Texas man makes particular, personalized caskets for Uvalde school shooting victims

EDNA, Texas – A Texas man labored towards the clock all through the Memorial Day Weekend to make customized caskets for the 19 college students killed within the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24.

Trey Ganem, the proprietor of SoulShine Industries, a company specializing in customized caskets and urns, stated he was contacted by a trooper and funeral administrators to see if he might assist.

“They know I deal with a lot of children and that I can make sure that things get done as far as doing customization and doing something special because this wasn’t your typical funeral arrangements,” Ganem, 50, stated in an interview with “Good Morning America.”

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Ganem’s company teamed up with a Georgia casket company to accumulate the child-sized caskets, which had been donated. Trucking firms delivered the caskets to Ganem’s workforce on Friday.

He stated, in speaking with the households and funeral administrators, he was in a position to know what they needed for every youngster.

One casket was painted a shiny blue and prominently options the intense pink and yellow protect of Superman, DC Comics’ legendary superhero.

Another blue casket has a cheery inexperienced dinosaur chasing a inexperienced bat on its lid.

A 3rd casket is coated in white paint with pink accents and features a TikTok emblem on prime.

Ganem, who additionally made customized caskets for victims of the Sutherland Springs church shooting in 2017, stated he feels that talking with the households and fogeys of the kids straight has began the therapeutic course of.

“We’re bringing light to this time,” he stated. “When they start talking about a dinosaur holding a flashlight with a pickle, that’s gonna put a smile on your face. It’s kind of one of those things where we listen to what they have to say. We cry with them. We hug each other, but in the end, we make the most beautiful creation and the last resting bed for their loved ones.”

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Ganem and his workforce rushed to finish the particular caskets in time for the primary visitations and funerals, which had been held on Monday and Tuesday.

“Our emotions when we finished the last casket — we all just looked at each other, and we started crying, and when you’re hugging, it was like, ‘We did it, and they all turned out beautiful.’ We did 19 caskets in three and a half days. But it was just a relief,” he stated.