14 DAY TRIAL // A Swedish man has decided to write his own obituary before his passing and wanted to keep things simple, asking his local funeral home to use only three words to announce his death to the world, namely: “I am dead.”
92-year-old Stig Kernell, from the city of Tranås, died on April 6, but before his demise he instructed the funeral agency to publish the brief, concise and factually correct obituary accompanied by his name, place and date of death.
According to his son Lars-Åke Kernell, Sting felt the short message said all that was needed in such a situation.
“He was a special man with a lot of humor and a twinkle in his eye … it has helped us to cope with the loss of him, in that he was not scared of death,” his son told The Local.
However, the unusual obituary attracted a lot of media attention, and people were curious to know more about the man who requested the modest message. So, Kernell's two sons ended up writing a lengthier obit revealing more details about the nanogenarian's life.
As it turns out, the man was a pilot, aerospace historian and transport technician, and even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records thanks to his comprehensive collection of aviation books.