When someone passes on, what’s due would be a proper and formal send-off during this time of somber goodbye. Call it bizarre, but it seems like some people have their own out-of-the-box ideas for a funeral, be it the wishes of the deceased or their loved ones. Whether or not you’re in favour of such a solemnity, here are 10 wakes and funerals that are a little out of the ordinary.
1. Christmas-themed funeral service – While most people mourn the loss of a loved one in a dark and gloomy setting, this family had an entirely different attitude and went all out on a Christmas theme, complete with dancing, reindeers, snow and a coffin on a sleigh. Would you want to be sent off in such grandeur?
2. Son hires stripper to dance at father’s funeral – A Taiwanese man had been promised a stripper if he lived till 100 and he died at age 103. So, his son paid a large sum of money to hire a stripper to dance around his coffin during his funeral, just to make his father happy. Apparently, the deceased would visit places and watch strip shows with his friends often, hence, the idea of the stripper.
3. Puerto Rican boxer posed standing in the ring – The body of 23-year-old Christopher Rivera was propped up in a fake boxing ring during his wake in San Juan. His family wanted to highlight his boxing career, so his body was posed standing in a complete outfit, as if the deceased was ready to take down someone. Family members and friends also posed beside his body for photographs during his wake.
4. Clown funeral – When 79-year-old Norman Thompson, who is a member of the Antioch Shrine Funster Clown Unit died, his clown friends dressed up for the occasion to honour Thompson for the last time. It looks like fun having so many clowns around at a funeral but nothing freaks us out more than grieving clowns with smiles that are upside down.
5. Ohio man rides his Harley to his grave – Billy Standley always told family and friends that he’d be buried with his beloved Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and that’s what he got when he died of cancer. He was laid to rest strapped onto his ride and he was placed in a clear glass casket, which was then buried as it was lowered into the ground.
6. Thai man marries dead girlfriend at funeral – A grief-stricken Thai man married his dead girlfriend at her funeral and posted the photos on his Facebook page for everyone to witness. He wore a hat and a tuxedo as he slipped a ring onto his dead girlfriend’s finger, then proceeded to kiss her forehead and her hand during the wedding ceremony.
7. New Orleans drummer propped standing for his wake – When Lionel Batiste died, his family and friends didn’t put him in a casket. Instead, he was propped standing up, decked out in some fine clothing, and he even had his trademark gold watch on his left hand. It was definitely a grand send-off as Mr. Batiste also had an entire brass band walk his casket to the chapel for his funeral.
8. Dead man embalmed on motorbike for wake – David Morales Colon looks like he’s about to take his powerful bike for a long and enjoyable ride, but he isn’t going anywhere because he’s dead. He was dressed in biking gear and was embalmed on his Honda motorcycle while his family and friends paid their last respects. This is surprisingly lifelike and it’s sort of creepy how real it looks.
9. Chinese student plans fake funeral for herself – Most people avoid the thought of death, but a 22-year-old Chinese student staged a ‘rehearsal’ for her own funeral, and it was as real as it could be. Besides flowers, photographers, a coffin and a crowd full of mourners, she also had a proper ceremony and had professional corpse make-up artists get her ready for the funeral. Surprising enough, some of her friends and family actually attended her fake funeral and mourned.
10. Dead man remains standing for three-day wake – A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing, even in his death. Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap, glasses and a cross necklace, 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina was propped upright in his mother’s living room for three days during his wake.
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