March 03, 2016
Elwood "Buddy" Segeske III is real, and hopefully he's somewhere having a good laugh.
On Wednesday, Segeske's hilarious obituary made the rounds online, spreading tall tales about the man from the Primos section of Upper Darby and his alien abduction, battery-operated cymbal-smashing monkey and penchant for pool, fishing and Jennifer Lawrence.
In reality, the man originally from Philly's Kensington neighborhood died of complications due to a heart attack last week. Segeske had "once read a humorous obit and said, 'That's what I want,'" according to the message accompanying a Gofundme page set up by his friends.
Elwood Buddy Segeske III
On Thursday evening, the fundraising campaign to help Segeske's "beloved Linda Razzi" with the expenses related to his passing had raised $5,980 of its $10,000-goal in the six days since it was launched.
Segeske and his obituary writer are among the most recent to mix humor and death.
In January, a western Pennsylvania man's obituary included the tagline asking "that in lieu of flowers, please do not vote for Donald Trump." Before that, a Gloucester Township, New Jersey woman also got political with the line: "In lieu of flowers, please do not vote for Hillary Clinton."
And a 72-year-old Massachusetts woman took a even more controversial stand, using her obituary to declare New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was innocent in the Deflategate scandal.
