Daughter writes hilarious obituary for dad who pulled ‘obnoxious pranks’ and ‘embarrassed’ wife
An adored man who “tortured his siblings” with “obnoxious pranks” and ran license plate numbers on his daughters’ boyfriends, was recognized in a funny, viral obituary.
On Sunday, Joe Heller from Connecticut died at age 82 — “his last undignified and largely irreverent gesture,” read his obituary written by daughter Monique Heller.
A childhood during The Great Depression “resulted in a lifetime of frugality, hoarding and cheap mischief, often at the expense of others,” read the eulogy. Joe gleefully tormented his siblings with “obnoxious pranks,” including baking a chocolate cake with laxatives and naming the family dog “Fart” to embarrass his mom when calling the pet home.
A former library assistant at Yale Law School, Joe joined the Navy and after an honorable discharge, Joe served as a volunteer fireman and cross-walk guard.
Monique wrote that Joe met his wife Irene, “who was hoodwinked into thinking he was a charming individual with decorum. Boy, was she ever wrong. Joe embarrassed her daily with his mouth and choice of clothing. To this day we do not understand how he convinced our mother, an exceedingly proper woman and a pillar in her church, to sew and create the colorful costumes and props which he used for his antics.”
An enthusiastic father of three girls, Joe volunteered to be a model for play “beauty shops.” When his daughters were old enough to date, he ran the license plates of their boyfriends and casually left shotguns and harpoons around the house when dates came calling.
“Joe was a frequent shopper at the Essex Dump and he left his family with a house full of crap, 300 pounds of birdseed and dead houseplants that they have no idea what to do with,” read the obit. “....Joe was also a consummate napper. There wasn’t a road, restaurant or friend’s house in Essex that he didn’t fall asleep on or in. There wasn’t an occasion too formal or an event too dour that Joe didn’t interrupt with his apnea and voluminous snoring.”
Monique did not immediately respond to an interview request from Yahoo Lifestyle. She told CNN, "My dad has an unorthodox view of life and I wanted to honor him and make people smile.”
Although the dad told his family “that when he dropped dead to dig a hole in the backyard and just roll him in,” he will be buried with full military honors on Sept. 13 next to his wife.
“Sorry, Mom, Lisette and I did the best we could to take care of him and keep him out of your hair as long as we could,” wrote Monique. “Back in your court now.”
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