Illinois man designs beer can coffin

SOUTH CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill.---- Glenwood village administrator Bill Bramanti's favorite beer is Pabst Blue Ribbon. He loves it.

Really loves it.

So much so that he's already had his coffin specially made, and it's designed to look like a can of the trendy brew. Bramanti isn't sick, so he doesn't plan on needing it just yet. For now he plans to use it as a cooler.

At 5-feet-9 inches tall and weighing 280 pounds, Bramanti has tried it out though.

''I actually fit, because I got in here,'' Bramanti, 67, of South Chicago Heights said. He threw a party Saturday for friends, featuring his coffin filled with ice and, what else, Pabst Blue Ribbon.

''Why put such a great novelty piece up on a shelf in storage when you could use it only the way Bill Bramanti would use it?'' Bramanti's daughter, Cathy Bramanti, 42, said.

Bramanti ordered the casket from Panozzo Bros. Funeral Home in Chicago Heights and Scott Sign Co. of Chicago Heights designed the beer can.

The silver coffin is designed with red, white and blue, just like a Pabst can.