OBERLIN, Ohio – Valentine’s Day is one of tad cowling’s favorite holidays.
And this year, he’s making it even more special, by saying ‘I do’ in a place dedicated to the dead.
“Caron and I have both been married in the past before, and we didn’t want to do the church thing because we’d be there and done that before,” he said. “Well, then we thought about it and thought ‘Why do it in his office? Let’s do it in my office, here at the funeral home.”
The idea wasn’t too farfetched for Tad, who is a third-generation owner of Cowling Funeral Home. However, when he suggested the idea to his fiancé, Caron Kreicher, it definitely stunned her.
“At first, I thought that was so sweet, that is so kind. He wants me to be a part of not only him, but a part of his company,” she said. “And then I sat back, and I was like ‘Oh, that’s a little morbid.’ But the more I thought about it, it was so heartfelt from him and it was really important, so I was like ‘Why not? Let’s roll with it?’
And roll with it, they did. Caron walked down the aisle in front of an intimate crowd of their closest friends and family.
Tad’s parents traveled from Vermont, while Tad and Caron’s three children from previous marriages were a part of the ceremony. A photograph of Caron’s late parents were displayed, and she wrapped her bouquet with a small handkerchief of her father’s.
Yet, the funny couple wanted to add a little sass to the occasion – they were, after all, exchanging vows in an unusual setting.
“She’s actually walking down the aisle to the Wedding March – and – the Funeral March,” Tad said.
“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t laugh, from morning till night, and I just felt God reached into my soul and created him for me,” Caron added.
The laughs continued well into the night, and as they promised each other, “til death do us part.”
“It’s a wonderful, happy, joyous occasion to have at a place that’s usually not that way,” Caron said. “So, to be able to share that with everybody is wonderful.”