From bad to hearse: Suit over funeral-car explosion

The New York Post ^ | October 25, 2009 | KATHIANNE BONIELLO

[Stoat]

She went out with a bang, and it's left her Bronx family fuming.

Glatha Byrd's final send-off was "apocalyptic" -- as the hearse carrying her body exploded and caught fire on the Major Deegan Expressway, says family lawyer James Franzetti.

The family has filed suit in Bronx Supreme Court over the May 13, 2008, incident, accusing the Griffin Peters Funeral Home of causing some of Byrd's relatives "severe and serious" injuries.

Valerie Davis, wife of the Harlem funeral home's owner, Keith Davis, called the suit "ridiculous."

She said she had heard the relatives, who are also related to her husband, joking about the engine fireworks.

And, she added, no one indicated they were hurt as they removed the "unsinged" casket from the hearse, placed it in the back of an SUV and kept going -- leaving behind a shaken Keith Davis, who had been driving the hearse.

Little did they know the Ferncliff Cemetery burial in Hartsdale couldn't go on without him -- giving the funeral party an hour to kill beside Byrd's open grave.

Franzetti, claims the casket was smoke damaged and the flowers were burned.

[Stoat]

Yes, I know that a thread discussing "apocalyptic fireworks" of a hearse's motor while on the way to a funeral is just not the same without pictures, but the New York Post didn't provide any. Anyone wishing to submit a reasonable pictorial approximation of the event is welcome to and I have no doubt that it would be appreciated as a valuable public service.

[Stoat]

YouTube - Polly Brown Up In A Puff Of Smoke

[TheZMan]

It’s morbid, but wow. Not a good indicator of this person’s afterlife =P

[Loud Mime]

Silly lawsuit bump

[Peter Horry]

"Yes, I know that a thread discussing "apocalyptic fireworks" of a hearse's motor while on the way to a funeral is just not the same without pictures"

Will this do?

[Slings and Arrows]

Viking Funeral ping!

[Huntress]

But the family now has a great story to tell and retell at family reunions.

[darkwing104]

Not going to touch this one...No matter how tempting...

[JRios1968]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si1a4dz42tk

[Lady Jag]

The hearse driver quit and got a job as a cab driver.

A passenger in a taxi leaned over to ask the driver a question and tapped him on the shoulder. The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove up over the curb, and stopped just inches from a large plate glass window.

For a few moments everything was silent in the cab, and then the still shaking driver said, "I'm sorry but you scared the daylights out of me."

The frightened passenger apologized to the driver and said he didn't realize a mere tap on the shoulder could frighten him so much.

The driver replied, "No, no, I'm sorry, it's entirely my fault. Today is my first day driving a cab. I've been driving a hearse for the last 25 years."

[Daffynition]

Stuff happens.

[shotdog]

Uh oh. Time to rehearse.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

The family should be grateful. Just think of they money they saved on cremation.

[Liberty Valance]

[goat granny]

That one is a belly laugh,,,,best one today, still laughing.....thanks