They delivered the casket to Dapp’s Auto Body from York Casket Company and we asked Jerry Jones, who had helped with the creation of the 62 Chrysler Custom, if he would paint the casket to match the car. You know Dad always liked people to take notice! Cher and I wanted to Dad to have just one last “Wild Ride”. As the pall bearers carried the orange flamed casket past Dad’s 62 Chrysler Custom, Jim Sinclair had the guys stop beside the car for a moment to say goodbye! We all got to sign the casket and Jim signed “Return to Sender” on it! Dad was an avid Elvis fan.
My sister and I had lost our mother to cancer one year and three months previous to Dad’s passing. So you can imagine how tough it has been!
Now you ask, “What happened to that WILDER Custom that Dad built?” The ’62 Chrysler Custom lives on in the Dapp family! I currently own the Chrysler and have fondly named her, “Christine”. As at times, she tends to be a little “devilish” and disagreeable!
You must know that if you had seen my father and knew him, he was an avid Elvis fan. My sister, Cher, and I grew up knowing all the ‘50’s songs along with a ton of Elvis Presley songs. In the ‘70’s we took a family trip to Memphis, TN in the ’32 Ford Sedan to visit Graceland. At that time, you were not able to tour the inside of the mansion, only the outside grounds. We did see the graves of Elvis and his mother and father. Dad was so proud to have a picture taken of his street rod in the driveway of Elvis Presley in front of the gate that still stands there today with the musical notes on it.
The other items that I have from my mother and father, is their ‘50’s room that Cher and I had grown up in! After running the auto body business for six months after his death and realizing that the shop would have to close, we took the Dapp’s Auto Body sign, made out of the front of a T-bird, off the shop. Dad’s brother, Greg, took the sign and restored it for me and that sign now hangs in my house in the finished “50’s Rec room” in the basement. Dad and mom’s collection includes tons of Elvis memorabilia, gold Elvis records, and a ’58 Seeburg Jukebox filled with Elvis records. We also came across all their 45 records that would probably fill that jukebox three times! Whenever I venture into the basement, it is like stepping back in time again in more than one way!