BUTLER TWP — It is only a flight of stairs, but this path through the home of Wayne and Eileen Schoenecker connects two very different worlds.

Both interested in collecting, 58-year-old Wayne and his wife, 56, have managed to find a harmonious balance in displaying his collection of hearses along with her Roy Rogers relics.

With model hearses occupying several cases downstairs, Wayne also keeps a Civil War-era, full-sized hearse in storage, where it remains when not on display at shows.

In the garage, another horse-drawn hearse from the 1800s is under renovation, with crackled, black paint in various stages of removal.

"It's amazing how many people are fascinated with the hearses," said Elaine, who accompanies Wayne to shows hosted by the Professional Car Society of America.

As a member of that group, Wayne can display the rare vehicle while getting to see an array of vintage ambulances and limousines also on display.

"The Professional Car Society: That's what they're about," Wayne said. "To preserve (the vehicles) because every year, there's not that many of them made."

Wayne said the hearses, especially the more modern gas-powered ones, are often converted for other uses — leaving few for preservation.

"They're just beautiful," he said, pointing to the 57 models of Cadillac, Peugeot, Oldsmobile and Buick luxury professional vehicles displayed in the cases.

Also displayed are various vehicles not considered professional, like Muenster coaches, fad hearse vehicles and various horse-drawn models.

"There are all different kinds," Wayne said. "Every country has them."

Despite such widespread use, Wayne said part of the hearses' allure is their limited availability, even with the models.

"I have to buy what I see, because there isn't that much of it," he said. "Everybody wants that Corvette or Camaro or GTO."

Chuck Snyder of Hermitage, former president of the PCS's Tri-State Chapter, said Wayne's horse-drawn hearses are especially rare — partly due to their age, but also because many were modified.

"Some of them were actually made into motorized coaches, back when the automobiles (were manufactured). The wheels were taken off and they were put on truck chassis," he said.

According to Snyder, Wayne is among 65 PCS members in the Tri-State area, encompassing Western Pennsylvania, western New York and West Virginia.

Internationally, PCS includes about 1,200 members, he said.

"It growing very slowly every year," Snyder said.

Happy Trails

Although Eileen keeps two live horses outside, she stables memorabilia from two famous horses in the upstairs rooms of her home.

Trigger and Buttermilk, horses owned by famed cowboy Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans, are represented in a collection relating to the singing television and movie stars, popular in the 1940s and 50s.

"He was always my hero. That's all I ever talked about: Roy Rogers," said Eileen, a self-described tomboy who grew up watching "The Roy Rogers Show" on Saturday mornings.

Since Rogers and Evans were among those early performers to do merchandising, Eileen said her collection of 25-plus years represents a fraction of items available.

Even so, the second floor of her home seems well-equipped: Lining the stairway are framed movie posters with sayings like "Roy Rogers: King of the Cowboys" and "Trigger: Smartest Horse in the Movies."

A wooden Roy Rogers toy box is filled with items of the same theme, while statues, books, guitars, hats — even a lariat and hobby horse — occupy a hallway and room nearby.

"You name it, it was available," Eileen said, producing a book that catalogs many items made.

Eileen said the price of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans items escalated after the stars passed away in 1998 and 2001 respectively.

Linda Kruger, who heads up the Collectors Information Bureau in Grundy Center, Iowa, said items that commemorate stars like Rogers and Evans, Shirley Temple and Hopalong Cassidy are longtime collecting favorites.

"I think we're always going to see those being collected, because those are no longer being produced," Kruger said. "Somebody's always going to be taking care of them, treasuring them and passing them on to the next generation."