50 People Share the Craziest Thing They Ever Witnessed at a Funeral

Funerals are emotional and solemn gatherings where friends and family come together to mourn their departed loved one. While some attendees arrive to offer their final respects, others disrupt the peaceful atmosphere by introducing unnecessary drama.

Funerals are meant for closure, reflection, and support. However, it's common for a diverse range of emotions and behaviors to surface during such challenging times.

Some netizens on Reddit shared their experiences of witnessing unnecessary chaos while attending different funerals. Shockingly, some of these disruptions came from family members. Here's what they had to say.

Comments have been edited for clarity and grammar.

1. The Killer Mother

u/Starla1133: I attended the funeral of a friend who had passed away. During the service, the deceased's mother, known to struggle with substance abuse, delivered a eulogy.

She expressed a deep love for her daughter despite their troubled relationship during her daughter's lifetime. Shockingly, it later came to light that she killed her daughter and was charged with the murder.

2. Granny Shocked Everyone

u/[deleted]: My grandmother (52 at the time) died due to a botched surgery where they cut a major artery by accident, and she bled excessively. My great-grandmother, who was in her late 70s and showing signs of dementia, could not believe she lost her daughter.

During the eulogy, my great-grandmother jumped up and said, "she blinked! I saw it! She's not dead!" and attempted to run up and pull her from the coffin.

3. The Drunk Son

u/MadLintElf: While attending a funeral in Ohio, the son of the deceased showed up drunk. He paid his last respects, then sat down and fell asleep.

Everyone ignored him until the end of the funeral service when his wife woke him up, only for him to slump over and hit the floor. Apparently, he had a heart attack and was dead for at least an hour. It's kind of sad dying at your own father's funeral.

4. Where Is My Will?

u/Wonkymofo: I witnessed the estranged drunk and drug addict daughter of a family friend come screaming into the visitation looking for her brothers because she had found out she was never written into the will. It was a hell of a scene.

5. The Embarrassing Moment

u/Cobra1190: While at their great-grandfather's funeral, my son moved a chair to the casket and playfully made his mouth a smiley face, leading me to intervene.

Surprisingly, their grandfather (my father-in-law) found it amusing and said, "It's fine; he would have really loved that they did that." Later, we learned the deceased had asked the funeral home to put a "Thanks for coming" sign in his hand, but they declined.

6. Drama at the Morgue

u/02K3oC1: My brother-in-law is a mortician. He once shared a story of how a guy disguised himself as a nun, showed up at the funeral, pulled a gun from under his habit, and tried to shoot the deceased's son. Luckily, the gun malfunctioned and didn't fire.

The son then knocked the nun to the ground before the family intervened. It was later discovered the deceased owed the nun money, and the son had refused to honor the debt.

7. The Attention Seeker

u/Zhirrzh: A narcissistic family member arrived late wearing an enormous hat, sunglasses, and low-cut gown like she was attending the Golden Globes red carpet or something, and loudly making an absolute scene of how devastated she was, and just generally making it all about her.

8. Snowball Fight at Dad's Funeral

u/[deleted]: We had a snowball fight outside the parlor of my pop pop's funeral...Pop Pop would have approved. The non-family mourners seemed horrified. I cannot stand the whole "you have to be sad at funerals" thing. I hope something silly like this happens at my funeral.

9. Tasting the Ashes

u/nkibler7: Just before spreading their mom's ashes, the daughter stuck her finger in the jar, scooped some up, and ate it. I tried to play it off like it wasn't the weirdest thing I just witnessed, but my wife said out loud, "Um, why?" to which she replied, "I wanted to see what my mom tastes like, kind of bland and crunchy."

10. Life Goes on...

u/Maxpowr9: A marriage proposal to the recently widowed. She accepted. I know this is a thing in some families where if a guy dies, a single male relative of the deceased will end up marrying the widow.

Why this is a thing, I don't know, but I know it is. So, the divorced brother proposed to his deceased brother's wife, and she said yes. I doubt there was any cheating going on there. The two are still happily married as well.

11. The Shameless Couple

u/awhq: After a relative of my husband died, there was a funeral gathering at her home hosted by her widower. It was attended by family and friends who shared nice stories about the deceased.

However, an unexpected turn of events occurred when I walked in on a young couple in their mid-20s, acquaintances of the widower, engaging in explicit behavior in the garage. To make matters worse, they were also doing drugs.

12. The Selfish Family Members

u/WanderingFaerie: When my dad's mom passed away, there were a lot of people there. He comes from a family of 11, so there were a lot of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

It was an open casket, and I was around 12-13, but everyone was grabbing things from her from the casket. All the aunts were grabbing things for their kids who didn't even know her or remember who she was or were way too young.

The only thing my dad has of his mother is a little rose pin that she wore in the home she was in before she passed. It's unfortunate and makes me feel very sad for my dad.

13. The Insensitive Relative

u/cjcandi: My dad's cousin, who didn't like our family, did this at my sister's visitation. She showed up and started bawling over the casket and brushing the side of my sister's face. I walked over there to comfort her, and she shoved me.

I had no sleep, nothing to eat for a few days, and I felt like almost taking the casket down with me. That cousin stopped crying, straightened up, and apologized to everyone except me.

14. Fight between Grandpa's Daughter and His Ex-girlfriend

u/PlebCityBaby: At the lunch after my grandpa's funeral, Dee, my grandpa's daughter from a previous marriage, whom no one had seen in years, showed up. Dee had a troubled past, including unresolved conflicts with my family.

Her reappearance at the funeral was met with skepticism, and she attempted to act like it was a family reunion. Still, tensions ran high, leading to a physical fight with my grandpa's last girlfriend, who was legally blind.

After the funeral, Dee tried to steal a car willed to the blind girlfriend, but she was scared off. The blind lady got the car and immediately wrecked it.

15. The Weird Highschool Best Friend

u/missweach: At my mom's funeral, her high school best friend (who is the WORST type of person. Fifty-three and still living with her father, she was married to a con artist and swore she was god's gift to earth, who hadn't spoken to my mom in at least five years).

She started rumors that my mom had overdosed on medications and died from that. She told people whom she didn't know, and she hadn't been asked to come to her funeral.

16. The Over-Ambitious Woman

u/Miablossom: The lady who convinced my mother to ditch chemo and use essential oils handed out business cards at her funeral. Well, I gave her the evil eye, refused her card, and walked away.

Told her I didn't want it and told some others in earshot that my mother didn't last very long on the essential oils. Being a funeral, fighting would not have been okay, even though she was entirely inappropriate. I'm already the black sheep of the family.

17. Whoops, This Was Unexpected!

u/strangeraej: My brother-in-law's girlfriend locked herself in a car, cried, and screamed, threatening to kill herself at my father-in-law's funeral. She was fine five minutes later and explained to my in-laws that she did it because she was not used to not having all the attention.

She said she thought her being pregnant would make people forget that the father died. To make matters worse, she had that baby two months ago, and she's pregnant again. It's been the absolute worst!

18. Inappropriate Farewell

u/Marciepan: A grown, mature woman shocked mourners by taking a selfie with her deceased father in the casket and sharing it on Facebook. This unexpected act at the funeral was widely considered inappropriate and raised eyebrows among the mourners.

19. The Unprepared Pastor

u/TooManyDogsHere: At my grandfather's funeral, the stand-in, curmudgeonly pastor kept calling my grandfather by the wrong name, referring to him as John Smith instead of Bob White, leaving the crowd confused.

Despite not knowing my grandfather, the pastor continued to speak about how he lived a good life, and when he was about to mention that his spouse had known him, she humorously pointed out that she hadn't met John Smith either, resulting in a collective burst of laughter.

20. The Kid Who Unleashed Unintentional Humor

u/dunge0nm0ss: I was five. My great-grandmother had died from old age, and for some reason, it was a closed-casket funeral. From what my mom told me, my great-grandmother hadn't been into wearing make-up when she was alive, and she definitely wouldn't wear it as a corpse.

One of my relatives, probably the same age as me but more used to open-casket funerals, wondered why they couldn't see the corpse. I commented, in my innocence, that "She's bones now." That was one way to break the ice at an awkward funeral.

21. Sister-in-Law's Grief Took a Troubling Turn

u/dawnrn11: My sister-in-law threatened to punch my mom at my dad's funeral. My dad died unexpectedly and was fairly healthy. She was upset we weren't supporting her through her tragedy.

22. Unwelcome Guest Tried to Steal the Spotlight at Grandma's Funeral

u/MarsNirgal: At my grandma's funeral. There was a woman who had a terrible relationship with my grandma, but one of my aunts invited her to the funeral. She started receiving people as if she were a family member and tried to put herself at the center of everything.

23. The Awful Step-Mother

u/Rangermice: When I was 13, my aunt (my dad's sister) died in a terrible car accident, which my uncle and cousin were also in and survived. My aunt and mom were best friends, so naturally, I was very close with her.

At the funeral, I sobbed, especially when we all sang "Amazing Grace." My aunt was the first death I had experienced in my family. My stepmother pulled me aside in the cemetery immediately after the service to tell me that my crying was inappropriate and yelled at me to calm down. I hate that lady.

24. Stranger Thought Grandma was Her Late Husband

u/siege72a: My grandmother was an awful person who squandered any kindness or generosity given to her. Despite the room being full of family and acquaintances for her funeral, no one was upset — certainly, no tears were shed. It wasn't until after the service that someone started mourning openly.

A very elderly woman approached the coffin and started wailing, "George! GEORGE!!!!" She was comforted and silenced by the person who brought her. I got the full story later.

The elderly woman had severe dementia and thought she was attending her late husband's funeral. My grandmother was so "beloved" that the only tears at her funeral were for someone else entirely.

25. This Was Totally Unexpected

u/[deleted]: My mom works in the funeral business. Sometimes, I would come to work with her and help her set up the chapel for a service. One service in particular was of a little boy who drowned.

His parents dressed his identical twin brother in the same outfit as him. Grief can lead people to do incredibly difficult and unconventional things.

26. Birthday Celebration Meets Grandpa's Farewell

u/FadeCrimson: About two weeks ago, my grandpa's funeral happened to take place on my birthday. I wasn't too bitter about the date arrangement, that is until my aunt announced in the middle of the funeral that people should all sing Happy Birthday to me.

So, to list it all out: dead grandpa in the room, everybody standing around teary-eyed, the funeral choir song just finished, and now everybody is being led by my crazy aunt in the most confused and out-of-place rendition of "happy birthday" ever sung.

27. Unexpected Guest Delays Great-Uncle's Final Resting Place

u/Sandor17: During my great-uncle's burial, I showed up at the cemetery, and a cow was standing in the grave. I had to wait for them to get a winch and take the cow out before my great-uncle could go in.

28. Obsessive Fans Crossed the Line

u/elleesdee: I recently attended the funeral of the mother of a male celebrity who was in a well-known band with ironically obsessive fans. After the service, we headed over to the reception. I was late getting there.

As I was walking in, there were three women in their 40s standing on the sidewalk who asked me, "Are you going in there?" At first, I thought they worked at the venue, so I replied yes.

They were excited and asked, "Do you know if [all the band members] have gotten here yet?! We want to get autographs and pictures!"

To see three middle-aged women standing in the rain on a workday, hoping for a photo during someone's personal tragedy, had to be one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. I could justify this as an appropriate thing to do. I'm assuming they read the obituary, which included the reception info.

29. Family Drama Unfolds at Every Funeral

u/teachforgold: When I was 7, I watched as my great-grandfather's KKK buddies formed a barricade to prevent a black, middle-aged female nurse from entering the funeral home, despite her taking care of my great-grandfather for the last year of his life.

Seven years later, at my great-grandmother's funeral, my grandmother threw herself onto the casket and started crying and screaming. My great-aunt (her sister) then ran to the casket, punched and insulted her. They knocked the casket over, and my great-aunt was arrested.

At my uncle's funeral a few years ago, his mistress showed up with her family and got into a fight with my aunt about who deserved to be at the funeral. The mistress and her family ended up in the room with the casket (since they paid for the funeral). The rest of us were in a different room and had to listen to it over the PA system.

At my great-grandmother's funeral, my grandma was going around asking for donations to help her go to a therapist to deal with her grief. This was before she threw herself into the casket.

30. The Inappropriate Selfie

u/TheOldOak: When my grandmother died, a 14-year-old cousin took duck face selfies with my grandmother in an open casket and posted captions to her Facebook akin to "Two hours getting my hair done and granny still looks better than me."

31. He Did the Unthinkable

u/ElitistRobot: My (completely estranged) father showed up twenty years after swearing he'd never see any of his family ever again at my grandfather's funeral.

He then asked me to step into the hall with him during my grandfather's benediction prayer, where it turned out he had asked the funeral director to remove me from the property. The family had no idea this had happened until ten minutes later, at which point, everyone left my grandfather's funeral in disgust.

While they did their best to console me, my father took advantage of the lack of people around my grandmother, and he tried to talk her into moving into a home and signing the family properties into his name. She broke her hand, hitting him.

32. Holier than Thou

u/PTech_J: A friend of mine was shot and killed when he was 17. At the funeral, his classmates showed up wearing things that said he was an angel, and one girl had "Corey is my guardian Angel" painted on her rear window.

There were two Pastors at the service; the first one, my old pastor, gave a heartfelt service about him and, since he knew almost everyone in town, was able to help the family grieve afterward.

The other pastor went up to the podium and ranted about evil teenagers and complained that high schoolers don't realize that you don't become an angel when you die. "I saw it written on one of your cars that he's your guardian angel as I was walking in.

Well, you're wrong! When you die, you go to Heaven or Hell, and the way the youth in this town live, I'll be surprised if I ever encounter him again in this life or the next."

33. Repent or Go to Hell

u/iamdubioustoo: At my mother's memorial service, my dad had several church members come up and speak. My mom was not a member of this church; in fact, she was agnostic.

We let him do it anyway, as I felt it comforted him. Anyway, one of the guys proceeded to tell us that we were all going to burn in hell if we didn't repent, just like my mom.

34. Ex-Partner's Explicit Remarks Shocked Mourners

u/[deleted]: During the funeral, the deceased's ex, in the presence of her current boyfriend, chose to share explicit details about her intimate skills and what a loss for mankind that is. It was a very uncomfortable situation.

35. They Went Too Far

u/Waiola: My minister once told a story. He was waiting in a room off the sanctuary before the funeral when he heard scuffling noises. When he went to investigate, the brother and sister of the deceased had pulled the body out of the casket and propped it between them.

They explained that they didn't have a recent photo of the three of them and were delighted he showed up to take the picture.

36. Grief and Inheritance Caused Car Vandalism

u/PancakeExprationDate: My uncle was pissed about something in my grandmother's Will. So, during the funeral, he went out to the parking lot and keyed everyone's car. It should be noted he has a severe brain injury from a motorcycle accident that causes him to be constantly angry and paranoid. Still, it was weird.

37. I Didn't Deserve This...

u/[deleted[: I took my ex to my grandma's funeral, even though he met her once. My ex likes to cosplay/dress up as rock stars, so I told him to please tone it down.

So, while he does tone it down SLIGHTLY, he still shows up dressed in a big theatrical black trench coat with a red button down that was left half unbuttoned and a bunch of giant cross necklaces. Not to mention a little Nikki Sixx make-up to top it all off.

I remember asking him to reconsider changing into something appropriate. He got mad and accused me of being controlling like his mother. Now, I suppose his outfit doesn't sound bad, but in context, it was embarrassing.

My grandma was a God-fearing lady and had friends she went to church with. Not to mention all the people she went to school with. So, he was being whispered about and glared at the entire time.

38. The Awkward Moment

u/GurgleQueen636: I attended the funeral of a coworker's fiancée, where an unsettling scene unfolded. As people paid their final respects, the deceased woman's ex-boyfriend shockingly leaned in and kissed her on the lips while her fiancé was present.

The situation became even more distressing when her brothers promptly ejected him from the service. It was an incredibly uncomfortable and inappropriate moment.

39. Who Does That?

u/Korsola: Not a funeral, but when my grandad passed, and we went to view his body at the crematorium, my aunt started stealing from the facility the second the employee's back was turned. Just shoving anything that wasn't nailed down into her purse and pockets. Unbelievable. And yes, we called her out and made her put it all back.

40. She Found Comfort in Spongebob's Cheerful Tune

u/Zackeezy116: When my mom's mom died, her Down's Syndrome sister, who is just adorable btw, didn't know how to cope with the fact that her mommy had died, so she said, "Mommy died..." and looked down, then burst into the Spongebob theme song to cheer herself up.

41. The Kid Turned Mourning into Laughter

u/zondwich: My grandpa (father's dad) died when I was around 5. Everyone else was crying and sad, but I didn't understand any of it, so I sat there and played with my stuffed Simba.

When it was time to bury him, everyone took turns putting sand on his coffin. When it was my turn, I used my hands to put sand on the coffin; then I used Simbas to put sand on it and even used his paw to wave bye to Grandpa. Everyone laughed and awed, and that's all I remember.

42. Kid Thought Grandpa Was Killed by the Bad Guy in the Movie

u/Swaleymon: I remember when my Pawpaw died, we all went to his funeral, including my niece and nephew, who were about four or five years old at the time. Landen was obsessed with the Spiderman movie with Toby Maguire.

We went up to the casket, and he said, "Did the bad guy get him?" He connected it with his uncle Ben dying in the movie; we just told him, yeah, he did, and we all smiled and cried after that. It's crazy how kids connect things, but my Pawpaw wasn't killed by a bad guy, just cancer.

43. The Music Was Totally Off

u/lsuhydro: I was in charge of making the CD with the tribute music and didn't want to waste a whole CD (this was back when CD burning first started). The funeral was for my great-aunt. She was an old Bolivian woman, and half the people spoke Spanish and half spoke English.

When they played my CD, "Gangsta’s Paradise" started blaring from the speakers: "As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left." I probably shouldn't have burned a full CD.

44. I Almost Laughed during Grandmother's Funeral

u/[deleted]: During my great-grandmother's funeral, I was by her side, remembering all the moments we shared, and I suddenly thought to stick my finger in her mouth and start wiggling it on her gums.

I have no idea why I had that thought, but I had to leave the room for about 20 seconds because I was about to explode laughing.

45. I Didn't Mean to Do That...

u/K3NN3Y: I was just a young kid when a distant cousin or relative passed away. I didn't know the person well. So, my parents had me and my little brothers go around hugging the other relatives sitting in chairs.

In my clumsiness, I managed to step on each of their toes one by one. It was entirely unintentional, and looking back, it's quite humorous.

46. She Got Her Karma

u/Dharmafollower: At a first cousin, Lillian's funeral, we were in a mausoleum at the time of burial. Another cousin (Delores) was there, too, even though she and the deceased had a lifelong quarrel and never liked each other.

After the priest announces, "Service is over, you can return to your cars," Delores quickly turns to leave, walks straight into a glass wall, bashes her face, does a spin, and loses her balance (she was wearing heels), and falls and flops over a railing. It was hilarious, and we all joked that Lillian was getting her revenge from the grave.

47. Her Death Shocked Everyone

u/Cyromaniap: Last winter, my elderly neighbor passed away. She lived alone, her husband having succumbed to mental illness years earlier. One snowy evening, I almost helped her shovel the steps to her house, but she was nearly finished, so I continued home.

Weeks later, we received a call asking if we'd seen Mary. It turned out she had a heart attack after shoveling her steps and passed away, and her cats disturbingly began eating her.

My brother's friend's dad, we call him J, shared grim details at her viewing. J mentioned her condition was too gruesome for an open casket. Later, we discovered she was wealthy and hid her money in various household items. She didn't have any relatives or a will. The funeral home profited from buying her home.

48. Dispute at the Graveyard

u/Antiochia: My grandaunt (sister of my grandparents) died in her youth. She and her husband were activists and founders of the communist party in Austria between the First and Second World Wars.

My grandaunt had abandoned church, so instead of a priest, her old group chef of their regional communist cell showed up and held a pamphlet about their glorious days. He even mentioned it was his job to tell about her past life; by the way he did it.

Following the funeral, a verbal fight erupted in my family when some members decided to leave before the post-burial meal. This dispute arose from a disagreement with another group of relatives.

They believed that the first group had placed the ash urn in the grave themselves, which they viewed as an unfair advantage. They argued that if the graveyard worker had performed this task, it would have been equal for everyone involved.

49. A Strange Moment of Doubt

u/schwendybrit: I was only 11 when my baby cousin died from SIDS. I avoided the wake the night before because I did not want to see a dead baby. Well, there was an open casket at the funeral, and I was certain I saw her eyelid twitch. I stared at her for a long time. She looked like a beautiful porcelain doll. I always wondered if I imagined it.

50. The Cool Priest

u/GroundsKeeper2: At my grandfather's funeral, the priest, who shared a close bond with my grandpa despite the age difference(my grandfather was 83 and the priest 32), showed up on his motorcycle.

My grandfather had a passion for motorcycles and had willed him one of them. The priest told jokes and gave a fitting tribute. He was a really cool priest.

Funeral occasions are meant to honor the departed and provide solace to the grieving. It is crucial that people approach these events with the utmost respect and empathy, understanding the profound grief that family and friends are experiencing.

Creating drama or conflicts during such occasions is not only inconsiderate but also disrespectful to the memory of the deceased. During such sensitive moments, it's essential to set aside personal grievances and focus on providing comfort and strength to those who are mourning.