美国国家公共电台 NPR With Shiny Pink And Camo, Casket Designer Honors Texas Shooting Victims（在线收听）

With Shiny Pink And Camo, Casket Designer Honors Texas Shooting Victims

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

As they remember the dead, the people in and around Sutherland Springs are taking care of each other. Laura Morales made sandwiches for people. Ronald Morrison brought venison sausage and flowers. The people we're going to hear from in this next story had something more somber but practical to offer - a final resting place for those who were killed. NPR's Nathan Rott reports.

NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE: Tiffany Sublett and Trey Ganem are sitting in front of a computer about two hours away from Sutherland Springs in another tiny Texas town.

TREY GANEM: Yeah, click on that one.

TIFFANY SUBLETT: This one?

GANEM: Uh-huh (ph).

ROTT: On the screen in front of them is a purple rectangle, swooping musical notes and the name of a little girl. What they need is a picture of a cat.

GANEM: She had a little black and gray kitten, so that's kind of like what you're looking at there. Let me see here.

ROTT: Ganem builds customized caskets designed to represent and celebrate a person's life. In his shop in Edna, there are rows of incredibly detailed ones. There's a Texas state flag. Another is shaped and painted like a bright red '57 Chevy with working headlights. On a rolling cart is a small casket, not yet fully assembled, painted a dazzling, sparkling pink.

GANEM: Dad asked for a princess for his daughter. And then the other daughter loved music and cats. So...

ROTT: So they're looking for pictures of both. After the shooting, Ganem offered free caskets to the families. It's about two degrees of separation here in South Texas, so he knows a number of people in Sutherland Springs, some who went to the church.

GANEM: I won't say names and stuff, but...

ROTT: Yeah.

GANEM: ...You know, for them, but yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE RINGING)

GANEM: It's another San Antonio.

ROTT: They got eight orders at first, and the phone just keeps ringing.

SUBLETT: Yeah, can you hold on one second, please?

ROTT: Here, I'll let you.

SUBLETT: Gail, Sutherland Springs funeral home director.

ROTT: It's the Sutherland Springs funeral home director.

GANEM: This is Trey.

ROTT: Another four caskets are needed - thousands of dollars normally. Sublett writes down the names of the victims, the colors and the things that they loved.

SUBLETT: Does she have a certain character on "My Little Pony" that's her favorite?

ROTT: It goes on like this for a while. And honestly, it's really hard to hear. After she hangs up, Sublett says it's hard for her, too.

SUBLETT: So I have a 2-year-old son and I'm pregnant. So, I mean, it's all sad. It's tragic. The amount of small children that were gone and the stories you - just hearing and talking to the families, it's definitely emotional.

ROTT: It's that way for everybody at the shop.

(SOUNDBITE OF SANDING)

ROTT: Kenneth Burnett and Maggie Rivera are sanding a casket, readying it for a pink camouflage paint job.

MAGGIE RIVERA: We're all here for the same reason. You know, to help, to at least bring some - I don't want to say peace, but at least bring...

KENNETH BURNETT: Joy.

MAGGIE RIVERA: Yeah.

ROTT: Joy. Maggie's husband, Michael Rivera, is in a loud room in the back of the shop painting casket handles. Normally Rivera paints cars for a living, but he and his wife decided to drive down from San Antonio after they saw the news and heard that Ganem was offering free caskets. Michael grew up in Sutherland Springs, and they have an 18-month-old son, one month older than the youngest victim of the shooting.

MICHAEL RIVERA: My son has the same exact toy that they're going to put with one of the caskets. And it's kind of - it's eerie. It's sad.

ROTT: But being here, he says, volunteering his time and knowledge helps. And hopefully it will ease some of the grief that the families are experiencing, and it will do the same for them. Nathan Rott, NPR News, Edna, Texas.