Grieving B.C. father finds healing by building coffins to help others through loss
Philip Thompson is in the midst of an unexpected journey, powered by his perspective on one’s purpose.
“I think that problem-solving is what our whole life is about,” Philip says.
It’s why he inspired high school students to seek solutions as a design and technology teacher, and encouraged his four children to be practical and self-reliant.
“My natural way is to solve my own problems,” Philip says.
But then Philip’s life took a sudden turn after getting a call from one son about another.
“Dad, there’s no easy way to say this,” Philip recalls his son saying over the phone. “But Nathan’s died.”
Philip’s 20-year old son had died unexpectedly while living abroad.
“It shook my whole world,” Philip says.
By the time he could make it from Canada to Nathan’s funeral in England, everything had been arranged. Philip felt he had no part in planning it.
“I wish I had done more,” Philip recalls thinking. “How can I make this up to you?”
Philip struggled to find a solution for years until he found the courage to start having vulnerable conversations about grief with others, and found more than a couple members of his community had wished they’d been able to participate more fully in a funeral too.
“And I thought, ‘Yeah, I could solve that.’” Philip recalls. “I could make coffins.”
Although Philip had never built anything like a coffin before, he was a life-long woodworker.
So he consulted experts along the way and constructed his first coffin with an oak exterior and a plush interior.
“I did it with my head and my heart and my hands,” Philip says. “As fully as I would have done for my own son.”
Philip designed it with easy-to-turn screws on each corner of the lid so family members can be part of the process in a practical way, like he wished he would have with Nathan.
“I will never stop loving Nathan,” Philip says. “I will never get over a sense of loss.”
But after making three custom coffins for people he knew, and now selling this fourth with the hope of helping another family, Philip’s grief has diminished.
“I realized Nathan — you’d be really proud of this,” Philip smiles. “And son, I’d be really proud if you were really proud as well.”
Proud to know that his dad is learning to live through loss, and find healing through helping others.
“We are here to solve problems for people,” Philip says of his life’s purpose. “For the whole world.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.