Photo via the DailyCamera of Bo Shaffer taking care of Frozen Grandpa’s Body
When a Norwegian man named Bredo Morstøl died from a heart condition in 1989, his daughter Aud Morstøl and his grandson Trygve, huge cryonics advocates living in Colorado, had his body packed in dry ice and shipped it to the Trans Time cryonics facility in Oakland, CA, where he was placed in liquid nitrogen from 1990-1993.
In 1993, Bredo was repacked in dry ice and moved to Nederland, CO where Aud and Trygve planned to start their own cryonics facility, but Grandpa Bredo’s body ended up in a shack behind their home. Sometime in the 1990’s Trygve overstayed his visa and was deported back to Norway, so Aud stepped in to keep her father’s body frozen.
Soon Aud was evicted from her home for violating local ordinances by living in a house with no electricity or plumbing. That’s when she went to local reporter to tell the story about her father’s body, and that an eviction for her would mean she would have to return to Norway. The reporter went to city hall in to tell them Aud’s story and told city officials that Aud’s eviction would mean her father’s body would thaw out and decompose.
Photo via Wikipedia of Grandpa Bredo’s shed
Of course City Hall promptly freaked out and passed a provision that made illegal the storing of “the whole or any part of the person, body or carcass of a human being or animal or other biological species which is not alive upon any property.” But they made an exception for old Bredo, and allowed him to stay. In 1995 the local Tuff Shed supplier and a Denver radio station built a new shed to store Bredo’s body. Now he even has a sarcophagus, surrounded by foam padding, a tarp, and blankets.
In 1995 Aud hired a man named Bo Shaffer as “Cryonicist-in-Charge” to take care of Grandpa. Every month since he was hired Schaffer, who is known locally as the “Ice Man,” and a team of volunteers delivers 1600lbs of dry ice to pack around the famous frozen dead guy, to keep him at a steady -60 degrees Fahrenheit
In 2002 Nederland started an annual celebration to honor Grandpa Bredo called Frozen Dead Guy Days. Trygve Bauge calls it “Cryonics’ first Mardi Gras.” The three-day party features coffin races, a parade of decorated hearses, a polar plunge, frozen salmon toss, frozen t-shirt contest, and snowy beach volleyball. Shaffer also leads tours during the festival of the Tuff Shed now dubbed the International Cryonics Institute and Center for Life Extension, or ICICLE.
Frozen Dead Guy Days are held every year at the beginning of March.
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Categories: History
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