Daughter's tongue-in-cheek obituary for late father, known for his sense of humour, goes viral
A grieving family’s cheeky obituary has captured the essence of a father, remembered for his brilliant sense of humor, with aplomb.
Many strangers who read the tribute to the late Terry Ward wished they had a chance to meet him before he died of a stroke and "escaped this mortal realm" on January 23.
The obituary, written by the 71-year-old’s daughter Jean Lahm, was last week posted to the website of Geisen Funeral Home in DeMotte, Indiana.
It paints a hilarious portrait of the former Vietnam veteran who lived to make people laugh, enjoyed free beer, and despised “uppity foods” like hummus.
Ms Lahm decided to pen a tribute to her dad that was a fitting sendoff for a man that left behind “multitudes of random items that would prove helpful in the event of a zombie apocalypse”.
“He never owned a personal cell phone and he had zero working knowledge of the Kardashians,” she added.
In the gag-ladden obit, she wrote how her dad accumulated about 3000 rolls of black electrical tape during his “39 years of begrudging service” at telecommunications company AT&T, which he used “for everything from open wounds to ‘Don’t use this button’ covers.".
Ward, who was married to the “overly-patient and accepting wife Kathy” for 48 years, after telling her he was a lineman. “He didn’t specify early on that he was a lineman for the phone company, not the NFL,” Ms Lahm wrote.
"He enjoyed many, many things. Among those things were hunting, fishing, golfing, snorkeling, ABBA, hiking Turkey Run, chopping wood, shooting guns, Bed Bath & Beyond, starlight mints, cold beer, free beer, The History Channel, CCR, war movies, discussing who makes the best pizza, The Chicago White Sox, old Buicks, and above all, his family," the tribute read.
"Terry died knowing that The Blues Brothers was the best movie ever, (young) Clint Eastwood was the baddest-ass man on the planet, and hot sauce can be added to absolutely any food."
"I wrote it myself and I didn't tell anyone I was going to make it funny," Ms Lahm told local news WFSB.
She told the New York Post she bet her dad would have thought it was good enough to stick on his garage fridge.
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Ms Lahm added that her family thought the tribute captured her dad’s memory perfectly - and strangers have also taken notice, with many writing on social media that they wished they had known Mr Ward.
“If you read anything today, read this Indiana man’s obituary. It will be the best thing you’ve seen all day. #RIPTerry,” one woman wrote on Twitter.
Another tweeted: “RIP Terry. I didn't know you, but now I wish I did. “
“I think the greatest regret of my life is not knowing Terry Ward during his. Because he sounds awesome,” came another tweet.
His daughter suspected the obit caught such widespread attention because her dad “cared about the things that truly mattered,” which she said many people could relate to.
“A lot of people have these great dads that are just like that. Good guys. That's what he was," Ms Lahm said.
