Growing market for sustainable “green” caskets calls for new skills in casket building.

Beaver Dam, WI - Northwoods Casket Company, a Beaver Dam based casket builder, welcomed Sally Cupery to the team in March as a full-time seamstress and interior designer.  Sally brings more than 40 years of sewing and design experience to the team.  According to owner Julie Zahn, "Sally's creativity and expertise is invaluable, specifically in working with our unique fabric interiors that include organic cotton, cotton/hemp blends, and Lyocell."  Sally joins founders Julie and Jonas Zahn, casket builder Jack Rhodes, delivery driver and shop manager Jim Zahn, and a dozen part-time team members at the company’s quaint casket shop located in downtown Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

"Working with fabric gives me the opportunity to do something I really enjoy while being part of a process that results in a beautiful and unique casket or burial shroud for a family,” Sally shares.

Northwoods Casket Company builds sustainable wood caskets using locally sourced lumber and local craftspeople.  Founded in 2006 by Jonas and Julie Zahn of Beaver Dam, the company's caskets are sold by more than 250 funeral homes in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest.  They plant 100 trees for every casket they build and won the 2013 award for "Innovator of the Year" from the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council for their creativity and commitment to planting trees in Wisconsin.  More information can be found online at www.NorthwoodsCasket.com.