“We wanted to remember him as he was.”
A family in mourning often shows grief in surprising ways. But the family of Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, a 26-year-old man who was tragically shot and killed outside of his home in San Juan, Puerto Rico, chose to honor him how he lived — literally.
Marin Funeral Home
The family chose to honor Beato's vibrant life through services with the Marin Funeral Home in San Juan, a business known for its nontraditional funerals.
Ángel Luis “Pedrito” Pantojas
Marin Funeral Home / Via marinfuneralhomepr.com
The funeral home has been a pioneer in muerto parado, or "standing dead," services since 2008. That year it hosted its first nontraditional funeral. At the request of the family, it tethered the body of 24-year-old Ángel Luis "Pedrito" Pantojas, another murder victim in Puerto Rico, to the family's living room.
"When he died, the family told us they would like him to be standing up," Damaris Marin, the home's director, told BuzzFeed News. "We thought that it was a joke. Then his mom came to the funeral home and we realized it was serious."