Funerals Can Have Humorous Moments

With Penhook, VA funeral services there hopefully won’t be any accidental and inadvertent moments during funerals. But you never know. The best laid plans, and all that stuff. If there are, they may end up being a memory that the family never forgets and looks back on with fondness as they recall their loved one and the funeral service. 

Funerals really are rife for funny moments. Stress is high for the family, which is on emotional overload from the loss of a loved one, and executing a funeral means dealing with a lot of moving parts at the same time, so the hitches and glitches are almost guaranteed to happen. Here are a few examples. 

In Charleston, SC, a gentleman who was well-known Dixieland Jazz pianist (he was invited up to play with the band at Preservation Hall in New Orleans every time he and his wife were in town to visit their son) died. The family asked the funeral home if Louis Armstrong’s “When the Saints Go Marching In” could be one of the music selections at the deceased man’s funeral. 

When the time came in the service for the song, instead of the sound of Louis Armstrong, an organ started playing. The family was aghast as they looked over to see an ancient old woman trying her best to play a Dixieland Jazz-style version of the song on the funeral home’s organ. Shock turned to barely stifled laughter as the family thought of their loved one and his reaction. 

Just a few hours after the man’s funeral, a 4.1 earthquake hit about 20 miles north of Charleston. It was strong enough to be shake things up a little. The family members looked at one another, and one of the man’s sons said, “I guess that was Daddy rolling over in his grave at that version of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’” And that’s their story, and they’re sticking to it. 

In a little town in northeast Tennessee, a family was burying their mother, using the funeral home the entire extended family had used for generations. The funeral home and the funeral staff could not have been more wonderful. When one of the children asked if “Amazing Grace” could be played on the bagpipes at the graveside service, the funeral director said told them there were several bagpipe bands in the area and it wouldn’t be a problem. 

At the graveside service, the pipers were waiting when the family arrived. After a few words and a prayer to commit their mother to the ground, the family sat back and waited to hear the familiar strains of a hymn, that when played well, never sounded more soulful than on bagpipes. 

Instead of the expected, one of the worst and most off-key versions of the hymn was played. It was so bad that the family was embarrassed they had even asked for it and the funeral director, when the family went back to the funeral home, apologized profusely. 

The funeral directory didn’t know it at the time, but all the bagpipe bands that could actually play had gone to a well-known festival in the North Carolina mountains and this band, which was part of the local bagpipe band pool, was the only one not invited. So they got to do the funeral. It’s is now a funny memory for the family when they remember their mom. 

If you want to learn more about Penhook, VA funeral services, our compassionate and experienced staff at Conner-Bowman Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help. You can come by our funeral home at 62 Virginia Market Place Dr., Rocky Mount, VA, 24151 or you can contact us today at (540) 334-5151.