Lynn funeral procession straight out of the past

LYNN – They each weigh 1,700 pounds, gobble a hay bale for a meal and, on Monday, “Roy” and “Billy” clomped down Boston Street doing their part for a funeral scheduled out of Sacred Heart Church.Loudon, N.H., resident Larry Stone owns the two Belgian draft horses and he said he appreciated the chance to hitch his team to an antique hearse owned by Solimine Funeral Homes and bear the late MarieTheresa Cook from the David J. Solimine Funeral Homes? Broadway location to the West Lynn church. “It?s an honor,” he said.Cook died last Tuesday at the age of 87 and Sacred Heart School students lined the church steps as Stone, with fellow horseman Wayne Welch seated beside him, guided the carriage to the curb in front of Sacred Heart at 11:38 a.m. Monday.David Solimine Sr. said the 1874 antique white carriage is kept at Solimine?s Ocean Street location and available when families such as Cook?s request it for a funeral. Manufactured by the George T. Brownell Carriage Company of New Bedford, the Solimine family acquired the carriage in 1977 and a Merrimac craftsman named Greg Rogers restored it.?I?m kind of an antique buff – it goes with my business,” said Solimine.He has hired several different horse team owners to pull the carriage with Welch driving his team in several funerals. Stone said pulling a carriage is light work for “Roy” and “Billy.” The big animals tug fallen trees of out the woods and they have competed in their share of weight-pulling contests.?They?re farm horses,” Stone said.He said the days when carriage drivers hitched teams to ornate hearses and took the deceased on “the last ride” occupy a not-too-distant past.?I think humans owe a lot to horses. I?ve always had an affinity for them,” Stone said.David Solimine Jr. said military families in different parts of Massachusetts have requested the carriage for funerals on six occasions during the last several years.Once Cook?s funeral commenced, Stone steered the horses into the parking lot across Boston Street from the church, and unhitched them from the carriage before guiding the pair into a trailer.Solimine and Welch pushed the carriage onto a trailer for its ride back to Ocean Street and Welch and Stone thanked the funeral director for the chance to see the carriage used for what it was built for.?It?s pretty special,” Welch said.