Sample Obituary

If you've been reading my thoughts on how to handle the end of life, you probably gathered that I don't
believe we need to stick with too many rules. Here is an obituary that broke the rules. It certainly
was personal to those who knew Jim Schinneller and made others like myself wish they had known him.

Here is an article from AP that explains:

The sample below is a bit more creative than most and is interesting to read as well as giving a feel for Clarence McCandless's life.

Obituary North: Third-generation family farmer always busy on 400-acre spread
Sunday, November 14, 2004

By Alisha Hipwell

Clarence B. McCandless hated to repair machinery, but he loved just about everything else about farming -- especially riding the tractor.

"I don't think he would ever have been satisfied if he'd had to give it up altogether, he'd been farming so long," said his wife, Donna McCandless.

In Butler County, where residential and commercial development is quickly replacing the family farm, Mr. McCandless' farm in Center remains a link to the area's agricultural heritage.

Mr. McCandless, the third generation of his family to farm the same land and a member of the Butler County Farm Bureau, died Nov. 5 of complications from heart disease and diabetes at the farm. He was 73.

Mr. McCandless was born in 1931 on the farm his grandfather started.

His father, Blair McCandless, was disabled by arthritis, so Mr. McCandless learned to farm from his uncle, the late Stanley McCandless, who lived with the family. He first got on a tractor at age 7 and juggled his farm chores with his schooling.

Named the McCandless Potato Farm, the 400-acre spread, situated half in Center and half in Franklin, supplied potatoes to potato chip companies such as Troyer Farms and Frito-Lay.

The family left that business about a decade ago when the market for potatoes fell, but Mr. McCandless continued to raise beef cattle, hay, corn and oats.

"There was always something to do. There was no retirement even in the winter time," his wife said.

When Mr. McCandless did take a break from the rigors of the farm, he enjoyed attending NASCAR races with his wife.

In 1996, the family's farm was named a Century Farm by Butler County and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, a recognition given to farms owned and operated by the same family for more than 100 consecutive years.

Donna McCandless said their son, Lee McCandless, of Center, plans to take over, ensuring that a fourth generation of the family will work the land.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. McCandless is survived by three other sons, David McCandless, of the Hilliards section of Washington, Butler County, Ronny McCandless, of Fawn Grove, York County, and Robert McCandless, of Franklin, Butler County; a daughter, Darla Marks, also of Franklin; a brother, Darrell McCandless, also of Franklin; a sister, Helen Blanche Tribby, of Mesa, Ariz.; and 14 grandchildren.

A funeral was held Wednesday in Edward L. Raisley Funeral Home in Prospect. Interment was in Unionville Cemetery.

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