The John Deere Custom Casket

Charles “Bud” Sedlachek’s lifelong devotion to John Deere followed him to the very end, right down to his final ride. The 83-year-old farmer from Brainerd passed away on January 3, 2022, from congestive heart failure, surrounded by his family at home. A true John Deere enthusiast, Sedlachek had pre-ordered a custom casket in the brand’s signature green and yellow, complete with the iconic logo on the lid and embroidered into the interior fabric.

His funeral service at Halvorson-Taylor Funeral Home was anything but ordinary, and it quickly became the talk of the town. At the suggestion of funeral director Tim Taylor, a John Deere tractor was brought to the funeral home for the wake and stayed on display for the service. It later led the funeral procession through Brainerd to Bethel Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Among the pallbearers was longtime employee and friend, Mogensen, who had worked for Sedlachek since the early 1990s. He drove Sedlachek’s John Deere 9100 four-wheel drive tractor at the head of the 70- to 100-vehicle procession, which traveled east on Highway 18 and then south on County Highway 23 to Bethel Cemetery. In the end, Sedlachek’s final farewell was a fitting tribute: a farmer laid to rest in the colors he loved, led by the machine that symbolized his life’s work.

Photo by Freddy Mogensen