Custom caskets for fallen Baton Rouge officers

By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer
    “I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me,” wrote Baton Rouge Police Officer Montrell Jackson on his Facebook page, in response to the controversial shooting of Alton Sterling just days before. Just two weeks later, the officer who had pleaded with his Facebook friends “don’t let hate infect your heart” was gunned down along with two other Baton Rouge officers, Officer Matthew Gerald and Deputy Brad Garafola, on July 16. 
    Edna’s Trey Ganem, who makes custom caskets in a shop on East St., is known for his philanthropy and has donated many caskets in the past to families in need. After the shootings of five Dallas Police Officers on July 7, Ganem began work on a casket specially designed for law enforcement.
    “It was like, ‘in all this tragedy we need to have a blue line casket,’” said Ganem, “so I designed one.”
    After Baton Rouge, Ganem said his wife Michele pointed out Jackson’s post on Facebook, and said “That’s the one.”
    Ganem set to work, reaching out to not only Jackson’s family, but the families of all three officers, and before long he was on the road to Baton Rouge with caskets in tow. 
    The trip, said Ganem, was quite an experience, even long before they hit Baton Rouge. What was originally planned as a casket delivery turned out to be more like a motorcade.
    “We left here at 5:30 in the morning on Thursday, and met up in Houston,” he said.
We had a police escort from Houston, and as soon as we hit Louisiana we had State Police, we had different law enforcement, it was really amazing. There were people standing on the side of the highway while we were driving.”
    He said the experience was unlike anything he had seen before.
    “It was really humbling and beautiful at the same time,” he said.
    The real emotions, however, were yet to come. Ganem described their arrival at the funeral home where the funeral of Officer Gerald would be held.
    “You would have thought the President was pulling up with all the escorts and everything that was going on, and what a beautiful thing for that family to be able to have that.”
    At all three funeral homes, he was greeted with hugs and appreciation from the families who were experiencing the hardest time in their lives. They hugged as they viewed the place that their loved ones would be laid to rest. While they were all similar, each casket was created personally for each officer, with patches and pictures corresponding with every one of them. He prayed with the families and listened to their stories.
    Ganem and his crew also visited the site of the shootings to pay their respects, and stopped by the police headquarters in Baton Rouge.
    Ganem said those interactions and that little bit of peace of mind in such a difficult time are why he does what he does. 
    “It isn’t about painting a casket,” he said, “It’s about bringing the memories back.”