The Drive-Thru Funeral Home of Compton
Peggy Scott Adams is a Grammy-nominated gospel singer and owner of the Robert L. Adams Mortuary in Compton, California, one of the few funeral homes in America that offers drive-thru open-casket displays. The Los Angeles Times profiled Adams this weekend and made a strangely entrancing video about her business.
Peggy's late husband Robert, a local politician, came up with the idea for a drive-thru display. He had seen funeral homes that offered video displays of the casket for those outside the building, and thought he could do one better by offering a way for people outside the building to see the body, particularly from the comfort of their cars.
The threat of graveside gang shoot-outs deterred Compton funeral services in the 1980's. The Robert L. Adams Mortuary and its bulletproof glass partition did brisk business during those times, says Peggy. Visitors can stay in their cars, or approach the glass partition on foot or on other locomotive devices.
Click to viewIn the Times' video, Peggy sings hymns and discusses her business strategy. "It's a convenience thing," she explains. "You can come by after work, you don't need to deal with parking, you can sign the book outside and the family knows that you paid your respects."
In the accompanying article, one visitor admits he didn't even know she had died until he walked by and saw her lying in the casket—which means passersby with wandering eyes can see the dead person, too?
If so, then I imagine the drive-thru open caskets are also popular for midnight double-dog dares between local teens, too. [LATimes, image via LATimes.com]