# Probably the best obituary I have ever read! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748 "2013-03-12T19:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/1 "2013-03-12T19:40:31Z")
I didn’t know [Harry Stamps](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunherald/obituary.aspx?n=harry-stamps&pid=163538353&fhid=4025#fbLoggedOut), but I really wish I had! ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/2 "2013-03-12T20:07:18Z")
That was great. I particularly like this: > [@obituary](#): > > He excelled at never losing a game of competitive sickness I’d say he won. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/3 "2013-03-12T20:14:40Z")
That was outstanding! Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/4 "2013-03-12T20:27:35Z")
I read an obituary once of a man who died _ **two days** _ before his hundredth birthday. It was a pretty standard obituary up until the last line, which, IMHO, made it immortal. _“The party planned for his one hundredth birthday will go on as scheduled!”_ If something like that ever happened to me I hope that’s how my obituary would end. And I would like, instead of cookies or something similar, to have champagne and chocolate covered strawberries served at my funeral reception. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/5 "2013-03-12T20:31:30Z")
> [@](#): > > He particularly hated Day Light Saving Time, which he referred to as The Devil’s Time. It is not lost on his family that he died the very day that he would have had to spring his clock forward. This can only be viewed as his final protest. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/6 "2013-03-12T20:34:55Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I read an obituary once of a man who died _ **two days** _ before his hundredth birthday. > > It was a pretty standard obituary up until the last line, which, IMHO, made it immortal. > > _“The party planned for his one hundredth birthday will go on as scheduled!”_ > > If something like that ever happened to me I hope that’s how my obituary would end. And I would like, instead of cookies or something similar, to have champagne and chocolate covered strawberries served at my funeral reception. A professor I had in college planned and attended his own funeral when he was 80. He said he knew his funeral was going to be a great party and it would be a shame to miss it. It was billed as “A Wake for the Living,” with eulogies, homilies, and everything. It was a blast! The prof lived for another 17 years, btw! ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/7 "2013-03-12T23:22:47Z")
I probably would have enjoyed meeting Mr. Stamps, but I _definitely_ would have enjoyed meeting whoever wrote that obit. Amazing! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/8 "2013-03-12T23:34:37Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > I probably would have enjoyed meeting Mr. Stamps, but I _definitely_ would have enjoyed meeting whoever wrote that obit. Amazing! The Daily Telegraph in London has consistently excellent obituaries. > **[Obituaries](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/)** > > The lives and deaths, careers, crimes and foibles of the good, the bad, the famous and infamous from Telegraph Obituaries. I’ve got four or five volumes of collected ones - Hugh Massingberd really raised it to an art-form, and his legacy continues. The obit in the OP looks like it was written by someone not unfamiliar with the Telegraph. Here’s one from last week: > **[Barnaby Conrad](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9918539/Barnaby-Conrad.html)** > > Barnaby Conrad, who has died aged 90, worked for Sinclair Lewis, played piano with Merv Griffin, holidayed with John Steinbeck and knocked back drinks with Jack Kerouac; he became a bullfighter and served as American vice-consul in Spain, where he... ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/9 "2013-03-13T00:04:13Z")
DAMN I wish I could have met Harry! He sounds like a hoot and it’s clear his family loved him dearly. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/10 "2013-03-13T14:48:59Z")
The Bacon of the Month Club? Where do I sign up? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/11 "2013-03-13T14:59:35Z")
I might be in the minority, but I don’t like this Harry character. The word ‘‘foodie’’ in the obit turned me off almost immediately. From starting to read the obit, I somehow guessed that he would be a cat hater - and I was right. I know I have an unpopular opinion. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/12 "2013-03-13T15:02:20Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The Bacon of the Month Club? Where do I sign up? Take your pick. I googled it and found at least 5 of them. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/13 "2013-03-13T15:06:35Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The Bacon of the Month Club? Where do I sign up? Here’s [one place](http://www.pinestreetmarket.com/collections/frontpage/products/meat-of-the-month-club)! I signed my father up for this as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. He loved it! ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/14 "2013-03-13T15:44:34Z")
After reading that I feel enriched. Thanks for sharing. RIP Harry. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/15 "2013-03-13T15:48:25Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > A professor I had in college planned and attended his own funeral when he was 80. He said he knew his funeral was going to be a great party and it would be a shame to miss it. It was billed as “A Wake for the Living,” with eulogies, homilies, and everything. It was a blast! > > The prof lived for another 17 years, btw! See, I would have assumed that the plan was to kill him at the end of the party. Boy, would my face have been red. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/16 "2013-03-13T15:49:39Z")
double post, sorry ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/17 "2013-03-13T16:19:39Z")
Thanks for sharing. He sounds like a great guy, and his students and family were fortunate to have him in their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/18 "2013-03-13T16:31:21Z")
This guy certainly sounds like quite a character; the world’ll be a less interesting place without him. And I’m almost afraid to ask, but what kind of books do you think the _Jefferson Davis_ campus (added in _1965_, no less) library needs? ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/19 "2013-03-13T16:41:20Z")
My favorite part was the reference to “his girl, Hillary Clinton”. It was funny because it was unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748/20 "2013-03-13T17:29:32Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > And I’m almost afraid to ask, but what kind of books do you think the _Jefferson Davis_ campus (added in _1965_, no less) library needs? You can never have too much _Hop on Pop_. It was so tragic the way they hopped on Pop. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probably-the-best-obituary-i-have-ever-read/652748.md?page=2)