Other Funeral News...
 

I did a search and I didn't see this topic anywhere.

See yall, I'm learning.

>>>doing the cabbage patch and then the running man<<<

(((((((((((( stops and notices that the audience isn't laughing. The sound of crickets chirping in the background ))))))))))))

Ahem. sorry

Back to the topic at hand.




It really is sad how people are doing these funerals these days...


Even in death, man cheers on his Steelers

Smith’s viewing has him dressed in team colors, in front of TV on recliner

Updated: 1:31 p.m. ET July 6, 2005

PITTSBURGH - James Henry Smith was a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan in life, and even death could not keep him from his favorite spot: in a recliner, in front of a TV showing his beloved team in action.

Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer Thursday. Because his death wasn’t unexpected, his family was able to plan for an unusual viewing Tuesday night.

The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith’s home on game day Sundays.

Smith’s body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.

“I couldn’t stop crying after looking at the Steeler blanket in his lap,” said his sister, MaryAnn Nails, 58. “He loved football and nobody did (anything) until the game went off. It was just like he was at home.”

Longtime friend Mary Jones called the viewing “a celebration.”

“I saw it and I couldn’t even cry,” she said. “People will see him the way he was.”

Smith’s burial plans were more traditional — he’ll be laid to rest in a casket.

:eek:

That's deep! Real deep! Why not just bury him in the robe with a Steelers sign in his casket?

smh..My family better not do anything like that. I'll have to come back and make their life more miserable than it already is!

Y'all KNOW that I HAD to find a picture!
 

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0706/4691092.jpg

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0706/4691096.jpg

http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0706/4691094.jpg

Oh snap, I was trying not to make any assumptions about it being a Black family and then you had to go get the picture. :(

Dayum!!

This is ridiculous.

I knew he was Black. I knew it. That money could have been used to pay a bill. :(

OH SNAP
 

YEA i saw that on the local news channel yea we love are steelers but they went a little to far on that one ha ha. I apologize y'all we are crazy here ha ha ha.

They probably saved money, I mean most of the stuff for the viewing was provided by the family. :(

Atleast he wasn't siting up in the recliner. Creepy......

I think its great...for real
 

You know death is one of those things we just take for granted. We know our time here is borrowed. But we are so afraid. I am forever haunted by last images of dear friends and family lying in their caskets...and that's just not the image of who they were to me. I am sure this image of the departed is a lot more settling ...seeing him as he was in life...and will in effect make the grieving process easier on those he left behind.

I really think its incredibly thoughtful of his family and friends to have him in his most favorite state amongst his favorite things. I know in some cultures its common practice to send out to sea momentos of one's favorite things and to bury the deceased with their favorite things as well.

Re: I think its great...for real
 

Though I feel what you are saying, I don't know about this type of send off. I don't like seeing my family members or friends in coffins either, but I don't want to see my mama reclined with her feet in a pedicure tub, even though that's what she likes to do. I think that I would be more freaked out by seeing a dead person simulated in a"life-like" situation. *shudders*

Couldn't they have just gotten him a Pittsburgh Steelers coffin liner or something? Or just placed his blanket on tp of him in the coffin? :confused:

I am sure "the stage" cost money, plus I am sure the funeral company charged for having his feet crossed and to put the remote in his hand:

The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith’s home on game day Sundays.

Smith’s body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe.

"You Know You're a Redneck when..."
 

I didn't think he was black - I thought it sounded like a Jeff Foxworthy joke - until I saw the pictures. :eek:

That was really creepy. Feet crossed? I think there's a reason we only see the top portion of a person. He looked so stiff.

But, whatever floats their boat. :(

You can not be serious!

Was this in Jet? Cuz, you know it is notorious for these kinds of pics. :D

My thoughts exactly:)

I guess if that's what it takes to make them more comfortable with the passing, that's them, but that would freak me out. It hurts to remember my grandmommy in her casket, but if I remember her sitting up in her green armchair, feet in a massager, and body hard as a rock, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

On stage!!!! It cost extra to have feet crossed?:confused:
Girl you are really telling me something I didn't know. Dang!

At least this man had his eyes closed. Unlike the other dude who was sitting up in his car with his eyes wide open.:o

I remember that one and that was a little eery.

Funeral homes charge you for EVERYTHING and especially more for anything that is out of the ordinary. I won't even go into what it would take to cross a dead person's legs.

Ya know, I don't want my family to spend all that money on me when I'm no longer alive. And, if I did not have your respect when I was alive, I dang on don't want it when I'm gone. So no need for a bunch of folks to come and sit with my family. Cause they gon trip if you show up and they know I couldn't stand your behind.

I am single with no kids. Skip the funeral, cremate me. Just don't take me anywhere near North Georgia.

Cremations are just as expensive.

It depends. I had a family member that was cremated & the funeral home kept trying to pile in a bunch of charges - which were adamantly declined. They tried to add in embalming - hello - if the person is being cremated - why embalm? They said that it was a State Law, but if there was no viewing, I don't get it. :confused: The Cremation was under $1,000.

I'm kinda like fun4real. I don't want a long drawn out process - just remember the good things about me. AND - I will have to include a clause somewhere that states no pics please. I know everyone has their preference, but I absolutely abhor funeral pictures.

We cremated my dad four years ago and total costs for everything was about $1200.

I lost a friend in 93 and his casket was almost that much. And that wasn't one of the expensive ones. I was amazed at how much the funeral cost. Of course you don't pay up front. But the funeral home would not proceed without seeing the insurance policy first. It was all a trip.

The stuff you have to deal with during your grieving period. It can just all be so much.

Re: Other Funeral News...
 

This does not seem that different from the olden days when the old folk would have the deceased in the *parlor* for several days while the visitors mourned and sat with them.
SC

Okay that is a lot less, because you can't get a decent funeral today for less than $5,000.

Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

Those were Wakes where the idea was to give the person time to "wake up." That is because there were misdiagnoses of death and people feared burying someone alive.

Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

Ladygreek, do you know erythang? You really taught me something new about wakes. Thank you.

But I got a headache when I saw a black man in those pictures. It was as if my brain refused to process that information. FinerWoman, I hear what you were saying because I know I don't want a bunch of sad songs at my services ("Don't Cry For Me"will not be allowed), but the recliner with the remote was too much for me.

My granddad's wake was nice because it was just the way he would have wanted it: full of people that loved him having a good time talking. You would have thought there was a family reunion going on.

Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

And this is EXACTLY why my greatest fear is being buried alive. I know it doesn't really happen anymore, but it could and I'm not. Shoot, leave me in the living room for like a week, cause you'd better be sure I'm good and dead. I'm not having it. Creeps me out just thinking about it.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

*shaking Christiangirl WAKE UP!!! oh ok you still here? Good :)*


Just checking..can't have you going anywhere just yet

People mourn differently...
 

I am a filmmaker. Images stay with me long after the scene has passed. For those of you who have very strong feeling about being cremated or not viewed...put it in your will. After you are gone, people will do with you as THEY WANT.

My family and closest friends know, I do not want my corpse on display to be cried over let alone photographed. If the family was cool with having their dearly departed propped up "sleeping with the remote in hand" hey, who are we to judge?

Oh my damn....:eek: :confused: :mad:

Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

This reminds me of a funny story my cousin told me. She had a "side gig" of doing hair at a funeral home several years ago. She would typically go in early in the morning or late at night before/after her full time job. Because she was related to the Funeral Director (other side of her family), she had a key and would let her self into the back room. He would have the deceased propped up "waiting" on her to do her thing. Well one winter morning (read it was still dark outside) she was doing a woman's hair and moved her some type of way. Sometimes gasses get trapped in the body, and when she moved the woman the gas started to come out and made a sound! She said it sounded like the sterotypical ghost sound! Needless to say, she dropped the comb and got the heck out of there!

That ended her career as a funeral home hairdresser! Even after the FD explained what happened she refused to go back!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

LOL! That is too funny. I don't think I would have gone back either.

I have even heard of deceased people who have "burped." :o :eek:

I met a guy a while back that worked at a funeral home. He was telling us all sorts of stories about dead people. My uncle used to work in the coroner's office and used to explain to me about the condition some bodies are in once they arrive. I sometimes watch "Family Plots," but the show is more focused on the family than body preparations. There was another show that came on a while back that dealt with body prep after death and it's a task that a woman like me could not handle.

Call me crazy, but I absolutely LOVE this show! And yes, I did watch all 2 hours worth last night!

When my dad was in medical school he worked in the coronor's office. One day an employee who had parited too hard the night before decided to lay down and take a nap on one of the tables. The next shift came in and them moving around woke him up. Realizing he had over slept he sat straight up under the sheet. The other guy seeing what he thought was a dead body sit straight up ran straight through a plate glass window! That would have scared the h*ll out of me too.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

Naw, but a lot of knowledge does come with age. ;)

CTHU!!!!
 

That is hilarious :D

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Other Funeral News...
 

So true, girl. I don't even want to talk funerals cause I have buried too many relatives close to me. I was surprised to see this article and just trying to imagine it! But then the pictures are not as bad as I had mentally pictured it. I personally don't see anything wrong with what his family did for him.