"Unusual" funeral experiences?

[yoopermom]

We spent this past Monday/Tuesday at the funeral services for "John". The man ran a ton of small businesses, was ALWAYS on the phone (probably until his last breath, knowing him), was gregarious, loved everyone, and was just a HUGE personality. Before the formal part of the service, they gave the usual canned "silence your cellphones" speech. The minister stood up to speak, and "ring". He checked his phone, it wasn't him.....

Turned out the four sons had arranged to put John's cellphone in his pocket in the coffin, with it ON, since he was "never without it". When the oldest one got up to speak, he actually asked all those present to either call or text the deceased within 24 hours and tell John how much he meant to them! Throughout the entire ceremony, I don't think it ever stopped ringing for more than a few minutes.

All I could think of was some poor innocent stranger going for a peaceful stroll through the cemetery, and hearing a ringing coming from a newly covered grave....

Anyone else with a great funeral story?

Terri

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've been to many a funeral but all quite traditional so I don't have a story but I just wanted to say I think that was pretty dang awesome!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My dad wrote the eulogy for his best friend, but he asked me to deliver it because he wasn't sure he could get through it. It was a nice story of their 60+ year friendship with a few laughs thrown in (like the time they both used the women's restroom by accident and didn't realize until they were done).

Anyway, a few people who didn't know Dad & I didn't realize I was telling Dad's story on his behalf, and thought it was MY story. And they were stunned at how young this "70 year old man" looked up there.

 

[Jennasis]

At my grandmother's funeral, my grandfather wanted "nothing but the best" so he spared no expense...and had the funeral home go for broke. They brought in professional mourners. And a funeral director who looked like Lurch from the Adams Family who orchestrated the whole thing with dramatic waves of his arms to instruct the congregation to stand or sit as required. My cousins and I were rolling in the pews at the church.

Then again, at my other grandma's funeral, I was stomping doing a T-Rex impersonation. It was between viewings and just my sisters, cousins and I in the room. all adults. Cracking up. Sometimes you gotta laugh...grandma would've been proud.

 

[tvguy]

My wife's Step-Grandmother's funeral. She was elderly, her husband and both her step-daughters had already passed away, as had all her friends.
So those in attendance included my wife and I, and her 3 cousins, and a lady and a boy age 10-12 that we didn't know. She came up to us after the service. She really didn't know Grandma very well, they went to the same church, a church Grandma hadn't been to in 10 years. But her son had never been to a funeral, so she took him out of school because she thought it would be a "good experience" for him. Really?

 

[1Mouse2RulethemAll]

Not the funeral, but in my FIL obituary, I made sure to include his middle name. He hated his middle name and every time I said it, he would say the devil was gonna get me for that.

 

[Mirielle]

?

 

[smokeyblue]

About 3/4 of the way through my great uncles funeral at least a dozen pagers went off in unison. There was a house fire and everyone was a volunteer fire fighter. The church was pretty empty for the last few minutes of the service.

 

[DisneylandDarling]

I've been to quite a few funerals, all have been "traditional". Which reminds me...I really, really hate visitations. Everyone talking and sitting around a dead body. No, thank you!

 

[manning]

I can imagine the voice mail greeting. "I'm unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message and telephone number and I will get back to you as soon as possible"

 

[focusondisney]

My grandfather died in the early 70's. His funeral was held in a very large bascillica where the priests use microphones to be heard. In the middle of the service, the mic apparently picked up a signal from a local radio station & Rod Stewart came blaring thru the church. It's been over 40 years & I still think of that funeral whenever I hear Maggie May!

 

[Mirielle]

My grandfather died in the early 70's. His funeral was held in a very large bascillica where the priests use microphones to be heard. In the middle of the service, the mic apparently picked up a signal from a local radio station & Rod Stewart came blaring thru the church. It's been over 40 years & I still think of that funeral whenever I hear Maggie May!

Thankfully it wasn't a grandmother named Maggie! "Wake up Maggie, I think I've got something to say to you"!

 

[kaytieeldr]

But her son had never been to a funeral, so she took him out of school because she thought it would be a "good experience" for him. Really?

My dad's mom died when I was twelve. He drove down, but my mom was flying and asked if I wanted to go with her, because I'd never been on a plane. I chose staying home to go to school, instead.

 

[ashley0139]

We didn't have a funeral for my grandmother when she died, but we did have a celebration of life with a bouncy house and margarita machines. She would have enjoyed that.

 

[lovin'fl]

Had a relative's funeral where another relative sang while playing the guitar. I thought that was odd.

My father's funeral, his girlfriend had the nerve to show up. My parents' had been married for 34 years when he died. Also, he belonged to a club and the whole club showed and did some ceremony. They crowded the entire place and dominated the funeral. It took something away from us, his children, grieving and remembering his life with us. They also crowded into the hospital the day he died. My mom was in the club too and she allowed all that. I am still bitter. There were videos of my dad that the club 'borrowed' from my mom and passed around among each other. The videos disappeared and my own kids, who were little when he died, haven't been able to watch to see what their grandpa was like.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I was at a wake once for a young woman who'd taken her own life when her Dad came in to pay his respects, and all of a sudden the girl's mom and this ex-husband started screaming at eachother, then other relatives joined in, and things got very heated! A bunch of us were there as coworkers to the girl's sibling so our bosses were there and everything, watching this whole spectacle. I felt so bad for my coworker that everyone had to see that.

This was funny. (You sometimes do have to laugh when you're in the thick of it!) My father had passed suddenly and myself, DH and my brother were in the lower level of the funeral home picking out the casket and whatnot. I'd gone ahead and bought the suit that the funeral home sells that has a slit up the back so they can easily get it on the deceased, but my brother had somehow missed that part. (Probably when he and DH were over admiring the "racy" casket models.) So I later pointed the suit out to my brother and said, "Hey, not bad for 60 bucks, eh?", to which he replied, "Sixty bucks? I should get one too then!".

Another time I went to the wake of a friend when her husband hit me with some macabre news about how she'd actually died that I hadn't been aware of, and went into great detail, out loud, right in the front of the line there! Not sure how many times he'd told that story that night, but I was actually shocked! (Which takes a lot for me!) So shocked that I almost completely lost my bearings and could hardly even speak to the family going down the rest of the line!

 

[scrhsa]

Then again, at my other grandma's funeral, I was stomping doing a T-Rex impersonation. It was between viewings and just my sisters, cousins and I in the room. all adults. Cracking up. Sometimes you gotta laugh...grandma would've been proud.

Not at the actual funeral but while my Mom, sister and I were planning my Dads we were in the little room discussing things with the funeral director and we were cracking joke after joke. We just couldn't help ourselves. The poor director just kind of looked at us at first like we were crazy but then he relaxed and went with it He seem really relieved that we had a handle on things Another director even came into the room to see what was going on. She said "you don't hear laughter very often around here". Not sure how my Dad would have appreciated our laughter but we really needed to laugh. I'm sure those directors still talk about us

 

[scrhsa]

We didn't have a funeral for my grandmother when she died, but we did have a celebration of life with a bouncy house and margarita machines. She would have enjoyed that.

I tell my girls that after my full on Catholic funeral I want them to have a party!!!! Play 80's music and everyone dance, play games and have lots of chips and dip And laugh and laugh and laugh !!!!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I went to the funeral of one of my good friends father in law. Just before the funeral, her sister in law and her long time boyfriend got married right in front of the casket. I guess they got a 2 for 1 on the minister.

 

[Sabeking]

I was at a wake once for a young woman who'd taken her own life when her Dad came in to pay his respects, and all of a sudden the girl's mom and this ex-husband started screaming at eachother, then other relatives joined in, and things got very heated! A bunch of us were there as coworkers to the girl's sibling so our bosses were there and everything, watching this whole spectacle. I felt so bad for my coworker that everyone had to see that.

This was funny. (You sometimes do have to laugh when you're in the thick of it!) My father had passed suddenly and myself, DH and my brother were in the lower level of the funeral home picking out the casket and whatnot. I'd gone ahead and bought the suit that the funeral home sells that has a slit up the back so they can easily get it on the deceased, but my brother had somehow missed that part. (Probably when he and DH were over admiring the "racy" casket models.) So I later pointed the suit out to my brother and said, "Hey, not bad for 60 bucks, eh?", to which he replied, "Sixty bucks? I should get one too then!".

Another time I went to the wake of a friend when her husband hit me with some macabre news about how she'd actually died that I hadn't been aware of, and went into great detail, out loud, right in the front of the line there! Not sure how many times he'd told that story that night, but I was actually shocked! (Which takes a lot for me!) So shocked that I almost completely lost my bearings and could hardly even speak to the family going down the rest of the line!

Your first story reminds me of a funeral in our town. A girl had been murdered and the case was highly publicized. The husband was eventually found guilty of the murder. At the time my friend was a local news reporter and went to cover the story. She told me during the viewing she witnessed the mother and father of the girl who were divorced having a knock down fight over who was going to be the last to have the final moment alone with the body before they closed the lid!!