| MANY FUNERAL CUSTOMS FADING IN 21ST CENTURY
By Bob Weaver 2001
Chuck Coon was buried on the Kerby Ridge near the Village of Hur,
above his families home on Slider Fork, to rest beside his dad Junior and a
brother who died several years ago. Junior built the cemetery a few years
ago for his immediate family, using a commercial fence to surround the
beautiful location.
The original settler Harrison Coon built a still standing log cabin in the late
1800's on Coon Ridge, an off-shoot of "The Husk."
The Coons, not unlike the
Husks, were stalwart people and strong survivors, who somehow managed
to live through the Great Depression, many of them moving to Ohio after
World War II.
They are noted for prudent managing, making do and never
throwing anything away, flashbacks to the Great Depression.
The Coons are a tight and close family, likely because they needed to cling
together to make it through those early years. Most have become successful
in many areas of life, a statement to their hard work and perseverance.
It was a notable experience that Chuck's casket was opened at
the grave site and family members said their last words to him, much like
funerals in the early part of the last century.
Stump Funeral Home
graciously extended the time for the final words, some of which rang
reverently across the field near Hur.
"Rest and good-bye," they said.
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