Black clothes. Wet eyes. Most funerals in the United States are somber experiences. However, in many cultures, funerals are celebrations of the lost life. One North Dallas funeral home celebrates life amid death every day, and the community is invited to join with their annual Day of the Dead celebration.
At Hughes Family Tribute Center, one of the few family-owned and operated funeral homes left in Dallas, funerals are highly personalized. Some families have handed out margaritas and chips and salsa during celebrations of life.
“I said, ‘What was mom passionate about?’ And they said, ‘margaritas,’” says Stephanie Hughes, the center’s funeral director. “The casket was up here, and the margarita machine was in the back. Everyone loved it.”
Others have set up booths with memorabilia such as cars or Dallas Cowboys ephemera. Once, they even set up a boxing ring for legendary Dallas boxing club owner Gene Vivero.
Hughes, a graduate of W.T. White High School and Southern Methodist University, uses icebreaker-style techniques to engage families and make the most of the funeral experience from beginning to end. When families choose cremation, the center has an in-house crematory designed with floor-to-ceiling marble, and families are invited to participate in the experience.
Photography by Hunter Lacey
“We’re trying to get the five senses of the funeral involved to make it the most healing,” Hughes says.
This same celebration style is demonstrated in the center’s Dia de Los Muertos Celebración. The eighth-annual celebration at Crown Hill Memorial Park and Mausoleum, 9700 Webb Chapel Road, has events from Oct. 22-Nov. 2.
El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a two-day holiday celebrated Nov. 1-2 that reunites the living and dead through ofrendas, or offerings, to honor departed loved ones. Traditionally, the first day is to celebrate the spirits of the children, and the second celebrates adults. The celebration is full of smiling skulls, Mexican marigolds and colorful papel picado.
The Hughes Family Tribute Center’s celebration, which is free and open to the public, includes a two-week art installation called Los Espiritus del Bosque by Ricardo Alarcon, plus a live concert by the band Alebrije, Mayan dances by Grupo Pakal, mariachi performances, family art activities, children’s entertainment and food and beverage concessions.
The center hosts several other community events throughout the year, including Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, crawfish boils, a candlelight service of remembrance, Wreaths Across America and movies in the park at the mausoleum.
