Thread: Solemn occasions that go wrong!!

A couple of years ago I was attending a funeral, The hearse having arrived, found that the rear door was stuck shut and the coffin could not be removed. After numerous tries (electric release) an appeal was made to the crowd to see if there was an auto elec type or a mechanic there. There wasn't so the undertaker had a dilemma. A crowd had gathered around the vehicle including the deceased's parents. All was sombre until some wise guy up the back said "See, I told you he wasn't ready to go yet". Some titters escaped then a chuckle until the whole crowd was laughing. I suggested that the driver take the vehicle to our local auto elec which he did. The auto elec climbed down past the coffin, undid a plate and physically unlocked the door. The hearse arrived back to a welcome and the funeral got under way. But a strange thing happened. The mood of the event had taken on a light earted celebration of his life. That is one funeral I won't forget. Jim

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I think this fits here. I cannot seem to make it bigger , sorry!


One of the places I used to work was also doing all the local funerals as
there was no funeral director and the social club sould use the money made as profit (we had a very small margin).

This was good as it was an iconic outback town and the funerals usually were more of a 'send off' than a sombre affair.


In another outback town I lived I, through traditionm in that town, assisted with the funerals. At one funeral where the mourners included people from Croatia, melbourne, sydney and all over the place. The guy that normally dug the grave for the local director was away so another guy came in and used his backhoe to dig the hole.

All good, but due to their beliefs the friends of this bloke dont carry the coffin so myself and three others get roped in... still all good.

Its a good service and time to lower ol' mate in, he gets about 3' down and the coffin wedges!! The guy digging the hole had a thinner backhoe bucket and so the hole is just about the same width as the coffin! Luckily the grave is about 2' longer than the coffin, so the local director walks over to his car and gets out a friend who is in it waiting for him (they are supposed to go mining immediately after the funeral!) - we help this bloke into the grave, he stands at the head of the coffin and starts to shake it back and forth, up and down until with an almight thud it falls the remaining three feet!

The mourners and friends are still standing about the grave as this all happens, its 40+ in the shade and no one seems to think all this was a good thing!

My mate (the funeral director) then gets ready to continue the service.... he looks at everyone and shrugs his shoulders and said "sometimes they just dont want to go!" and then continues the service as though nothing happened.

I had to move over and have a "small coughing fit" away from everyone, and wipe the tears of laughter away before I returned to the fold...