Woman brings dead husband back as hologram to hold his own funeral Q&A

A woman stunned attendees at her late husband’s wedding when she revealed a hologram version of him, and began chatting away in a bizarre sci-fi question and answer session

A grieving widow stunned mourners by deciding to ‘resurrect’ her dead husband in the form of a talking hologram at his funeral. Pam Cronrath, 78, from Wenatchee, Washington promised her late husband Bill what she described as a “super wake” after 60 years of marriage, with all the bells and whistles of a Star Trek episode.

The high point of this high tech send off was no doubt the appearance of a life-sized Bill on a giant screen at the reception, that spoke to guests as if they were still alive. Pam told the BBC that her idea came from a deep-rooted love of technology. Saying that she had seen the technology used at a science show in the States, she explained: “I was completely impressed. It stayed with me.”

For those looking to replicate the sci-fi service, her ambitious plan did not come cheap. Pam initially hoped to spend around $2,000 on the virtual Bill, but the cost reportedly rose to around 15 times that amount.

Part of the eye-watering expenditure came from using such state-of-the-art tech, with Pam choosing to hire the same company that worked on Michael Jackson’s famous hologram used at the 2014 Billboard Awards.

She admitted: “When you hear they’re working with Michael Jackson’s estate, and then it’s me – Pam from Wenatchee – you do wonder how it’s going to work.”

Because Bill had already passed away by the time she landed on the wacky concept, Pam had no choice but to write the script herself, but admitted she he had little trouble finding his voice.

She said: “I knew him for 60 years, so I wrote it the way I believed he would speak.” Engineers then recreated his voice using old recordings.

At the memorial, attended by around 200 people, the hologram first delivered a speech and then took part in a staged question-and-answer session.

Pam recalled: “People were aghast. Some genuinely couldn’t understand how it was happening.”

According to the widow, she still watches the recording and finds comfort in it.

She said: “It’s like looking at photos, or old videos. It doesn’t get boring.” She added: “When you’re hurting, it helps to feel like that person is still right there with you.”

Despite concerns from experts about the ethics of such technology, Pam is adamant the decision was truly one of love and remembrance.

She stated: “It was about Bill. About honouring his humour, his kindness, and the way he made people feel.”