Weekly News 5/29/2015: Police Officer Kerrie Orozco Laid to Rest

This week, thousands said goodbye to Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco, who was tragically killed in the line of duty. Blues Legend B.B. King was also laid to rest. There was odd news this week as a man awakens on his way to the morgue, and scientists find evidence of a 435,000 murder.

New on the Digital Dying Blog this week:

Celebrity Death Hoaxes Just Keep Coming

Weekly News: 5/29/2015

What It’s Like to Be a Funeral Director

5/28/2015–Esquire: Before he was writing about undertakers with magical powers, Jeremy Massey was one himself—well, without the ability to hypnotize vicious dogs. The son of a second-generation undertaker, Massey began accompanying his father for removals at the age of 13, and by 18 was making arrangements. Having had enough by age 24, he quit the family firm to pursue his real passion: writing fantastic screenplays. Here, in his own words, the Melbourne-based author, whose comical debut novel, The Last Four Days of Paddy Buckley (Penguin), is loosely based on his time with his father, recalls what it was like growing up among corpses, cremation, and angry Irish mourners… Read the full story

Thousands Attend Funeral Service for Omaha Officer Killed in Line of Duty

May 27, 2015–nbcneb.com:  Thousands gathered Tuesday in Omaha to honor the life of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco, who was killed in the line of duty. The funeral began at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Catholic Church at Creighton University with traditional hymns and a remembrance of Orozco’s baptism. Several thousand others — many of whom were officers — sat in the CenturyLink Center watching a video feed of the funeral… Read the full story

>>Related: Video: Tribute shown during Officer Kerrie Orozco’s funeral

Scientists Discover Evidence Of A 435,000-Year-Old Murder

5/27/2015–NPR: Two episodes of “localized blunt force trauma” to the skull with “an intention to kill.” 3-D imaging to re-create the injuries. Bodies dropped down a 43-foot-deep vertical shaft into a mass grave. A murder case — more than 435,000 years old. It’s all detailed in a study in the journal PLOS One called “Lethal Interpersonal Violence in the Middle Pleistocene,” and its authors say it’s evidence of one of the earliest murders on record… Read the full story

103-Year-Old Twins Die Within Weeks of Each Other

May 27, 2015–abc.go.com:  Twin sisters Florence Davies and Glenys Thomas, both 103, have died within weeks of each other at their home care center in the United Kingdom. “It was a huge privilege for all of us at Abermill to care for two such wonderful ladies,” said Christine Tipper, Abermill Care Home’s deputy manager. “They both made such a positive impact on the life at the home and will be hugely missed by all of us here and by their family and friends… Read the full story

BB King funeral: Thousands line streets of Memphis as fans say goodbye to blues legend

May 27, 2015–mirror.co.uk: Thousands of fans followed a Dixieland jazz band leading the black hearse of blues star BB King through the streets of Memphis as fans said goodbye to the icon. The processional made its way down the city’s Beale Street – synonymous with the blues – and paused next to BB King’s Blues Club before turning on to BB King Blues Highway… Read the full story

Col. Kenneth Trzepkowski, chief of palliative care at Madigan Army Medical Center, unfolds one of the handmade quilts donated to the hospital for the palliative care patients. Patricia Murphy/KUOW

A Special Focus On Caring For Vets At The End Of Their Lives

May 26, 2015–NPR: Caring for the nation’s veterans at the end of their lives can be a complex task. Service members — especially combat veterans — can struggle with guilt, abandonment and regret. The Army and the Department of Veterans Affairs are working to help them. At one Army hospital south of Seattle, its mission is to make those last days meaningful… Read the full story

What is dying like? New info published by the NHS

May 26, 2015–Herald Scotland: Shallow or rattly breathing, swelling hands and sleepiness are among the changes described in the official NHS Scotland guidance, which is being promoted in the belief that having some idea of what to expect in the last days and hours of a person’s life can be reassuring. The advice has been issued as a survey revealed just 14 per cent of Scots have asked a family member about their end of life wishes… Read the full story

Author Phyllis Tickle Faces Death As She Enjoyed Life: ‘The Dying Is My Next Career’

May 26, 2015–huffingtonpost.com:  Over the past generation, no one has written more deeply and spoken more widely about the contours of American faith and spirituality than Phyllis Tickle. And now, at 81, she’s working on her final chapter: her own. On Jan. 2, the very day her husband, Sam, succumbed to a long and debilitating illness, Tickle found herself flat on her back with a high fever, “as sick as I’ve ever been” and racked by “the cough from hell… Read the full story

Man Pronounced Dead, about to be moved to Morgue wakes up and is recovering in the hospital

May 24, 2015–The Epic Times: A Milwaukee County medical examiner’s report says a 46-year-old man was pronounced dead after collapsing at his Milwaukee apartment, but started moving his limbs as he was about to be taken to the morgue… Read the full story

Americans gave their lives to defeat the Nazis. The Dutch have never forgotten.

May 24, 2015–The Washington Post: They haven’t forgotten. For 70 years, the Dutch have come to a verdant U.S. cemetery outside this small village to care for the graves of Americans killed in World War II. On Sunday, they came again, bearing Memorial Day bouquets for men and women they never knew, but whose 8,300 headstones the people of the Netherlands have adopted as their own… Read the full story

>>Related story: Americans Look to thank Dutch for tending to WWII graves — 5/27/2015

By MarEx 2015-05-23 19:56:32

Honoring our Shipmates: The Heritage of the Military Funeral and Burial at Sea

May 23, 2015–The Maritime Executive: Honoring the deceased is a centuries-old practice that includes many traditions across cultures. The customs and traditions behind military funerals and burial at sea date as far back as ancient Greece and Rome. In the Navy’s culture, as we give the final honor to our shipmates, we employ traditions that not only signify the service of the deceased, but also display our commitment to their legacy... Read the full story

Near-death experiences: what it feels like to die

May 22, 2015–The Independent: Near-death experiences (NDEs) can agitate and excite in equal measure. Skeptics argue, often fiercely, that they result from nothing more than brain activity, or psychological constructions of a dying brain. Yet, people who have NDEs unanimously contest to the realness of the NDE… Read the full story