A local man who recently died decided to write his own obituary, and you won’t believe what it says.
“I am Donald Lee Ivy and apparently I have passed away.”
Right away, you know this isn’t an ordinary death notice. Published in Jacksonville’s newspaper Tuesday morning, Mr. Ivy appears to have gone the unconventional route in letting people know a little more about him before leaving this world.
Ivy’s obit goes on to say, “I left behind the love of my life, Deborah (Brown) Ivy, and for that, I am so sorry. I wanted to stay with her but she was afraid the smell of a dead body would get to be too bad.”
He adds humorous anecdotes of his childhood memories and his job working for Caterpillar in Texas. He says, “when all the caterpillars turned to butterflies, I moved to Houston with family and then on to Illinois,” where he met his wife of more than 30 years.
The obituary concludes, “You know where I will be, down at the best fishin’ hole with my Peanut beside me.”
Donald Lee Ivy was 77 years old. A celebration of life will be at 1 p-m on Thursday at Nichols Park in Jacksonville.