Mobile museum about funerals to stop by Ribfest

ST. PETERSBURG — When funeral home co-owner John McQueen visited South Carolina last fall, he enjoyed taking in a touring exhibit on the tradition of final farewells.

As a result of that experience at the McAlister-Smith Funeral Home in Charleston, he looked for an opportunity to bring "Reflections: The American Funeral Tour" here. One choice seemed apparent to the former two-time past president of the Northeast Exchange Club: Why not allow Ribfest patrons to enjoy a bit of burial history with their barbecue and brisket?

"I thought this would be a great event to partner the two together," he said. "We wanted to do it in a venue where we could get a lot of community interest and give the community an opportunity to see it."

McQueen talked to other funeral directors and concluded that it made sense for the 1,000-square-foot mobile museum to park at the festival instead of at the Anderson-McQueen Family Tribute Center on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street N.

"Some people are a little apprehensive to come to a funeral home," McQueen said. "I thought the Ribfest was a great neutral ground. It gives them a third-party neutral venue to do it at."

The museum, which arrived in a truck today from Atlanta, includes an exhibit on Abraham Lincoln with a reproduction of his casket. It retraces the three-week funeral procession that followed his death.

"President Lincoln's (death) was the first time embalming was put to the test, to give him that three-week procession," McQueen said. "That was very poignant."

"The Final Curtain" exhibit offers tributes to celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and, more recently, Michael Jackson and Sen. Ted Kennedy.

As part of "Glory, Glory Hallelujah," civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks is showcased along with President John F. Kennedy. The latter is replete with a riderless horse with saddle and boots in reverse that made Kennedy's funeral unique.

Another head-turning aspect of the exhibits is Anderson-McQueen's horse-drawn hearse and Glory Ride, the rumbling Harley-Davidson hearse. The biker-friendly burial option seems apropos to Anderson-McQueen co-owner and president William McQueen.

William McQueen, who rides a Harley Soft Tail, said that some baby boomers seek a funeral option that speaks to their lives and isn't tied to tradition and custom.

"Today many people, we find, don't understand the importance of ceremony and ritual, so anything we can do to connect with them and identify with that individual, we do," he said.

"This Harley hearse is one mechanism or tool we use to deal with that."