Obituaries with a touch of humour going viral

When Angus Brian MacDonald of Glace Bay, N.S. died recently at age 67, he left behind a surprise.

His obituary, published in the Cape Breton Post, included the lines, "I'm gone! The devil finally called my name. The grim reaper came for me on Friday March 25, 2016. I bought the farm. I bit the dust."

It's a departure from the standard obituary — a simple written account of a life, usually in a neutral or warm tone. But increasingly, obituaries like MacDonald's, which he wrote himself, are taking on a new style — comedy.

MacDonald's obituary went viral across Canada and around the world. And it's not the only one.

The website legacy.com, a collection of obits from around the world, now has a "funny obituaries" section. It features MacDonald's tale, and other Canadian examples too.

When Toronto resident Mary Stocks, 94, died last year, her son Sandy Stocks wrote an obit in the Toronto Star that also got the world's attention.

In it, he included details such as what she would do if he was late for curfew, saying "the cuss words... they were unbelievable and then you're grounded for a month."

"I at first couldn't quite understand what they saw in it," he told CBC Radio's As It Happens in July 2015.

"But the first one I got back to me was, 'Oh my goodness, may she rest in peace, but I am sure that she and my mother were separated at birth.'"

Irreverent obits help people connect

The relatability of the person to others is precisely why funny obits are gaining popularity, according to Sandra Martin. 

She's a journalist and author who wrote obituaries for the Globe and Mail for 10 years, and published a book called Working the Dead Beat: 50 Lives That Changed Canada.

"They're irreverent, they're funny, they're down home," she said.

"And sometimes they take little cracks, gentle cracks — usually at family members and so on and so forth. They're great ways of announcing that you've died."

Martin said death is a part of life, and there's nothing wrong with not taking things too seriously.

"There's gallows humour, there are all sorts of jokes that one makes, especially when we gather around after someone has died," she said.

"We tells stories — those are inviting more people to the wake, more people to come around to just remember and share funny stories and warm stories about their family members."

Funny stories, or just the facts?

But not everyone agrees that some of those warm and funny stories need to appear in an obituary for public consumption.

One caller to CBC Radio's Maritime Noon said, "Career and what not, I think, should be left to the funeral itself. All that the obituary should indicate is who died, when they died and how old they were."

Martin says that viewpoint is why some people post the simplest possible notice.

"Some people want just the facts. They want to know where am I going to go to the funeral, when did this person die, how old was this person, what did this person die of."

But she said if you're interested in saying more than that, and having a little fun, you should probably have an obituary proof read to avoid problems.

"Frankly, I'd have the rest of the immediate family read it first before I put it on the internet or sent it to a newspaper to publish. Because these are family occasions, and you don't want the joke you thought was so funny to be on the internet and have it offend your mother who's already grieving."

Martin said she thinks it's a great idea for people to write their own obituaries. She said it saves your family and friends the trouble, and more importantly, allows you to say what you want to say about yourself.