Edvige Santangelo started planning her funeral outfit when she was 55 years old. At the beginning of each year, she bought new clothes for the occasion, including accessories like a matching and . In her letter of instruction, which laid out her wishes upon her death, she insisted her mortuary makeup match her ensemble.
For Santangelo, this tradition was about preparation—that when the day came, she would be as beautiful in death as she’d been in life. It’s not that Santangelo was anticipating death. She was a stylish woman, who spent most of her life designing dresses at a boutique in Montreal where she created near-perfect dupes of actor’s Oscar gowns.
She made her daughter’s clothing, and then her wedding dress, and eventually, outfits for her granddaughters’ Barbies. But more than anything, she was a devout Catholic—and wanted to meet Saint Peter looking her best. Santangelo lived well in spite of a life-long battle with fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder that causes muscle soreness, body pain, and fatigue.
In 2022, she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, a chronic degenerative joint disease, and later that same year, experienced a stroke, which worsened her condition. Overwhelmed with pain, she tried everything from physical therapy and acupuncture to cortisone shots. Eventually, her doctor put her on morphine for two months, which made her sleep all the time.
“There were no acceptable treatment options for her,” says her daughter, Nadia Vakharia. “There.
