Son Wrote Hilarious Obituary So Dad Wouldn't Be 'Forgotten,' Instead It Went Viral and Made Millions Smile
"It has all been like a crazy dream to me, but I am glad for the distraction that it has brought me,” Charles Boehm tells PEOPLE about his viral obituary for dad Robert
Dignity Memorial
Robert BoehmCharles Boehm wrote an unconventional obituary for dad Robert Boehm, a Texas man who "broke the mold" — and the hilarious send-off went viral
“We have all done our best to enjoy/weather Robert's antics up to this point, but he is God's problem now,” read one particularly memorable line from the obituary
“I never thought that this little letter to the people of Clarendon...would end up generating this kind of impact," he tells PEOPLE
The man whose hilarious obituary about his father went viral says he was caught off guard by the attention the tribute has generated.
“I am surprised and humbled by the entire thing,” Charles Boehm, 41, the son of the late Robert Boehm, tells PEOPLE. “I never thought that this little letter to the people of Clarendon that was supposed to be a thank you and an apology for helping to take care of my dad would end up generating this kind of impact.”
Robert, a truck driver, died at the age of 74 in Clarendon, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 6. Rather than beginning the obituary with a description of Robert as a loving husband or great father, Charles speculated what his dad’s last words might have been.
“Robert Adolph Boehm, in accordance with his lifelong dedication to his own personal brand of decorum, muttered his last unintelligible and likely unnecessary curse on October 6, 2024, shortly before tripping backward over 'some stupid bleeping thing' and hitting his head on the floor," the obit read.
Other memorable moments from the unique tribute was Charles writing of his father's birth in 1950, “God immediately and thankfully broke the mold and attempted to cover up the evidence." He also joked that his dad impregnated his wife Dianne three times from the late ‘60s to early ‘70s to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.
Charles also paid tribute to Dianne, who died in February, describing her as “a beloved wife, mother, sister, and grandmother who touched the lives of those around her with her unwavering love and quiet strength." But he also jokingly wrote that Dianne’s death was God’s way of showing mercy in “getting her the heck out of there for some well-earned peace and quiet” after her decades-long marriage to Robert and for putting up with his quirks.
“We have all done our best to enjoy/weather Robert's antics up to this point, but he is God's problem now,” Charles added.
Related: 82-Year-Old Prankster Dies and His Family Gives Him a Hilarious Obituary to Send Him Off
Charles previously told The Washington Post that his father had been struggling following the death of his wife of over 50 years, and that the “good people of Clarendon looked in on him and helped him out a lot.”
Speaking with PEOPLE, he says the obituary was intended to ease his pain following the loss of his dad.
“I was sad that my father was going to be forgotten and that my parents’ small life would get packed up into my trailer and that would be the end of it everywhere but inside my own mind,” he says, adding that he also hoped the obituary would "make a handful of people in a town of 2,000 smile instead of frown."
But, he adds, "it’s probably done that for 2 million at this point.”
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Still, there are moments when the sense of loss is overwhelming.
"When I finished unloading the trailer into a storage unit 9 [on Oct. 16] and sat down for the first uneventful moment by myself that I’ve had since my father passed I broke down crying almost instantly," he says. "So many things to regret doing and not doing. Time wasted. No way to go backwards and change a single second.”
Related: New York Veteran Comes Out as Gay in His Obituary, Says He Can Now 'Forever Rest in Peace'
As for going viral, Charles says that his own kids have been making fun of him for being "internet famous."
“If the GoFundMe to pay for my dad’s funeral does not pan out,” Charles says, “they told me to release a line of Robert Boehm-branded harmonicas and become the next Hawk Tuah," he jokes. "It has all been like a crazy dream to me, but I am glad for the distraction that it has brought me.”
Another bright spot has been all the positive online comments about the tribute and his dad, whose funeral took place on Monday, Oct. 14.
He says, "I have had my faith in mankind renewed by the almost exclusive positivity I have seen through people renewing their intent to talk to their parents more, remembering their own lost loved ones and some even looking forward to the humor they plan to leave behind when they exit the stage themselves."
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