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.

[JusPasenThru]

For your reading pleasure...
in Ohio a jury awarded $3,000,000 to the family of a man who was both fat and a heavy smoker. When he died of a heart attack, the family claimed that his doctor didn't do enough to make him lose weight. The jury bought it.

If the doctor isn't bankrupt already on that one, he will be when he tries to purchase malpractice insurance next year.

There is also an association of "Fat People Who Take Offense at Being Called Fat", or somesuch, that would have sued the doctor for harrassing them about their weight.

And I have no doubt that this woman ate only 800 calories and walked 5 miles a day. Obesity is hormonal and inherited, you know.

[cyborg]

Somehow there's a billboard advertisement waiting to happen in this story...

[Conservababe]

You people make me sick to my stomach.

I am sorry I ever clicked on this thread.

[M0sby]

HERE JEN...LET'S MAKE SURE THEY CAN READ IT!!!!

 

You people make me sick to my stomach.

I am sorry I ever clicked on this thread.

 

Amazing what some "PEOPLE" think is funny... kinda reminds me of Junior High School...

[Simcha7]

Shalom!

Hi...WimpyCat,

Sorry to hear about your GrandDaddy's passing.

Yup...The Profound things that come from out of the mouth's of Babes!

Your Cousin's little boy had great perception at a young and tender age.

OY...He will probably become a Doctor!

GOD BLESS YOU and YOUR FAMILY!

[Marie]

My mom called me, very upset, this spring. Her father had passed a few days before and the cemetary had allowed her brother to use his backhoe to dig up the plot. So, the night before the funeral, my uncle and his uncle start digging. Well, it seems that my grandpa was in for some close company.

Yup, they dug up another body.

My mom was agast when I wouldn't stop giggling as she told me this "terrible" story. Then I reminded her about grandpa's own sense of humor and of the fact that HE would've loved it. It would've been his best joke yet.

Yes, we all want our loved ones to go out with respect, honor and DIGnity. *snicker* The thing is, humor will get us through the worst of times and laughter speeds the healing. I pray that my family can laugh as they remember my life and even shake their heads and grin when they remember my death.

[Mr. Mojo]

Casket Wouldn't Close, Children Say

They should've buried her in a piano case, as was done with Robert Earl Hughes (the fattest man who ever lived).

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

You're right! We don't have both sides of the story. I work in the funeral industry and can tell you that the casket never would have left the chapel if it wouldn't close. Nor would anyone ask the family to sit on the casket to try and close it.
If there are ever any major problems we encounter, we never discuss, or do any of the drastic things in front of the family. This is of course only based on my experience and training. This all doesn't make sense.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

I'd be interested in reading that article.
Cremating overweight people isn't an easy thing, I'll refrain from the details, but can tell you there's a lot more to it than your average cremation!

[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.

Personally, I want people celebrating the end of my life, my will stipulates I buy the beer!

The best memory I have of burying on of my grandmothers is the fact we cremated her. On the way to the gravesite I took the box with the ashes. A friend of the family was in the back seat and asked, "I don't see a hearse, where's the body?" I picked up the box and handed it to him and said, "right here". He freaked! We all laughed.

My grandmother would have loved it. She was such a jokester.

[E Rocc]

Funny, there is a Batesville Casket Company in Batesville Mississippi too. I always thought it got its name from its location. On reading the main website, I see that it is one of several manufacturing plants for the home office in Indiana.

It's a very old company, the town may have actually gotten its name from the plant.

-Eric

[E Rocc]

Personally, I want people celebrating the end of my life, my will stipulates I buy the beer!

When a friend of mine's dad died, he had stipulated that he wanted the viewing at their house, not at a funeral home. One of the specific reasons: so alcohol could be served. This removed the need for the traditional role of the parking lot at funerals involving my family.

-Eric

[glory]

I only had to roll a few posts down to see the pathetic comments. Regardless of what those who like to make fun of fat people think, this woman was someone's mother, sister, daughter. She was not a criminal and from all accounts did nothing reprehensible and had a vice with food(and that is even speculative..the woman could have been on steroids long before her death that blew her up). She doesn't deserve to be made fun of and none of you would think treatment of your loved one after death in such a way would be acceptable. The woman was grossly overweight, she was not a monster or any less human than a 63 yr old woman of average weight. The funeral home is the last stop for many of us in the world and we should expect to be treated with some basic respect and dignity on our way out.

[glory]

What's eating Gilbert Grape I believe.

[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--my guess is they didn't want to keep the obese woman on ice while THE FUNERAL HOME waited for the delivery. These people didn't say, let's just go with it AGAINST the advice of the funeral director. The funeral director ASSURED them she would fit!

[glory]

So nothing undignified could happen to your family because they are skinny--excuse me while I LMAO! What a STUPID comment.

[glory]

Sam your weight loss is commendable, but if you read the story carefully it said the family asked several times if their mother would fit in the casket. It does not appear through that line of questioning that they were unwilling to purchase something bigger. They had the ASSURANCE of the funeral home that their mother would fit. I can understand why the family felt betrayed.

You are right, we don't know all sides, perhaps the funeral home(and there appears to be more support for this story) didn't want to keep the large woman on ice for a few more days while they waited for a special order casket, nor did they want to make the effort for a woman "less then human"(if you look at any of the comments on this thread) to do anything special. Instead they lied to the family, or misjudged if I'm being generous, in order to push this "unpleasant" burial out in normal time.

Based on this story, I'm erring on the side of the family. At the very least, the funeral attendees have no business sitting on top of a casket trying to close it. That is reprehensible!

[glory]

Read the story again. You missed the part where they asked about the size of the casket several times and where the funeral home employees assured them she would fit...try again!

[spiffy]

Apparently over a certain weight you can't even be cremated because the incinerator won't handle the weight...

Yeah, but couldn't you be cremated in.. maybe two or three separate pieces?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Being skinny helps in the grieving process. The stages of grief are sorrow, denial, anger and thrift. When you reach the last, the folks can slip you in some PVC pipe, cap the ends and voila!

Of course it was a stupid comment. :)