Friday, January 31, 2014
MECHANICSBURG, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man’s family is fulfilling his dying wish — to be buried astride his beloved Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
But it hasn’t been easy. The project required an extra-large cemetery plot to accommodate a Plexiglas casket for Billy Standley and his 1967 Electra Glide cruiser. Embalmers prepared his body with a metal back brace and straps to ensure he’ll never lose his seat.
Standley’s family said he’d been planning it for years. He said he didn’t just want to ride off to heaven, he wanted the world to see him do it in see-through casket. His sons began fashioning it about five years ago.
The Dayton Daily News reports that Standley of Mechanicsburg, west of Columbus, died of lung cancer Sunday at age 84. He was to be buried today.