There is really no mystery man... just me, Dennis Goethe, a funeral director.  My wife, Peggy, and I live in Ellisville, Missouri, a western suburb of St. Louis, Missouri with a dog, Dakota (usually referred to as duh-kota).  Our "kid" Nathan, now 28, is a master of things like how to supercharge and modify his Honda Prelude and his Honda Civic.  He's also a computer whiz and has a VooDoo laptop.

I became interested in funeral service in high school in Rolla, Missouri - a university town about 100 miles south-west of St. Louis. In the mid 1970s, Atkisson-Swinfard Funeral Home (later the Kordes Funeral Home, now extinct) in Rolla had a 1965 limousine-style Superior Cadillac hearse in silver. The other funeral home, Null and Son Funeral Home, had a silver 1969 Superior Cadillac landau style hearse with a black vinyl top - a very classy coach. I got to drive both of them, the 1969 the most, but liked them both.

My fondest memory of the '65 is driving it on a funeral at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rolla (the church my family belonged to) when I was still in mortuary school, so I was about 20. it was pouring rain outside AND inside! The windshield leaked like crazy. The minister had to hold his Bible over his lap to deflect the stream of water coming in! Also in the mid-1970s, the Johnson Funeral Home in Newburg, MO near Rolla had a lavender early-60's Superior Pontiac landau combo. Pretty daring color for a town of about 500 people!

Fast forward to October 1998, when I found a beautiful 1968 Miller-Meteor Cadillac Landau hearse pictured for sale on the CW Coach Sales website on the internet. After a long conversation and an appropriate exchange of funds with Tim Fantin of Merrillville, Indiana, I owned a hearse and made a friend in the process! Since then, I've acquired several more professional cars, but you never forget your first.

In my association with funeral homes, I've worked with some neat cars: the two mentioned above, a pepper green 1973 Cotner-Bevington Oldsmobile landau hearse with black crinkle top in New Bloomfield, MO, a pair of 1974 black Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-five factory limousines in University City, MO, several black late-70s to mid-90s 6-door limousines, a silver 1974 Miller-Meteor Cadillac landau hearse with black painted top, a bronze '79 Superior Cadillac landau hearse with matching top in Fulton, MO, and several three-ways from 1977 to 1984. Most of these three-ways were a light blue color.

WHERE DO I KEEP THESE CARS?  Good question! Something nearly everyone asks is, "Where do you keep all these cars?" or the variation, How big is your garage?!  The answer is, "We keep these cars in the Coach Haus a 4,800 square foot dream garage located in Pacific, Missouri."

WHY HEARSES AND LIMOUSINES? Another frequent question is, "Why do you like hearses and limousines?" Because they are wonderful examples of custom coachwork, they are very rare cars, and I enjoy being a part of them, taking care of them, and showing them off!  To me, an old hearse isn't just another car. They're a part of the history of my profession.   There is a great side-benefit to owning these cars, too. There are many wonderful people in this hobby of collecting funeral cars, and I have been privileged to meet many of them. Some have become good friends. If anyone tries to tell you that this hobby is "All about the cars," tell them they're full of bull. Its all about the friends you make!

DENNIS' ORGANS

Left:  At home, I have a Baldwin Cinema II Theatre Organ (214DR for those keeping score at home).  This is a theatre organ with the horseshoe console, stop tabs and crazy legs bench.  It is, however, a serious musical instrument with two 61-note manuals and a 32-note concave, radiating pedalboard.  In addition to the usual gee-gaws one would expect on a theatre organ, it also has Baldwin's famous RealRhythm and PhantomFingers options.  The toy counter includes an auto horn, crash cymbal and a siren (of course!). The flute tremelo channel (or Leslie if you prefer) with fast and slow settings provides that lush sound so typical of the 1980s Baldwin Organs.  If this was a pipe organ, it would be about 25 ranks (compared to the large 36 rank Wurlitzer Jesse Crawford special in the Fox Theatre in St. Louis).

In the 70s and 80s, a Baldwin organ (the Pro 200, and later the Pro 222) was the instrument of choice for the soon-to-be-demolished Busch Stadium in St. Louis (home of the Baseball and Football Cardinals at that time), as well as the (already demolished) St. Louis Arena, home of the St. Louis Blues hockey team and the St. Louis Steamers soccer club.  One could not attend a major sporting event in St. Louis without hearing Ernie Hays at the Baldwin console.  "The sound of the Stadium, the sound of the Arena.  A sound investment.  Baldwin Organs." was the slogan heard time and again at these events.  The Baldwin literature of the time said that they had the power to "pin your ears back" and that is certainly the case!

 Dennis' true King of the Instruments, however is the three-manual church organ in the Coach Haus (pictured, right)!