Carpenter Constructs Homes for His Children--and a Coffin for Himself

Lenoir, N.C. — Lloyd Thomas Watters built his first two homes, he built homes for all his four children and finally he built his own casket.

The retired carpenter, who died Feb. 2 at 97, was laid to rest a few days later in the cedar casket he built for himself about 15 years ago. His family said it took him a year to build the coffin.

“He wanted to have everything fixed at the end,” daughter Marilyn Story said.

Watters was especially proud of his casket. He kept it under plastic and filled with mothballs in the basement of a two-story building he put up behind his home.

His daughter Shirley Verbyia said the casket embodied two of her father’s main traits: creativity and generosity.

“At first I couldn’t bear to look at it, ‘cause I didn’t want to think of him that way,” she said.

Watters added mahogany trim to the cedar frame and lined the inside with purple felt. At 6 feet, 10 inches long and 29 inches wide and high, it was taller and narrower than most coffins.

“He took pride in it,” Story said. “Daddy was an original. He didn’t want to be a copy of anyone else.”