Family Angry Over 500-Pound Woman's Burial

ChannelCincinnati ^ | 10/02/03 | ChannelCincinnati

[LuLuLuLu]

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.

[shaggy eel]

,,, a few years back I saw a movie where there were some kids and a mother who lived in the country in a two storey house. The mother lived downstairs and slept on a sofa because she was too big to ascend the stairs. She died and they knew they couldn't lift her out thru the front door, so they afforded her the dignity of leaving her on the sofa and torching the house to cremate her. Good film - wish I could recall the title.

[Simcha7]

That's Really, Really COLD.

What if this happened to someone YOU Loved Very Much?

[tracer]

The funeral director simply was thinking outside of the box.....

[Go Gordon]

Norris weighed more than 500 pounds,

Can you imagine the strain on the 18 paw bearers?

[NautiNurse]

"Her face was, like, all squished up," she said.
She must have had a face that was wider than her shoulders.

LOL--Maybe they had to position her arms around her head.

[FreePaul]

When people get to be too large their "friends" and relatives should stop trucking food to them. If they have to walk far enough to get fed they may not get too large to forage. I know people who are grossly overweight and I fell sorry for them. If they want me to bring them food they are going to be disappointed.

[Servant of the 9]

Gravitas maybe, but no one that fat has Dignitas.

So9

[george wythe]

because many caskets are made in Batesville, Ind., and Aurora, Ind., a specially ordered casket can be shipped to local funeral homes within 24 to 36 hours, Paolello reported.

Correct, but would the family be willing to pay for the custom-made casket plus the delivery charges?

[Go Gordon]

"My mom had a lot of dignity," she said.

Yep, 500 pounds worth.

[twinzmommy]

What's Eating Gilbert Grape? That was the movie

[SC DOC]

Should have called Goliath

[Destructor]

Casket? We're talking Piano case here!

[My Favorite Headache]

I would have gone postal on the funeral director on the spot. UN-Real!!!!!!!!

[plain talk]

I don't know how much sympathy the family deserves on this. The funeral home people probably gambled on giving her some dignity by placing her in a standard large size casket that would be most economic for the family (rather than a custom built one that might look unusual). Do we know that the family offered to pay for a custom built casket that would positively fit her? OK, so the funeral home gambled wrong. They probably haven't had much experience with 500 lb people.

Rather than whining now that she's too fat to fit in the coffin, the family would have been better served years ago helping her address the root cause that resulted in her premature death at 63. How does someone even get to be 500 lbs? sheesh.

[Servant of the 9]

I know someone who is really heavy. She has cancer. Doctors told her they cannot operate on her for the cancer because she's too fat. Something must be done about all of this. It's just awful.

Something is being done.
Think of it as Evolution in Action.

So9

[FITZ]

They should be able to get the casket closed in a few days or so.

[Polonius]

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape"

[MineralMan]

",,, a few years back I saw a movie where there were some kids and a mother who lived in the country in a two storey house. The mother lived downstairs and slept on a sofa because she was too big to ascend the stairs. She died and they knew they couldn't lift her out thru the front door, so they afforded her the dignity of leaving her on the sofa and torching the house to cremate her. Good film - wish I could recall the title."


"Whatever Happened to Gilbert Grape?"

[Tijeras_Slim]

That's Really, Really COLD.

What if this happened to someone YOU Loved Very Much?

My family is all skinny.

When my Dad died, we had him cremated. He was the original rebel. We got his ashes in a little square box. After the service Mom and I carried him out to the graveyard, and there was a round hole. It was so perfect we both cracked up laughing in front of all the mourners.

[E Rocc]

Batesville MS. not Indiana.

Batesville Casket's in Indiana. A couple jobs ago we sold them metal, they cast their own handles and trim.

We used to buy back their scrap metal as well. Some of our more suspicious employees wouldn't charge it into the recycling furnaces. They called it "death metal".

-Eric