A final Kiss goodbye: Newfoundlander buried in custom-made coffin

A man from Bell Island will be buried in a custom-built coffin designed as a tribute to the rock and roll band he loved, days after he received another final wish: a call from Kiss frontman Gene Simmons. 

Kenny Miller died of cancer Jan. 28. in Cambridge, Ont. He was 52 and a Kiss fanatic from from his early teens, according to friend Paul White. 

"Kenny's a very special person," said White, whose wife was entrusted with picking out some of the final pieces for the casket, which includes a purple lining, flames on the outside and a Kiss Army fan-club logo.

They brought the final design into Miller's hospital room for his seal of approval.

"I got the nod and the thumbs-up from him and that was enough for me," said White. 

He admitted being "dumbfounded" to learn of his friend's final request, but he knew how much Miller loved the band.

"He was a huge, huge Kiss fan since he was a young teenager," he said. "He made his own costumes. He went around Halloween time and won first prizes."

Miller also performed on stage with a live band in the iconic Kiss costume in 2015 at a benefit concert, recalled White. 

Need to meet Gene

Miller attended at least 18 Kiss concerts in his life. He had a tattoo of Gene Simmons on his chest and kept a drawing of the singer on a night table in the palliative-care centre where he spent his last days.  He wanted to meet the man himself. 

Staff at the centre arranged the next best thing.

When Miller's phone rang one day, he heard a familiar voice, asking: "Who's the best band in the world?"

The phone call from Gene Simmons was set up by a nurse at Lisaard House in Cambridge, who reached out to Simmons on his website, and a call was arranged with in the hour. 

"I've been waiting all my life for this phone call," White remembers Miller saying. 

Funeral services are on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Pendergast Funeral Home on Bell Island.