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Family Angry Over 500-Pound Woman's Burial
ChannelCincinnati ^ | 10/02/03 | ChannelCincinnati

Posted on 10/02/2003 2:18:50 PM PDT by LuLuLuLu

Edited on 05/07/2004 8:26:49 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

NORWOOD, Ohio -- A local woman was laid to rest recently, but her family says she's not at peace.

Barbara Norris of Norwood died last week at age 63. Norris weighed more than 500 pounds, so her children were concerned from the beginning about making sure her casket was big enough, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Sheree Paolello reported.


(Excerpt) Read more at channelcincinnati.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Ohio; Unclassified
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To: JusPasenThru
Why would you bring up an unrelated case to justify the treatment of this woman at her burial? Disgusting. While most obese people are that way because of lack of exercise and overeating, many, particularly older ones like this woman gain weight due to medications and health problems unrelated to their weight. I don't know that one could puff up to 500 lbs, but my guess is she had a combination of problems. You don't go as long as 63 years if you've been 500 lbs for most of them.

101 posted on 10/03/2003 5:29:48 AM PDT by glory
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To: StayoutdaBushesWay
Yeah, you all are real stand up characters(and I believe most are), but don't say *never*. Remember the guy down in Atlanta who was pocketing the money from families and chucking the bodies out in the woods. I bet other people in his industry *never* thought he would do something like that either.

Look at the posts on FR, apparently some people have no respect at all for anyone overweight. Is it surprising that there might be someone like that working in a funeral home? If the employees had the attitude of some of the folks on this thread, it is not a stretch to believe they did everything stated in the article and more. People can be pretty insensitive, even in front of grieving families, just reread this whole thread for evidence of that.

102 posted on 10/03/2003 5:36:48 AM PDT by glory
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To: Marie
Yeah, I'm sure the family of the person you dug up really appreciated the humor in all of it!
103 posted on 10/03/2003 5:37:09 AM PDT by glory
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To: Fledermaus
And there is a difference in humor shared among family members when remembering their loved one and someone's loved one being treated disrespectfully by hired help. It was funny about your cousin freaking out and thinking of grandma, it would not have been funny if the folks at the funeral home threw garbage into your grandma's incinerator while they were cremating her. I guess the distinction is lost on many here.
104 posted on 10/03/2003 5:40:14 AM PDT by glory
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To: LuLuLuLu
How can it be "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" if the body is embalmed and sealed into an air tight box? This body may be the only American body that has followed the natural law in decades.

105 posted on 10/03/2003 5:42:13 AM PDT by William Terrell (Individuals can exist without government but government can't exist without individuals.)
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To: LuLuLuLu
What's eating Gilbert Grape.
106 posted on 10/03/2003 5:44:07 AM PDT by biblewonk (Spose to be a Chrisssssssstian)
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To: SC DOC
"People are living larger and they're dying larger, and industries have to adapt to that situation."

But the "people" shouldn't adapt?

107 posted on 10/03/2003 5:45:30 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (Ich bin ein UNer.)
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To: plain talk
It's like a poster said-- once you can't get up to get food, stop eating.
108 posted on 10/03/2003 5:46:34 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (Ich bin ein UNer.)
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To: radiohead
Re: the funeral industry is responding to the problem of larger dead Americans. Well, they certainly ought to, seems like 2/3rds of Americans are obese -- that's the undertakers future market!
109 posted on 10/03/2003 5:51:39 AM PDT by Cronos (W2004)
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To: Mr. Mojo
The article link you posted refuted the statement made just seconds before posting the article link.
110 posted on 10/03/2003 5:54:51 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (Ich bin ein UNer.)
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To: FreePaul
I am very overweight. No one "trucked" any food to me. I have gone through countless weight loss programs but the weight always came back.

I make no excuses for my problem - to me, everyone has their cross in life to bear and this one is mine. I am smart, compassionate and love people - even those who are so shallow that they cannot see beyond a person's appearance. We are all God's children and He knows how I have struggled with this problem the way he knows beautiful people struggle with their own demons.

So, if you are "offended" by overweight people, take another look at them - maybe you will find a beautiful soul you would have never known.

111 posted on 10/03/2003 5:56:46 AM PDT by Hamilton2
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To: SamAdams76
I commend you for turning around and denying death another early customer. I am the oldest of six kids, and much fitter then my two brothers.

I was helping the youngest brother Chris roof his house and a neighbor came over and told him; "Tell your 'little' brothers to come down for a minute, I need to talk to him 'bout sumething." It was a shock to him and he made changes after that jump started his thinking process.

I have never smoked, haven't drunk in 14 years - not that I drank much when I was trying to fit in and be social in the Army, mind you - and weigh much less then Chris.

I was amused, but he wasn't, and he lost the pregnant male look with a little motivation. Part of which was sibling rivalry.

People don't often fully realize that there is cronological aging, and there is aging that comes from environment and bad habits.

Death of the body is inevitable; but for cripes sake there is no reason to invite it early, or to be so infirmed from your abuses of it you don't enjoy life.

My mother died April First of cancer and weighted next to nothing from it. She tried to go three rounds with chemo and fought tenaciously for life.

She had worked hard all her life and died two years after retiring. She neve got to enjoy fully the sunset years like she dreamed she would. She smoked two packs a day religiously from her mid teens until she was at death's door - sneaking in a puff when she could get away with it.

Food, booze, nicotine, or whatever; is it really worth the price the abuse of those things exact on people and those they love? No way.

Good luck getting to your goal weight, and my congradulations for being strong enough to beat the worst part of your nature that was doing you in by inches.

The woman in this story obviously lacked role models, or people who could have given her the sort of introspective insight it takes to get up and fight to stay among the living as long as she could.

That is the saddest part of this story. The too small coffin is only a footnote to it.

112 posted on 10/03/2003 6:32:14 AM PDT by bicycle thug (Fortia facere et pati Americanum est.)
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To: Fledermaus
Shalom!

Hi...Fledermaus,

"Oh come on. Life is too short to wallow in despair. Death happens whether you like it or not. You are also going to die"....

********

I can assure you that I am Not wallowing in despair.

You are correct, Death will come a-knocking on my door one day, and I am more than READY and WILLING to "GO" when The LORD makes that Call.

Because I know, that I Know where I am Going!

Once I breathe my last on this Earth, I will be Translated (in the Twinkling of an Eye) on a Non-Stop Flight straight to Heaven and ushered into the GLORIOUS Presence of my LORD, Savior and King of Kings: Yeshua / Jesus The Messiah, The Holy One of Israel.

Amen ~ and ~ Amen!

PS: Please read my other posts / comments: #'s 64 & 85 on this thread.

113 posted on 10/03/2003 8:23:30 AM PDT by Simcha7 ((The Plumb - Line has been Drawn, T'shuvah/Return for The Kingdom of HaShem is at hand!))
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Shalom!

Hi...Tijeras_Slim,

I nearly pee-peed in my pants when I read Your comment:

"The stages of grief are sorrow, denial, anger and Thrift"...

I'm just Blessed that I was Not drinking my hot Tea when I read this, or my Key Board would have been drenched with it ...on FR one Never knows when one may have to Spew a little. OY Vey!

I am guessing that You Sir are a real Nut - Nut ...meaning that You can Laugh at the curves life throws your way.

You really have quite a sense of Humor, and we sure could use a little Humor around here on FR.

PS: I'll never forget that picture of the BIG Orange Dempsy Dumpster...Waste Removal Container...too Funny!

However, the "Chain Saw" thing was going a bit Far, don't you think? LOL, LOL, LOL!

114 posted on 10/03/2003 8:43:11 AM PDT by Simcha7 ((The Plumb - Line has been Drawn, T'shuvah/Return for The Kingdom of HaShem is at hand!))
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To: glory
I guess none of you speculating in this regard read where they asked several times if their mother would fit in the casket. The funeral home lied

You are taking the relatives' words are gospel, but the relatives could be lying.

A funeral home who has stood the test of time by the local community has a lot to lose by lying about this.

One of my college jobs was working at a family-owned funeral home, and I don't remember ever any family being given any false information about caskets.

As a matter of fact, the funeral home will provide the clients with the address and phone number of the casket manufacturers if they wanted to compare funeral home prices versus ordering directly from the manufacturer.

Selling caskets was a very low pressure sales job, where most of the time, the funeral director will take the family to the show room and wait for them to ask a question. Many times the family will wander through the show room while the funeral director just stayed in a corner waiting for the family to inquire about anything.

my guess is they didn't want to keep the obese woman on ice while THE FUNERAL HOME waited for the delivery.

Corpes are kept in walk-in freezers that are working 24/7/365, so an additional day or two inside the freezer will not be a heavy burden.

Furthermore,if people ask for funerals to be delayed for unreasonable amounts of time (more than a week), they will charged for it, so there is no loss to the funeral home.

Finally, the "dying season" usually starts late in the fall and extends to the early in the spring; that's when the freezers tend to be filled to capacity. If this case happened during the summer, I seriously doubt that the capacity of the funeral home freezer was being stretched.

A family-owned funeral home with a long tradition at the local level is the kind of funeral home that I will use for my family and myself. That's why I find it out of character for a reputable business to be involved in the practices alleged by this family.

[Full disclosure: I do not work for any funeral home nor do I have any connection to the funeral industry. My college job happened years ago, and I majored and work in a complete different business]

115 posted on 10/03/2003 11:59:10 AM PDT by george wythe
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To: glory
I agree! To say *never* is sloppy on my part. I guess I was only speaking from experience with my memorial park/funeral home and some of the other funeral homes around us.
All the people I work with have the upmost respect for our families and the upmost respect for their loved ones who are entrusted into our care. I hate to hear stories like this one and hope it turns out to be untrue.
116 posted on 10/03/2003 1:29:11 PM PDT by StayoutdaBushesWay
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To: glory
You write like a liberal, my friend. No justification for the deceased's treatment was volunteered in my post. Just calm down.
117 posted on 10/03/2003 4:25:05 PM PDT by JusPasenThru (We're through being cool (you can say that again, Dad))
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To: bicycle thug
Death of the body is inevitable; but for cripes sake there is no reason to invite it early, or to be so infirmed from your abuses of it you don't enjoy life.

Agreed. Since losing this weight, people are stunned to see me. I am 41 years old and I now look 10 years younger than I did six months ago. Losing nearly 90 pounds made that much of a difference. I actually feel 20 years younger. I am getting up everyday at 5 in the morning, walking 7-10 miles a day, jumping over logs in the woods and feeling like a kid again.

Sorry to hear about your mother. I know many people in the same situation including my own mother. She is so unhealthy and miserable. But she won't listen to me. She continues to eat nothing but junk and sit around the house feeling sorry for herself. She is only 65 years old but she can hardly move from the living room sofa to the kitchen table without groaning in pain and misery. It's no way to live. I visited her this past June, having by then already taken off nearly 40 pounds. But even though she saw the change in me, she continued to eat things like Little Debbie snack cakes for breakfast and cheese curls for lunch, etc. When she saw me eating eggs for breakfast, she said that the cholesterol would kill me. Imagine that! Meanwhile I'd see another empty box of Hostess cupcakes in the trash that she finished off the night before after I went to bed.

Well some like your brother have the motivation to turn it around and some like my mother wallow in self-pity and loathing. I guess there's not much we can do about it but hope they find it within themselves to make a change someday, before it is too late.

118 posted on 10/03/2003 6:22:42 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (212.8 (-87.2) Homestretch to 200)
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To: plain talk
How does someone even get to be 500 lbs? sheesh.

That's a good question and one that I will never understand. I was driving through a national park a few weeks ago and drove by the entrance booth where you pay and get a map. There was a horrendously overweight "park ranger" sitting inside that must have been between 400 and 500 pounds. It was mid afternoon - about 3 pm - and she was snacking away as she worked. She slid the window open to take my money and about half of her spilled out the side - truly one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. How somebody that big could ever live with herself and CONTINUE adding to her own gluttony by constant excessive snacking is simply incomprehensible.

119 posted on 10/04/2003 10:40:31 AM PDT by GOPcapitalist
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To: GOPcapitalist
Sounds like quite a meal for a bear.
120 posted on 10/04/2003 1:07:04 PM PDT by plain talk
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