Pray Funeral Home of Charlotte was invited to show their
antique professional cars at the 2009 Professional Car Society International
Concourse d’Elegance in Flint
Saturday August 15th. Joe E.
Pray and his father Joseph E. Pray displayed the family’s 1937 LaSalle Carved
Side Funeral Coach and their 1930 Meteor Invalid Coach as part of the field of
over 75 antique, classic, and special interest professional cars on the grounds
of the Alfred P.
Sloan Museum
and Flint Cultural Center.
The Professional Car Society is an international
organization dedicated to the maintenance, restoration, preservation, and display
of the professional car. The class of
cars include those defined as custom bodied vehicles based on passenger car
styling and used in funeral, rescue, or livery services. The cars displayed at the Flint Concourse
included hearses or funeral coaches, flower cars, limousines, ambulances, and
invalid coaches, both motorized and horse drawn.
“We were very happy that our 1937 LaSalle earned the Third
place overall award for the Concourse d’Elegance” said Joe E. Pray. “Many of the cars in the show were beautifully
restored examples of the craftsmanship of the professional vehicle builders
dating back to the early 1900’s. Our
LaSalle was unique in the field as it has been over five years since it was
restored, we use it on a regular basis, and we drove the car to the show rather
than transported it on a trailer.”
“We were pleased that the Pray’s could show their cars
here,” Said Brady Smith, President of the PCS Midwest Chapter, They are a
unique pair of professional vehicles because both of the automobiles were built
by Meteor Motor Car Company in Piqua
Ohio. They are fine examples of the evolution of
the automobile and the professional car industry.”
Both the 1937 LaSalle and the 1930 Meteor are shown at
numerous area car shows and local parades.
Pray Funeral Home also uses the 1937 LaSalle on funeral services for
families who request it.
The Pray’s maintain the antique vehicles as a tribute to the
local area families who have worked in the automotive industry and because of
the vehicles unique histories. The 1930
Meteor Invalid Coach was originally owned by the Stroble Funeral Home in Grand
Ledge. As Joseph E. Pray tells it “In
the late 1950’s Mr. Stroble wanted to give me the car in appreciation for the
help our family had been to him over the years.
I felt it wasn’t right for him to give it to us so we settled on a fair
price for it. He wanted to be sure we
took care of it and appreciated as part of the local funeral history.” The 1939 LaSalle was rescued from a car
collector in Kentucky
who had plans to turn the elaborately carved coach into a hot rod. “It was to valuable to turn into a hot rod
because there are very few examples of the carved side coaches that are still
in existence,” comments Mr. Pray
