NPR’s Morning Edition made a brief reference this morning to the obituary of storm chaser Jim Sellars, who died in Missouri at age 64 this week. But it did not mention much more than his plan to have his remains rocketed into space. Let’s rectify that: I was born March 3rd 1954 to John and Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Tag: The art of the obituary
Kelly Pflanzer, of Milwaukee, posted a video to YouTube today (language warning) , which is something when you consider she died two weeks ago. Read more →
‘Remember: Jesus loves you, but Virginia was his favorite.’ Read more →
Since this is a day to honor 100-year-old women, we’ll waive the 100-year-old requirement to take note of Betty Trimberger Smith, who died last Wednesday, hours short of her 100th birthday, the Milwaukee Journal’s Jim Stingl writes today. Read more →
‘One life can give so many gifts,’ Jim Walsh writes, “a sad fact that we realize profoundly when death comes calling.’ Read more →
Bonnie McGhee was never the pride of Dilworth, Minn., but she could have been had her mother not died when she was 3. She went to live with her grandparents in Buffalo, Ok., met Rufus Brown, married him, and spent the rest of their years in Protection, Kansas. For the last decade, she’s been a reporter. Read more →
Terry Wayne, of DeMotte, Ind., died on Tuesday. He is survived by an obituary that makes us wish we’d known him. Terry Wayne Ward, age 71, of DeMotte, IN, escaped this mortal realm on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018, leaving behind 32 jars of Miracle Whip, 17 boxes of Hamburger Helper and multitudes of other random Read more →
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a good obituary to ponder but Mariel Kinsey has provided us with one, even if she had to go to extreme lengths to do so. She died in Ashfield, Mass., last Friday, but not before writing her own obituary. Read more →
Debi Berger, of Moorhead, didn’t get the last look at Christmas lights that her daughter and friends tried to arrange before she succumbed to liver cancer on Saturday.
Britney Berger had desperately tried to get people to put up Christmas lights early to ease her mom’s anxiety and fulfill a last wish.
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Mark Mooney has made his last post to his blog ‘Closing in on -30-‘ Read more →
Sergei Neubauer’s obituary doesn’t say so specifically, but his struggle, like most against depression and mental illness, was brave and courageous. His short life was amazing. And so too, obviously, were the two people in Iowa who agreed to be his parents when he was 11.
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A good obituary not only reveals the person who has died, it also provides a regional history lesson.
That’s the case today with the obituary of Harriet Lazaroff, which appears in today’s Star Tribune. Read more →
In lieu of flowers for her father, a daughter recommends people buy baseball tickets instead. Read more →
Todd Waters, 69, has died, or, as hoboes say, ‘he caught the Westbound.’ Waters was a hobo who proudly noted in 2012 that he’s been arrested about 70 times jumping railroad cars out of St. Paul for parts unknown and known. He was also a millionaire.
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Over the years we’ve provided plenty of examples of the perfectly-written obituary, in which we are invited to grieve the loss of someone we may not have known. One such obituary appears today in the Star Tribune.
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