Dead Gambler Poses For Photo At Poker Table

In one of the more bizarre stories we have reported on for some time, a Puerto Rican poker enthusiast who died suddenly on January 19th was embalmed and photographed sitting at a poker table. In the eerie pictures, Henry Rosario Martinez, 31, is seen wearing a New York Yankees cap and sunglasses, while surrounded by his family and friends, who even dealt him cards and gave him game chips.
Henry Rosario Martinez had a passion for poker, and after he died from what is suspected to be an overdose of prescription pills and alcohol, his family decided to have him sit in for one last round of the game he loved best. During the unusual tribute, a full room of family and friends snapped photos at the Eternal Light Funeral Home in Barceloneta, recreating a picture of normality. Well, almost!
However, this is not the first wake of its kind organized by funeral home owner Jose Mendelez, and commenting on the strange custom explained:
“It’s the first time we did this here, but we take it as something normal, because they have done these things in other parts of the island.”
In fact, amongst some mourners it would seem to be a growing trend, as one look at this article will demonstrate, with examples cited from New Orleans, Miami, and of course others from Puerto Rico. Interestingly, during the Victorian Era post-mortem photography was apparently a common custom, with the dead bodies arranged to appear lifelike. Back then, photography was relatively new, and certainly expensive, such that taking a photo of your loved one would have likely been the only visual memory you would have of them after they departed. By the end of the 19th century, however, post-mortem photography died out as taking photos became more commonplace.