I've been working in the death care industry for 6 months and the stories that funeral directors tell are some of the most shocking and bizarre I have EVER heard. This goes beyond the oddities of the job itself like deceased bodies crapping themselves, postmortem erections, and the special tools used for getting eyelids to stay shut... The weirdest tales by far are about the bereaved handling the funeral arrangements - people do unexplainable things when grieving. With the help of connectingdirectors.com, I compiled 12 unbelievable stories from funeral directors that will leave you speechless.
1) Bob Hall: We had a funeral once that I had to put two stuffed cats in baskets inside the Monticello vault. The family wanted them in the casket but they wouldn't fit.
2) Julie Harwood: I had a man who wanted his deceased wife's breast implants returned to him. He mounted them on the dashboard of his car.
3) Kenneth Martin: We had a man place garlic in the grave of his mother-in-law... because he thought that would keep her demonic spirit in the grave.
4) Erika Morris: We put an old lady in a see-through neon-yellow lace thong under her respectable clothing for her viewing.
5) David C. Escamilla: A deceased person was going through a gender modification procedure. The loved ones presented us with a rubber phallic apparatus with its accompanying leather strap garment for which to secure it to. They checked it with a quick pat to make sure we had put it on...
6) Brian Doherty: A friend of a deceased put a dime bag in the deceased pocket.
7) Tammy Crow Hukel: I had a lady come in with her daughter to look at caskets for herself and tell me she didn't want to be on her back in the casket because her back always hurts. She laid down on the floor in the casket selection room and showed me how she wanted to be positioned on her side. About that time the owner of the funeral home walked by... you can imagine the conversation we had later. About a year later, she passed. I spoke with her daughter and she reminded me of what transpired that day. We were able to lay her to rest on her side in the casket she chose.
8) Eden Draven: A family wanted cremains sealed in a coffee can because “that is all the person deserved.” Another group had their father's ashes put into a large troll doll…
9) Nancy Macintyre: We had one family who wanted their mom's dress back (just an ordinary Walmart type dress) after the graveside service. A funeral director told them that the dress might have to be cut in order to look good for the viewing. They said they still wanted it back...
10) Phil Cota: I had a family bring the deceased to the funeral home themselves...in the back of their pick up truck. The worst part is that they traveled over two state lines to do it!
11) Peggy Danaher: This guy’s wife died and they were both "social drinkers" who had cocktails precisely at 5pm every day. Visitation was set from 5 to 8 and he demanded that we have an open bar because it cut into his drinking schedule. We told him we couldn't do it because the funeral home does not have a liquor license... he was not a happy camper. By 7pm at the visitation, he had had it with all the condolences and announced he and everyone else were going to the local bar and shut down the visit. He told us if anyone else showed up to send them to the bar.
12) Elizabeth Medina: Young daughters were trying to figure out how to lay mom to rest and our cremation necklace pendants caught their eye. They wanted to bury Mom but wanted to put something in the pendant too... so they asked if we can only cremate part of her.
13) Maryl Wallace: We had a family ask for the deceased's shoulder replacement hardware to be removed before cremation. Their plans were to mount it on the deceased's motorcycle...
More info: connectingdirectors.com
