‘Casket Man’ gets death wish

RALPH STEWART, who lived in Craighton, St Andrew, had his wishes honoured by his family when he was buried over a month ago in the cedar coffin that he built for himself nearly 40 years prior to his death.

Stewart died at age 77 on September 3, and had stored the coffin, which was carefully sealed in plastic, on a shelf in the back of his house until the time came for its intended use.

Featured by The Gleaner in 2010, he stated that he believed that, in this life, people ought to be prepared and, as such, he ensured to make the necessary arrangements.

“I don’t believe you should spend a lot of money to bury somebody. I believe you must take care of people when they are alive, not when they die. I just want a simple life here in the mountains and, when I die, at least I know that is already taken care of,” he said at the time.

At the age of 45 years, Stewart chopped the wood himself to make the coffin, which led some in his community to call him ‘Casket Man’.

His daughter, Debbie Stewart-Honoreé, who spoke with The Gleaner after Stewart’s death, recounted how, as a young girl around the age of 12 years, when she saw the coffin her father had built, at first, she had not realised that he had made it for his inevitable death.

“I didn’t know that he was doing it. I just went around the back one day and it was there ... . I thought there was somebody in it,” she recalled with laughter.

“I shared his view of being prepared. I wouldn’t go as far as building a casket, but death is inevitable for all of us and it’s better to be prepared than have your loved ones confused about your wishes,” she said.

Her father, who had been ailing for some time, was a generous man, she said, whose “bark was louder than his bite”. She stated that he was the type of person who would not hold back while voicing his thoughts and opinions.

She said that as a hard worker, Stewart was able to put most of his siblings through school after the passing of his father when he was very young.

“So, as the eldest male in the family, he had to go out pretty early and support the others,” she said.

Stewart-Honoreé stated that his love and passion for his farm caused him to inquire about it the most, right up until his last breath.

She revealed that her father had been admitted to the hospital from July until his passing.

“In his last few days, he asked us if the coffee had started to ripen yet because that’s what he loved and, you know, going into the farm and his fields was his therapy,” she said.

He is survived by his six children; four boys and two girls, with Stewart-Honoreé being the younger daughter.

A neighbour of Stewart’s, who gave her name only as Marsha, told The Gleaner that he was a “very kind” man who frequently shared the produce of his farm with others in the community.

“Sometime him will tell people, ‘Anything you see there, take it – callaloo, cho cho, banana, just tek it’,” she recalled.

Marsha also lauded Stewart’s industrious nature, and, similar to the recollections of his daughter, recalled that he was a very straightforward man.

“Him nuh go ‘round corner. Him just tell you what him feel and, if you wah vex, you vex,” she said, adding that some might not have liked that quality and, instead, deemed him to be a miserable chap.

A man who went by the name ‘Pooky’, who worked alongside Stewart within the community, said he was a dedicated farmer.

“As an old man, him work hard. Dem man deh, when ya work with him, y’know, more time me couldn’t keep up with him,” he told The Gleaner.

Regarding Stewart’s preparations for death, Marsha said the existence of the coffin in Stewart’s home was no secret to the community, and that some residents were even frightened by the concept.

“But he was not afraid of death,” she remarked, adding that, even during his final moments spent in the hospital, where she would frequently visit him, he had accepted the natural course of life.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com