Ancient kings and queens were usually buried with the items they enjoyed the most in life.
It could be pieces of jewelry or certain types of food and the more gory ones would have live animals or people buried along with their dead master.
That practice has long fallen into disuse but sometimes a deceased person’s family will humor the recently departed loved one. In the case of one man named Perry Cardy, he was buried in a coffin made to look like a can of beer, specifically Foster’s brand, which was his favorite in life. They even put a can of lemonade on top of his coffin during the funeral in honor of his favored mixed drink.
The father-of-three was killed outside a local pub. He was 52 years old.
Mandy Hunter, Cardy’s sister, said the way they conducted the funeral was what he “would have wanted.”
She said: “I think he would have been blown away and I think he would have thought it was really funny. It was a fitting send-off for him. He loved Foster’s top, that was his favorite drink.
“It was my idea to have the Foster’s can print on the coffin because it was Perry’s favorite and he loved being around friends and family at the pub.
“He was a hard-working man who worked Monday to Friday, so he would go to the pub on a Friday and Saturday night.”
She continued: “I spoke to the funeral directors and asked if we could have the coffin wrapped as you can do with cars. He said it was possible and gave us a quote.
“We didn’t want it to be a sad funeral, we wanted it to be upbeat and happy, just like how Perry would have wanted.
“We had so many lovely comments at the funeral saying what a lovely idea it was, it will make people remember Perry’s funeral with happy thoughts.”
Cardy’s killer, 27-year-old Harry Joyce, of Barry Road, Southampton, faced charges of murder. Cardy was rushed to the hospital with a serious head injury but died on few days later at Southampton General Hospital.
Mandy noted that the number of people who showed up highlighted how well-liked Cardy was.
She said: “Perry was quite a quiet person who kept himself to himself, so I don’t think even we realized just how well liked he was by his friends and fellow workmates.
“We were overwhelmed with the number of people who turned up.”
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