When it comes time to have your life summed up in three paragraphs of newspaper fine print, you can only hope it will read like this: "He died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctors' orders and raising hell for more than six decades. He enjoyed booze, guns, cars and younger women until the day he died." Such was the eulogy to Michael "Flathead" Blanchard that his family placed in Thursday's Denver Post, an obituary to transcend all obituaries. Since it appeared in the newspaper, the obituary has found life in cyberspace, being tweeted, shared and pinned by thousands of people who did not know the man. It listed his cat, Chopper, among his sons. It described childhood friends as growing up to become "criminals, prostitutes and/or Democrats." It recommended against bringing children under 18 to the memorial because of the adult nature of the stories to be shared. That, it turns out, the obituary was placed nearly a year after Blanchard's death only adds to its charm. Blanchard's son, also named Mike, said today that Blanchard had a rough draft of his obituary started when he died. Blanchard's brother, Steve, said Blanchard died last year from colon cancer. The family chose to wait to hold a memorial service this year, near the one-year anniversary of his death. Steve Blanchard said his wife, Susan, and Blanchard's son put together the finished draft as a tribute to how Blanchard lived and how he would want to be remembered. "He lived every minute to its fullest," Steve said, "and then some." Blanchard was born in Denver and grew up in Lakewood, Steve said. His passion was restoring old Fords from the early 1930s. That's where the nickname "Flathead"
Here is the link to the actual obit... http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?n=michael-blanchard-flathead&pid=156944598
Kick ass! I, too, want to be remembered for who I really am, and not some make believe. Godspeed, Mike!
sounds like a uncle I lost 11yrs ago, all but the younger women part. Flathead sounds like a man I would have liked to know!
That's the way I feel. Told my family to have a boom box at my memorial and play some of my favorite jam and party down. They don't get it, think I'm crazy. Celebrate the life one lives and everybody will have better memories of the passing and less sadness.
Lost my best mate three weeks ago. Had a farewell that he would have been stoked with. Lots of cars and motorbikes, his casket was painted up the same as his car, played his favourite music and told countless stories about his life. Good way to be sent off RIP Flathead and RIP Dave (I've been a little bit naughty) Fair
A little more info... http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/15/reporters-notebook-flathead-we-hardly-knew-ye/
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