--- title: Viral Obituary for Walter George Bruhl description: A man's obituary is going viral canonical: https://time.com/21695/man-jokes-in-obituary-now-my-wife-can-buy-the-mink-coat-she-always-wanted/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-12T18:48:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:43.896Z og:title: Man Writes His Own Hilarious Obituary, Jokes His Wife Can Buy a Mink Coat Now og:description: A man's obituary is going viral og:url: https://time.com/21695/man-jokes-in-obituary-now-my-wife-can-buy-the-mink-coat-she-always-wanted/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt415c72c5e7843d55/6986851c06f2c1c0dc32dd3e/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-12-58-44-pm.png?branch=production&width=437&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 437 og:image:height: 246 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2014-03-12 at 12.58.44 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man Writes His Own Hilarious Obituary, Jokes His Wife Can Buy a Mink Coat Now twitter:description: A man's obituary is going viral twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt415c72c5e7843d55/6986851c06f2c1c0dc32dd3e/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-12-58-44-pm.png?branch=production&width=437&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Man Jokes in Obituary: Now My Wife Can Buy The Mink Coat She Always Wanted > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dddfb94e-acf9-4e58-9bb7-82fc89f5f995&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 12, 2014 6:48 PM UTC   by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 12, 2014 6:48 PM UTC Walter George Bruhl Jr., Marine Corps veteran and longtime DuPont Co. employee, passed away in Florida Sunday at 80 years old, and on Tuesday, the [_Cape Gazette_ published](http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/p/walter-george-bruhl-jr-dupont-co-retiree/1139838) a hilarious obituary that he wrote for himself. The Philadelphia native who lived and worked in Delaware jokes that now his wife can purchase the mink coat he never let her buy because he thought “only minks should wear mink.” Here are other funny lines from [the write-up](http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/p/walter-george-bruhl-jr-dupont-co-retiree/1139838), which is going viral after his grandson Sam Bruhl posted it on Reddit, [_USA Today_ reports](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/03/12/grandfather-obit-walter-bruhl/6317251/): * “His spirit was released from his worn-out shell of a body and is now exploring the universe.” * “He was surrounded by his loving wife of 57 years, Helene Sellers Bruhl, who will now be able to purchase the mink coat which he had always refused her because he believed only minks should wear mink.” * “There will be no viewing since his wife refuses to honor his request to have him standing in the corner of the room with a glass of Jack Daniels in his hand so he would appear natural to visitors.” * “Cremation will take place at the family’s convenience, and his ashes will be kept in an urn until they get tired of having it around.” TIME has also rounded-up other [famous last words](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/07/09/famous-last-words-from-football-fans-and-other-fanatics/) that have gone viral in recent years, from Waffle House’s most loyal customer to the man whose final request was that, in lieu of flowers, people write their members of Congress and petition for a repeal of Daylight Savings Time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/21695/man-jokes-in-obituary-now-my-wife-can-buy-the-mink-coat-she-always-wanted/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/21695/man-jokes-in-obituary-now-my-wife-can-buy-the-mink-coat-she-always-wanted/"},"headline":"Man Jokes in Obituary: Now My Wife Can Buy The Mink Coat She Always Wanted","datePublished":"2014-03-12T18:48:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:43.896Z","description":"It has gone viral since his grandson posted it on Reddit.","url":"https://time.com/21695/man-jokes-in-obituary-now-my-wife-can-buy-the-mink-coat-she-always-wanted/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Family"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt415c72c5e7843d55/6986851c06f2c1c0dc32dd3e/screen-shot-2014-03-12-at-12-58-44-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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