I know what you mean. A while back they showed up on Sunday morning at a Catholic Church my co-workder attends to protest, and they had those signs with the "stick figures" on them - they also had signs with Pope John Paul II picture on them that said "The pope is in hell". My co-worker said explaining to his small children "why those people have those signs" was not fun.
Phelps is not a patriot. He leaches off the blood of soldiers far better than him and his group of the infamously misguided.
I regret that he carries the name of Christian and of baptist.
While I have no problem with his right to believe what he wants about America, God, and the rightness of this or any other war, he doesn't have the right to desecrate the funeral and/or memorial service of someone else's family member.
I truly would arrest this man for shouting fire in a crowded theater if he carries out his plan to violate this (or any) family's ceremony.