Heaven Sent: Hemmerling’s jazz funeral draws crowds
It was a hot summer morning in New Orleans as a large crowd gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Rampart Street to celebrate the life and spirituality of the late Louisiana folk artist, William M. Hemmerling, who passed away at his Ponchatoula home in June at age 66. The musical mass was followed by a colorful jazz funeral directed by Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis, complete with a police escort.
An African American woman all dressed in white with a big floppy hat and net stockings appeared at the church with a banner across her chest inscribed with “Sweet Olive,” recalling Hemmerling’s soulful series on African American southern folk culture.
“She came to the wake at the gallery the night before and asked if she could have the privilege of dancing at Bill’s funeral as she often dances at jazz funerals,” said Carol Siekkinen, Hemmerling’s agent and friend. Jack, Carol’s husband, served as the artist’s manager and was also a dear friend. In the days leading up to Hemmerling’s death, Jack would gently tuck him in bed each night. “Bill would say to Jack, ‘Good night Dad!’ and then he would go to sleep,” Carol reminisced. The beloved artist who had battled cancer lived in an art-filled house next door to the couple’s Louisiana Furniture and Art Gallery in Ponchatoula.
The sun beat down as the crowd was slowly leaving the church. “As Cynthia led the procession out of the church, she was like Sweet Olive calling her master home to heaven,” Carol remarked of the woman in white with the banner and floppy hat. Hemmerling was known for his paintings that portrayed blacks in the south (including the Sweet Olive series) in addition to paintings about religious experiences.
Despite the intense sun, a cool breeze began to blow as 15 musicians from Preservation Hall and 15 gentlemen from the Social Aid and Pleasure Club formed the jazz funeral procession outside the church that would travel the 12 long blocks through the French Quarter, past the clubs, posh restaurants, quaint galleries, and the historic cathedral, reflecting the path of sacred and profane that is so characteristic of the colorful Quarter. “Bill would have been so excited that he stopped cars for 12 blocks in the French Quarter!” Carol exclaimed. “Quint did such a great job of the jazz funeral. It was done in a caliber reserved only for celebrities and dignitaries,” she added.
As the casket was gingerly placed in a horse-drawn carriage with glass windows to allow viewing, the somber music began with “A Closer Walk with Thee” as people swayed to the melancholy ballad, taking long, slow strides to the beat of the drum. The tempo picked up with a livelier beat as the mourners meandered through the Quarter, past the Bombay Club which Hemmerling had painted, while the crowd continued to grow along the way. Young people surged forth, holding the artist’s picture on sticks as well as replicas of his soulful paintings.
Photographers flashed cameras as the procession arrived at St. Louis Cathedral at high noon, when the church bells pealed in a moving synchronization of song and spirit. Mourners held their handkerchiefs high in second-line fashion, waving them festively in the air as the tunes became more celebratory near the send-off point.
At Café du Monde, the casket was placed into a hearse that led a caravan of cars to the graveside service at the Ponchatoula Cemetery. To the surprise of mourners, a band of African American jazz musicians showed up at the cemetery in a tribute to the artist and his meaningful work. “Someone said that this was the first time music was played at the Ponchatoula Cemetery,” exclaimed Carol. “I didn’t ask for them to play, they just showed up and said that they came to play for their friend, Mr. Bill.”
Many collectors say they have been deeply moved by Hemmerling’s paintings. The artist who had worked at Sears for decades before crossing the threshold of Louisiana Furniture and Art Gallery was a very spiritual and religious man, according to Carol. “He touched so many people in such an extraordinary way with his art. It’s almost supernatural, how many lives Bill affected so strongly, and he only began painting six years ago,” she said.
The month before Hemmerling died, the artist remarked that he wanted a pond. He also had a love of plants and flowers. “So my husband and the boys dug a big pond on an empty lot. They worked every night, digging the pond and filling it with water and planting the trees,” Carol said. “Bill also wanted to make a prayer garden,” she recalled. In his final days, Hemmerling had the pleasure of witnessing the creation of the pond and garden. “They rolled him out in a wheelchair. He had his pond before he died,” she reflected. “Everyone who sent plants to the funeral, their gifts will become a part of his legacy in the Sweet Olive Prayer Garden.” Famed for creating the 2005 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival poster, Hemmerling more recently was the artist for the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival’s 2008 and 2009 posters. Earlier this year his work was on view at an art show in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. “It was at a palace,” Carol said. “We had a booth with Bill’s work. The next booth over had art by Salvador Dali. There were armed guards who guarded the art, which included the work of famous Caribbean artists,” she exclaimed. “People feel the spirituality that Bill painted with. We know it’s true because in Santo Domingo, everyone spoke Spanish but people showed us the goose bumps on their arms over and over again after seeing Bill’s paintings. People who are serious collectors have repeatedly told me that he is a genius. There are at least 30 people who have told me that Bill changed their lives.” After the Santo Domingo exhibit, Hemmerling told Carol, “I think we have made it.”
The Siekkinens say that they plan to open a museum in Ponchatoula named for the artist. “Bill told me he wanted us to continue marketing his work. He wanted to be famous,” Carol asserted. “We have taken the original art work off the market for the time being and will be doing a Hemmerling Museum, either in his house or in the house next door where he lived while growing up with his family. We are doing everything we can to restore it. We also have the original car he drove. All of that will become a part of his story. We are also considering a book,” she said. Reproductions of Hemmerling’s work are available, some with the artist’s signature.
For information on Hemmerling’s art, contact the Louisiana Furniture and Art Gallery in Ponchatoula, 985-386-0471, or the Hemmerling Gallery in New Orleans, 504-899-8833. ✦
