Lockwood woman’s colourful funeral request – including a jester to walk in front of hearse
Funeral director Debbie Ingham dressed as a jester at the funeral of Margaret Harper
IT WAS a fitting end to a colourful life.
Lockwood grandmother Margaret Harper had only one dying wish – that no-one wore black to her funeral.
Friends and family rallied around this week to dress as brightly as possible to celebrate the 81-year-old’s life.
And funeral director and family friend Deborah Ingham stuck to her promise by leading the cortege dressed as jester.
The funeral procession turned heads in Lockwood as it slowly made its way towards Huddersfield crematorium.
Mourners then gathered at Lockwood Baptist Church – where Margaret was a member and ran the Sunday school for many years – for a celebration of her life.
Her daughter Geri Harper, 55, said: “There was a big cheer and laughter when everyone saw the procession. Someone even said ‘only at Margaret Harper’s funeral could they turn up and everyone bursts into laughter.’
“That is what she would have wanted.
“Debbie is a friend of the family and used to live next door to us when she was a kid.
“When she became a funeral director, my mum would tell her there was no way she would wear black to her funeral.
“She was even going to knit Debbie a poncho but never got around to it.
“That was her only request at her funeral, that everyone would wear bright clothes.”
Read more about Deborah Ingham here
Posted by Evelyn
Thanks for posting this Evelyn. I was talking about this sort of thing on Friday. We had all been asked to wear bright colours – the bearers and funeral director wore pink ties. The fd told me he had once been asked to dress as a clown. He didn’t. But the one outfit request the bearers told me they had found most troublesome was ‘very casual dress’. When they’re used to dressing smartly it goes against the grain to wear trainers rather than polished black shoes.