Published Sunday, September 8, 2002
auction brings out bidders
By Sherris Moreira-Byers
Herald Staff Writer
A trio of hearses went on the auction block Saturday morning in Sandy Lake and people came from far and wide to bid on the morbid merchandise.
"I just like old cars," said Rick Watson, 46, of Jackson Center, whose bid of $5,100 on a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse was just $200 shy of the highest bidder.
"I guess it'll be a long time until I get one. I'll ride in one pretty soon," he said with a laugh.
"What's nice about it is you don't find many hearses around," said Carmen Sabino, 42, of Sharon, who was also outbid. "I always wanted to buy older cars. It's a toy. It's a man thing."
Also on the block Saturday were a 1975 Pontiac Bonneville hearse ambulance and a 1990 Buick Estate Wagon hearse.
The hearses were part of a surplus sale at Alexander McMullen Funeral Home on South Main Street in Sandy Lake. The family, which also owned a funeral home in Stoneboro, decided to have the auction after closing up the Stoneboro business in May.
"Two places are just too much to handle," said Elton "Butch" Alexander, Jr., 44, director of the Sandy Lake funeral home. "My father-in-law, Edward McMullen, who had been with this business since 1955, is now in a nursing home."
Alexander said he and his father-in-law bought the 1940 hearse in 1985 from a private owner in Titusville.
"The plan had been to restore it, but with all the time a funeral home takes, we anticipated it would take at least six years before I could touch it," said the Alexander, a former mechanic. "My initial research was between $6,000 and $10,000 as far as basic restoration, but from the ground up, $20,000 could be more the area. It became too much upkeep. Too much overhead. But it was hard for me to let it go. I wanted to restore it so bad."
The winning bidder, Mark Ferrara, 44, of Brookfield, said his hobby is restoring older vehicles. A friend faxed him the auction ad. "He knows I'm a collector, a tinkerer," he said.
"I begged my wife to let me go today. I might be laying in the back of one when my wife finds out I bought it," he added.
Ferrara, who paid $5,300 for the hearse, also owns a 1948 Ford F 350, a 1954 Ford F 250, a 1953 Chevy panel truck and a 1961 International fire truck.
"I just like unique vehicles ... It's a safe hobby," he said.
Ferrara said there was no ill will from those he outbid. "Half-a-dozen people belonging to local car clubs gave me their numbers in case I need help with parts. There's nothing like fellow eclectic collectors."
Jack Dill, 41, of Freedom, who also owns an auction company, bought the Estate Wagon for $2,200 because of a penchant for things that go bump in the night.
"I like hearses and Halloween things. I'll drive it at Halloween. I'm a Halloween freak. I should be locked up," he said with a laugh. The Bonneville went to an Eau Claire resident for $1,500.
Some money raised at the auction will help pay McMullen's expenses at the nursing home.
"Ed is a peach of a guy," said Watson, who said that McMullen did funerals for his grandfather and several family members. "He always said 'I'm your best friend. I'm the last man who'll let you down.' He always liked to make you laugh."