My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

This forum is the home of Mumsnet classic threads.

Mumsnet classics

Really inappropriate funeral thread

243 replies

Wh0dathunkit · 29/07/2014 21:51

So, I'll share mine first.....
Had to decide (without a great deal of getting to know said deceased) what would be the most appropriate music....
We were doing really well. We found "Wish me luck as I wave you goodbye" as the out-tro...
Unfortunately, the CD we used was one of those odd old school ones where it wasn't just the song you were looking for but 2 other songs as well on a single track.
The other track was "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler".
Whilst we warned the funeral directors, and they did a great job the first few repeats, a few slips happened. I'm not sure if the rellos found it funny (she was a game old bird), or if they were just too polite to say anything...

Please share, you'll make me feel better!

OP posts:
Report
JaneFonda · 29/07/2014 22:56

These are great to read - humour really helps on difficult days like that.

Disgrace - that is just fantastic! I'm sure they'll look back on that and smile.

Report
Letitbee · 29/07/2014 22:57

My Dh was buried in a green field site - I brought a plot for both of us. At his interment as he he was being lowered in My friend said to me -'' So you'll be on top forever - he will like that'' - I giggled slightly hysterically -

Report
17leftfeet · 29/07/2014 22:58

My grandad went into the crem to the tune of the dam busters

Everyone was talking about what a proud military man he was which showed how little they knew about him -he was turned down for national service due to his polio induced bad leg

It was actually played because he was a massive Lincoln city fan and that's what is played as the players go onto the pitch!

Report
HairOnMyChinnyChinChin · 29/07/2014 22:58

At my mums funeral we ended up being ragaled with tales from the funeral directors / hearsey people. Blush

The best one being the guy who ended up slipping into the hole on top of his mums coffin (( awful weather was to blame )) the ended up dragging in the pallbearer who tried to pu him out. Shock

Report
Ppinks · 29/07/2014 22:59

My nans funeral we were in the graveyard and it was coming to the end of the service. We had decided to each throw a rose in as the vicar/priest?? Was saying a prayer, when it came to my turn I was wearing very high heels. So I went over and threw the rose in, as I turned to Go my heel sank into the grass! Went 'oh shit' rather loud, luckily my exh grabbed me In time.

The shame, they were so many people there, the vicar didn't look rather impressed....spent the wake hiding in the corner, sending my exh to get the tea and cake. Family still rib me about it now. Me and my potty mouth Blush

Report
firstchoice · 29/07/2014 23:00

Rainicorn.
That's an old Morcambe and Wise one, isn't it?
My H says it as often as he can shoehorn it into conversation (surprisingly often, actually, as it is his only 'joke'!)

Report
HarveySchlumpfenburger · 29/07/2014 23:01

The organist at a close relative's funeral couldn't play the 3rd line of the verse of one of the chosen hymns. Got the same notes wrong in every verse. In the first verse we were Hmm by the 2nd verse we'd started to get the giggles and by the 4th verse we were trying to pretend we were sobbing in to hankies to hide the laughing.

The priest did apologise on the way out. But I think had my relative been there she would have found it funny.

Report
Ionacat · 29/07/2014 23:01

The organist at my Dad's funeral started off the last hymn at the wrong speed, the choir tried to tried to speed up, the congregation stayed at the organist's speed he then lost his place but kept going regardless with I'm not sure what and we had a wonderful cacophony until the last note. OH and I couldn't stop laughing - Dad would have thought it hilarious!

Report
weegiemum · 29/07/2014 23:02

My dad used to answer the phone in silly ways "Battersea Dogs Home!" Etc.

One Sunday morning the phone rang. On that occasion he said "Hello, Bexleyheath Crematorium!". One of his staff said "Sorry, I'll not be in tomorrow, my mother just died". He was Blush and never used that again!

Report
Plomino · 29/07/2014 23:03

One of my uncles was an amazing man . Lots and lots of friends , some respectable , others .... Not so much . People, in handcuffs etc . When he died , the council allowed the crematorium chapel to be used , despite it having been recently closed , and in the end the main road to the crematorium had to be closed by police due to the literally thousands of mourners walking behind the hearse. There was only room for about 200 people in the crematorium , among which were me , my brother and my mum, as relatives .

His sons , bless them , had been given the task of sorting out the music , which consisted of music on tape , which gives you a clue of how long ago this was . So we're sitting there , 'remembering' my uncle as the coffin slides out of view, when the Hollies fade out , only to be replaced by 'round round get around, I get around ......" Yes , the Beach Boys . They hadn't used a blank tape.

Me and my brother instantly looked at each other and fell into hysterical giggles . I ended up sobbing ostentatiously into a huge hanky , whilst being patted on the back by one of my cousins.

Report
GroupieGirl · 29/07/2014 23:03

My Grandmother's funeral was presided over by someone who had not known her, so we were expecting something a little generic, but when it came to speaking about heaven/the afterlife, he made the rather lovely gesture of asking us to call out some of her favourite things that she would no doubt be doing:

Cousin A: Watching Corrie!
Cousin B: Having a cup of tea
Cousin C: 'avin' a spliff!

This was the same funeral at which the exit song was announced as "one of Jean's favourite pieces." We listened to the first few bars of Ave Maria which was nice, but a little confusing as she had never been known to like that particular piece of music.

Song stops abruptly. Then this:

Report
AlpacaPicnic · 29/07/2014 23:04

My parents had to go to a very formal funeral recently, and the only smart black shoes my mum had to wear were very high heels, which she really isn't used to wearing now that she's retired...
The heel of one shoe caught in a grate on the floor and she fell smack on her face in front of everyone. My dad had to pick her up off the ground as she was laughing rather hysterically due to the shock!

Report
Skina · 29/07/2014 23:04

Absolute howl at your tale Disgrace Grin

When my DStepDad was being lowered into the grave, two tornados (planes, not the blowy variety) flew over pretty low. Mum announced that they'd timed it perfectly (he was a Tornado pilot) through her tears and then we all collapsed in giggles when Grannie said how amazing that was. He was buried near Salisbury plain, where low flying tornados is a regular occurrence. She's only lived there for absolutely ever, so really ought to have been aware.

Report
firstchoice · 29/07/2014 23:04

Blimey. This falling into the grave thing is a lot more common than I knew. I should let my cousin know. She'd be comforted. (she still gets upset at the thought of it, 15 years later).

Report
ravenAK · 29/07/2014 23:05

Right.

Dh's uncle's funeral. Dd2 (then a baby) started wailing so I slipped out discreetly. Dd1 (then about 3) followed me. Left dh & ds in there.

Found a bench, began bf'ing dd2.

Dd1 suddenly decided to leg it. She'd seen a bright, colourful bit of the cemetery, with windmills, teddies etc...realising, horrified, that she was heading full tilt for the cemetery's area for babies & young children, I ran after her.

Entire funeral party was treated to me practically rugby-tackling dd1, right outside the crem's huge full length windows, dd2 clamped under right arm, left boob out.

The general consensus at the funeral tea was that dear old Uncle Fred would have loved having a streaker at his funeral, but still.

Report
Gaige · 29/07/2014 23:09

I've just remembered something else from my great grans funeral. She lived in sheltered housing and they kindly let us use the massive social area for her wake. I was having a look at the notice board and seen she had won the raffle that week. Me and my uncle said at least her week started off well. My aunt was not happy with me that day Grin

Report
MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 29/07/2014 23:09

At my brother's funeral, I was sat with my cousins and aunt as my parents were stood up. the only time I usually saw my cousins was at football matches, and we'd have sandwiches at half time. I understood that my brother had died and what that meant, but in my eyes we'd already said goodbye, so I didn't get the whole funeral concept.

So halfway through my own brother's funeral, I shocked the congregation by piping up 'Auntie.... do we get to have sandwiches now?'.

My parents still say to this day they are so pleased they let me be at the funeral. They got a lot of flak for it but in their eyes, I had more right to be there than most.

Report
CountryPlumpkin · 29/07/2014 23:09

On the way to the funeral of a close family member, me and my parents were following the hearse along nice and slowly, until the we realised that the narrow road ahead was closed. We had to do a seven point turn in the middle of nowhere, behind the hearse, before speeding off to the crem at 70 mph to make sure we didn't miss the slot for the ceremony. We screamed into the car park on two wheels, stunning the assembled mourners, and as a result we giggled all the way through a horrible day.

Report
Preciousbane · 29/07/2014 23:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DuchessofKirkcaldy · 29/07/2014 23:14

At my great uncles funeral the hearse had to slam on the brakes en-route.
The mourners car crashed into the back of the hearse,basically writing it off. While the funeral directors were sending a replacement car my DGF felt the call of nature and went to find a bush/ private place to have a wee.
In the meantime the replacement car arrived leaving him stranded on a country road in the middle of nowhere ( before mobile phones were commonplace)

As I fastened my seatbelt in th mourners car at FILs funeral I got some Hmm looks. "It's not going fast" said Dh. I explained this story resulting in us laughing all the way to the crem Blush

Report
ln1981 · 29/07/2014 23:15

at my grandfathers funeral, my ddad was a pallbearer. He isn't a slow walker at the best of times, and he certainly wasn't that day! He was at the rear, with my brother and my dh and my cousins husband were at the front, they all started of fine but as they moved further up the aisle, my dad was walking at such a pace that the coffin started to turn in the aisle-my cousins husband had to keep apologising as it was banging off people for the last few metres. dh told me afterwards that he thought he might drop his side, as they were trying to keep it on the poles they were using to carry it.

Report
FoxSticks · 29/07/2014 23:19

That's brilliant Raven!!

My sister managed to scatter me with my mum's ashes by not checking wind direction before releasing - that caused a lot of hysteria! I felt really awful at the pub we went to afterwards when I realised some of the ashes were still on me and ended up on the toilet floor. I had to give mum a quick apology on account of her not requesting to be left in that particular spot!

Report
Thisvehicleisreversing · 29/07/2014 23:21

We underestimated how many people would come to my dad's funeral so the cemetery chapel was full with lots of people standing. Because of this the family row wasn't big enough to accommodate us all but as there was nowhere else to go we kept on squeezing in not wanting to make a scene. I had 1 butt cheek on DH's lap and the other squashed against my petite aunty who looked lost between my fat arse and my tubby uncle the other side. We all looked at each other and could feel the giggles start knowing we must have looked ridiculous.

Then just as we'd calmed down the humanist bloke doing the service tripped over his microphone lead. Grin

The service ended with my dad's theme tune 'don't worry, be happy' played on an old cassette player that had gaps in the sound.

Instead of crying with grief, my and my aunty spent the whole thing with our heads together trying to desperately stifle our giggles.

My dad would've loved it. Grin

Report
latika · 29/07/2014 23:24

At my nana's funeral my son aged 3 who had a pirate obsession kept pointing at the coffin and shouting 'what's in the treasure chest, open it'. Even my grandad who was devestated by the loss of his wife was on the edge of losing his composure. The priest actually turned his back and walked away for a few mins I'm sure it was to avoid us seeing him giggle!!

Report
Bilberry · 29/07/2014 23:24

I attended a funeral when i was 20 weeks pregnant. I wore a black maternity skirt I had from my last pregnancy but hadn't really grown into. Halfway through the wake I looked down thinking 'what is that black material on the floor?' Blush.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.