How My Dad Welcomed Everyone to His Own Funeral

My dad, Kent Bolsta

My dad, Kent Bolsta, died on May 1, 2005, after a lengthy decline from Alzheimer’s. Yet, he cheerfully welcomed all the guests at his own memorial service.

How? Nearly twenty years earlier, he had made a brief cassette tape which he labeled TO BE PLAYED AT MY FUNERAL. No one in my family had listened to it until after he passed away. Click on the audio player below to hear it:

Cracking jokes about his own death was just my dad’s style. One longtime friend told my mother after the service that she had come prepared to cry and be sad, but that she was leaving with joy in her heart and a smile on her face. My dad would have been pleased. That’s the kind of service he was after—a celebration of his life, not a mournful remembrance.

Oh, by the way, my dad also performed at his own funeral. We popped in a VCR tape of him performing his famous parody The Night Before Christmas. It was wonderful to see him bringing down the house one last time.

POSTSCRIPT 1: Here is an essay I wrote for the Minneapolis Star Tribune about my dad’s long, slow descent into Alzheimer’s.

POSTSCRIPT 2: A few years after I wrote the above essay, I shared an especially poignant moment with my dad shortly before he passed away.

POSTSCRIPT 3: Here is my eulogy from his memorial service.

Click here to see all my posts featuring my parents and grandparents.

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Tags: funeral, Kent Bolsta, memorial service, The Night Before Christmas