Anita Domoslai, 86, who recently moved to Tofield, began making model horse-drawn hearses in 2005 once she was finally able to pursue this hobby. Even as a young girl Domoslai had an interest in working with her hands, and a love of horses.
“I grew up on a farm and know a lot about horses. I was the oldest in my family of four girls and a boy. And the boy never came along until 1947, and that’s when we left the farm. I was always the one outside helping my dad. I know how to harness those horses and do everything.
“I’ve always been interested in woodworking. When I was a kid, we used to get wooden apple boxes, made of solid wood. I used to take the sides off those and draw rabbits and such, and cut them all out with a hand coping saw. The people in my hometown still have those rabbits that I drew and painted, made out of those apple boxes,” Domoslai said.
The idea of creating models of horse-drawn hearses first occurred to Domoslai in 1957.
“I went to a movie called The Garment Jungle. In that movie, they showed a funeral procession where the body was in a hearse led by an eight-horse hitch of black horses. I had never seen anything like that. I said to myself, one of these days I want to make one of those,” she said.
Domoslai and her husband raised eight children, and it wasn’t until 2005 when Domoslai felt she could begin creating the models.
“It was in the back of my mind for many, many years. We went on the oil rigs, road construction, the restaurant business, the motel business. We moved to Alberta in 1995. Finally in 2005 all our kids were gone from home. And I thought to myself, I’m going to do this now. So, I sent for a book on hearses,” said Domoslai.
Once she had completed her first model, she and her husband travelled to various shows to display it.
“My first was a four-horse hitch with a driver. We used to set up at all the antique shows. Down at Irricana, at the farm show for three days, I set up my hearse, but I didn’t intend to sell it. I was out walking around, looking at stuff, and along came one of Bill Connelly’s sons, of Connelly-McKinely Funeral Homes. He saw the hearse and said, ‘Oh my god, if my dad saw that…is this for sale?’ My husband didn’t know what to say, so he thought, well, if I say $1,200 they won’t come near it, because he knew I didn’t want to sell. I was just getting started. Connelly’s son was back in about 15 minutes and wrote out the cheque. I nearly fell over. I could not believe it. But it’s a one of a kind, nobody has any of this,” she said.
Domoslai said Bill Connelly, though passed on now, bought and still has 30 or more of her models on display. Making each model can take up to 150 hours, and Domoslai used whatever materials she could find.
Kari Janzen
Staff Reporter
