juan, Puerto Rico, funeral director of Marin Funeral Home has been honoring families’ requests for nontraditional embalmments for their loved ones. Damaris Marin most recently helped a family honor Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, 26, by making him look alive and sitting him on a chair from his mother’s house at his funeral.
Beato’s sister Lhizz Diaz Beato told BuzzFeed News the family wanted to remember Fernando as “happy” and “active” after he was shot and killed outside their home on March 3. Police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting.
Marin told BuzzFeed she’s done nine other nontraditional funerals like Beato’s and that while she’s received criticism for it, “if that’s something that the family wants, why wouldn’t you do it?” BuzzFeed also reports Beato’s mother went from crying to being happier when she saw her son sitting upright in the chair at the funeral. She remarked that it looked like the “same son that he was,” Diaz Beato said.
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