Is it just me, but does the phrase "succeeded by" in a death notice sound ridiculous if deceased just a normal person?

[marantha]

My great aunt's husband recently died, her sons (his step-sons) and her were trying to work out what to say in the death notice for the local paper. One of them came up with the phrase "succeeded by"
(he is a nice enough chap but a bit of a prat).
Am I being unreasonable to cringe at this?
I mean, perhaps it's used for royalty, but isn't it just ridiculous for a "commoner"?

yes. Surely that's only for, like you say, royalty.

And I suppose, titled people - the title passes on. Lord of the manor types.

More appropriate would be something like "leaves ..." (list the family)

I think they meant "survived by"???

Possibly, but I didn't like to correct him.
I just sat there thinking, "You know-it-all prat. That sounds stupid!"
In the actual notice I saw that the words "succeeded by" had changed to: "surrounded by".
I considered the possibility that perhaps the funeral director had misread the piece of paper that the family handed to him, however, my relative who actually "played secretary" has neat, very legible handwriting.
So I don't think the change was accidental.