Not only was Walter George Bruhl Jr. likely a lovely person, he was the kind of person that surrounded himself with people who have great senses of humor – plus he knew how to write a good obit.
Via Romenesko, Bruhl’s obituary in the Delaware local the Cape Gazette is quite a read. It includes a Monty Python quote, a joke about being downsized and rehired from one of the companies he worked at and a comment about the ability of Hollywood propaganda to convince a young man to join the military.
It also demonstrates that with every death comes some joy:
He was surrounded by his loving wife of 57 years, Helene Sellers Bruhl, who will now be able to purchase the mink coat which he had always refused her because he believed only minks should wear mink.
And includes the truth that most of us are slowly falling apart:
Walt was preceded in death by his tonsils and adenoids in 1935; a spinal disc in 1974; a large piece of his thyroid gland in 1988; and his prostate on March 27, 2000.
Bruhl’s family will not be hosting a wake for him, but if they had, it would have been pretty cool:
There will be no viewing since his wife refuses to honor his request to have him standing in the corner of the room with a glass of Jack Daniels in his hand so he would appear natural to visitors.
Walt, who (update!) apparently wrote the obit himself before he died, encourages you to “do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for some poor unfortunate soul in his name.” Just as he has done for the world with this obituary.
Image via Republic
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
