You might be forgiven, as the snow fell atmospherically, if you thought you were hallucinating — or caught in some kind of time warp — on Jackson Boulevard last Saturday afternoon as a horse-drawn hearse made its way west toward Forest Home Cemetery, but no, it wasn’t your imagination.
Bob Proko spotted it at Oak Park Avenue and called ahead to his brother Tom who took this photo from the porch of their home at Maple and Jackson as the hearse turned west toward Harlem Avenue and entered Forest Park. A train of cars followed … slowly … their headlights adding to the ambiance.
The hearse came from Fountain Jordan Shepard Funeral Home, 418 S. Cicero Ave. in Chicago, which offers horse-drawn as one of the funeral procession options they provide. Michael Romain, who edits our sister publication, the Austin Weekly News, says that horse-drawn funerals are popular on the West Side.
Ken Trainor
