Article The Telegraph

Children take over mother's shroud business after her death.

Wrapped in love

Son Robbe (33) dropped his mother off at Amsterdam Central Station. A few hours later he was called by the hospital. His mother had suffered a cardiac arrest. She died a week later. In addition to her two sons, Monique Rang (61) also left behind her own unique company in the funeral industry. Monique ran Wikkelgoed Uitvaarttextiel for many years: she designed, made and sold shrouds, a type of stretcher in which relatives can wrap their loved one after death as an alternative to a coffin. "If my mother had one mission in this world, it was to show the funeral industry that there is a more loving and personal alternative to a coffin," says son Arne Wijnands (31). Monique was the first supplier of shrouds in the Netherlands . Both brothers previously did not really see any point in the company and the industry. Who wants to be involved with death full-time for their job? Nevertheless, they often helped their mother. “To a certain extent I understood what she was doing,” says son Arne, “but it was too far removed from me.”

Funeral with a shroud

It was clear that their mother would be laid out in a shroud. Arne, his girlfriend Lieke (29) and brother Robbe went to their mother's house to look for a suitable shroud. Arne: "We expected her to have made a shroud for herself, but she didn't have one. We went to look and put all the shrouds on the dining table." Robbe: "We knew straight away that it had to be a linen cloth, coarsely woven." In the days before the funeral, they laid their mother in the shroud on a bier. Every day, they folded the shroud a little closer together. "I really enjoyed taking care of her like this together," says Arne. "Every day when you fold the cloth a little closer, you say goodbye a little more. When we stood around my mother together and tried to place the fold lines correctly, the seed was planted for us to take over her business together."

Free

The last month before her death, the company was doing very well. She sold thirty shrouds in one month. And that for a company that had almost gone bankrupt two years ago. Robbe: “She gave away so much for free. She found it very difficult to ask a good price for her products. It was much more important to her to help people say goodbye than to make money with it.” Robbe: “She was very annoyed by the way funeral directors offered their products. Many people stick to a traditional funeral with a coffin. An alternative is not possible.” Monique’s view of the funeral industry was very innovative at the time. Many people didn’t want to know anything about it, found it creepy or had their doubts about it. Doesn’t it blow open? Is this actually legal? Yes, it certainly is. Since 1991, a coffin is no longer required by law. And no, a shroud doesn’t just blow open because of the folding technique . Daughter-in-law Lieke: "Monique has brought about a major change in the funeral industry. This was her life's work, it was not allowed to die a silent death." Arne, Robbe and Lieke leave the production of the shrouds to a social workshop. "It is a beautiful irony that for me this starts at the end of my mother's life," says Arne. "For her, Wikkelgoed also started with the death of her own mother. It had to be this way."

By Marike Wouters for De Telegraaf.