We love reading unique obituaries, and today we’re sharing a few of our favorites.
More and more, the obituary is becoming a final form of self-expression. People write their own obituaries, or their families write quirky tributes to loved ones — these may be heartwarming or hilarious, cautionary tales or inspirational stories, or all of the above. Sometimes they’re so great that they even “go viral.” We love reading these unique obituaries, and today we’re sharing a few of our favorites.
One paragraph in, we could tell Dandelion Treecraft was a character. Of his funeral service, the obituary in the Spokesman-Review states: “A caravan of grave-digging friends and well-wishers are expected to provide funereal talent, shovels, sweat, cheer, graveside manners. Eulogizers of quick-witted brevity are welcome to speak. Long-winded droners may be stoned and used as backfill.”
Robert “Buffalo Bobby” Yerike died at age 67 doing what he loved — hiking the Appalachian Trail (for the 3rd time!). Read his inspirational obituary in Asbury Park Press.
Sleeping in, eating pancakes, having a pig float by to offer a renewable source of perfectly crisp bacon, playing a winged volleyball match, an evening of watching reality TV on DVR… The Salt Lake Tribune memoriam for Heather Ann Whetzel-Bissegger imaginatively explores how she might be spending her birthday in heaven.
Walter and Jeanny Bick “survived the horrors of the Holocaust by posing as Christian farmers.” Apparently, they were neither Christian nor farmers, “but that was the only way they could get into Canada in 1939.” Read their obituary in the Toronto Star to see how their resourcefulness in the face of a 1944 cucumber glut allowed them to live a life of generosity to others.
World War II veteran Saul Shuller had few complaints (“he complained almost never”), but one thing really got his goat “traffic on Interstate 75.” The irony was not lost on his family when, on the way to Shuller’s burial, the funeral procession got stuck in I-75 traffic. “They knew Mr. Shuller would be watching, and grumbling about it one last time.” Read more in The Cincinnati Enquirer
In the Sun-Sentinel obituary that Bob “Harry” Wiedeke wrote for himself, he shared details about the many people who made a difference in his life. He also invited his friends to “stop by” his gravesite “and have a beer on me” — “literally, in this case.”
The Idaho Statesman obituary for Marcella Bernice Winter Dunn includes practical advice she learned over the course of her 102 years of life: “Floss daily, give nice presents, homemade candy is delicious, speak your mind, work hard and always carry a hanky.”
Written by Katie Falzone and Linnea Crowther
