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Funerals provide us with a moment to mourn the passing of those we love, often filled with heightened emotions. Given the overwhelming tensions and sometimes jaw-dropping moments that arise during these events, it might almost feel like a hidden blessing that we (typically) only attend in spirit, not in body.
It’s rare, of course, that anyone gets to experience their own funeral; most are long gone by the time the service takes place. Yet, the individuals in this list each found themselves unexpectedly present at their own memorial—whether by fate or by choice.
10. Timothy Dexter
Timothy Dexter, an eccentric millionaire from the 18th century, wanted to understand how people truly felt about him. To test this, he staged a fake funeral, hid, and watched how his supposed death would impact the guests. Dexter sent out an announcement declaring his death, and his family invited people to the event.
More than 3,000 people showed up for the mock service. Dexter's family warmly welcomed the mourners, who were then ushered into a room where they sat before an opulent coffin. A man posing as a priest, whom Dexter had hired, delivered a long eulogy that Dexter himself had written. After the speech, the coffin was carried outside to the garden and buried.
The funeral was followed by a lavish feast. But during the meal, a loud noise came from the kitchen. The guests rushed to investigate and found Dexter angrily beating his wife. He was upset because he believed she hadn’t cried enough during the service.
9. Gilberto Araujo
In 2012, Jose Marcos received a call from the police informing him that his brother, Gilberto Araujo, had been killed, and his body was in the morgue. Marcos was asked to come to the station to identify the body, and upon doing so, he confirmed that it was indeed Araujo.
Araujo's family made arrangements for a funeral, and as the mourners gathered around the coffin, Araujo suddenly appeared at the door. His arrival terrified the guests, with some fainting and others fleeing in panic. A friend explained that the body in the coffin was supposed to be his, but Araujo reassured them he was alive and even offered to let them pinch him to prove it.
Araujo explained to his family that he had learned about the mix-up from an acquaintance who had told him his family was preparing his funeral. He had tried to call them to explain he was alive, but they had mistaken his attempts for a cruel joke.
The family returned the body to the police, who then identified the corpse as Genivaldo Santos Gama, a man who bore a striking resemblance to Araujo.
8. Felix ‘Bush’ Breazeale
Felix Breazeale spent five years meticulously planning his own funeral. As someone who had never married and didn’t have many friends, Breazeale was curious to hear what the preacher would say about him. His eccentric funeral in 1938 captured national attention, drawing a crowd of 8,000 people. Vendors sold sodas and hot dogs, adding to the carnival-like atmosphere of the event.
Breazeale arrived in a hearse, seated next to the driver. When he stepped out of the vehicle, the crowd swarmed him, and he had to be escorted by state troopers to get inside the funeral tent. Once inside, he sat next to his own coffin and listened as the preacher delivered his eulogy.
After the ceremony, hundreds of people lined up to greet Breazeale. He shook hands with the attendees and even signed autographs. Satisfied with the service, he remarked that it was the nicest funeral he had ever attended. Breazeale passed away five years later in 1943, and as per his wishes, no funeral was held for him.
7. Kong Channeang
Kong Channeang struggled with a mental illness. During the day, his family would chain him inside their home—a practice common in Cambodia. But in 2014, Kong managed to break free from the chains. His family searched desperately for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
Several days later, a decomposing body was discovered in a nearby river. Believing the body to be Kong’s, his family arranged a funeral for him and began preparing the body for cremation. However, their plans came to an abrupt halt when Kong unexpectedly showed up.
The sight of Kong stunned the mourners, and many of them fled in fear. They believed they were seeing a ghost. Kong’s father, among those who ran, stopped when he heard his son’s voice calling out. He approached Kong, took his hand, and reassured the family that his son was no ghost.
6. Zeng Jia
In 2013, after attending her grandfather’s funeral, Zeng Jia decided to stage her own. She arranged for a ceremony at a funeral home, inviting her friends and family. She bought flowers, rented a coffin, and even hired a photographer. To complete the illusion, she hired makeup artists to make her look like a corpse. She then lay in the coffin, clutching her beloved Hello Kitty doll.
Zeng closed her eyes and listened as her friends and family delivered eulogies. They shared their thoughts about her, and Zeng felt that their words gave her a deeper understanding of herself and how others perceived her.
Zeng spent an hour lying in the coffin, keeping her eyes shut the entire time. When she finally opened them, she felt an overwhelming shift in her perspective, nearly moved to tears. She claimed that the experience made her appreciate her life in a way she hadn’t before.
5. Frederick Ward
Frederick Ward, known as Captain Thunderbolt, was a 19th-century outlaw famously referred to as the “gentleman bushranger.” He avoided violence, always remaining courteous to his victims. For six years, Ward stole from properties and robbed mail coaches, often giving away a significant portion of his loot.
In 1870, Ward was cornered by a constable, and in a desperate bid to escape, he fired at the officer. He attempted to flee on horseback, but the horse had become too tired after running for nearly 3.2 kilometers (2 miles). Ward ran out of bullets and was shot by the constable.
Ward’s descendants question the identity of the body, as they believe the bushranger had never fired upon police officers before. They suspect that the deceased was actually Ward's uncle, Harry Ward.
Despite the confusion, Frederick Ward’s funeral took place. A mysterious woman dressed in black attended, her face obscured by a veil. She walked with a distinctly masculine stride. Ward’s family believes that it was, in fact, Ward himself, coming to pay his respects to his uncle before fleeing the country.
4. Zhang Deyang
Zhang Deyang never married and had no children, which made him anxious about his afterlife. According to Chinese culture, the deceased are believed to retain the same needs as the living. Families are expected to organize funerals and regularly visit the graves of their loved ones. Zhang feared that no one would care for him once he was gone.
In 2016, Zhang decided to host a mock funeral for himself, inviting his friends and family. Around 40 loved ones attended, along with several hundred curious onlookers from neighboring villages. Zhang was thrilled with the ceremony, enjoying the sight of mourners bowing their heads in prayer at his feet. Towards the end, he even crawled into his fake grave.
Zhang's mock funeral also included a mock wedding to a dead woman, as it is considered unlucky in Chinese culture to enter the afterlife without a spouse.
3. Noela Rukundo
Noela Rukundo, an Australian, traveled back to her native Burundi to attend her stepmother’s funeral. Afterward, she returned to her hotel room and fell asleep. She was woken by a call from her husband, Balenga Kalala, who suggested she step outside to get some fresh air as she wasn’t feeling well.
Following her husband’s advice, Rukundo went outside the hotel compound, where a man approached her. He pulled out a gun and threatened to kill her before forcing her into a car with two other men waiting inside.
The kidnappers drove her to a building and tied her to a chair. They questioned her about why her husband would want her dead, but she couldn’t believe it. One of the men called her husband and, after speaking to him, handed her the phone. She heard her husband’s voice saying, “Kill her.”
The kidnappers began discussing how to dispose of her body, at which point Rukundo fainted. When she regained consciousness, the men had finished their call. The gunman told her he wouldn’t kill her, explaining that they didn’t harm women or children. Two days later, the gunmen released her and gave her a memory card containing recorded conversations with her husband.
She came back to Australia three days later, only to find that her husband had told the community that she had died in a tragic accident. He had even organized a funeral for her. She approached her husband as the ceremony neared its end. When he saw her, he froze in fear, slowly walked toward her, and upon reaching her, touched her shoulder before jumping back in shock. He began screaming, “I’m sorry for everything.”
Rukundo immediately called the police, and her husband confessed to his crime. He admitted he had planned to kill her because he believed she wanted to leave him for another man, an accusation she denied. He was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison.
2. Ademir Jorge Goncalves
In 2009, several relatives of Ademir Goncalves identified a badly disfigured body as his after a car crash. The body’s clothing matched what Goncalves had been wearing. His family began making arrangements for his funeral, which was scheduled for the following day.
Goncalves’s body was placed in a coffin. His family members paid their respects by walking by the casket. Goncalves’s mother stared at the body for a long time, unable to believe that the deceased person was her son.
She was right; the body was not her son’s. He had spent the night at a truck stop, chatting with friends over drinks. He had no idea his family believed he was dead. Goncalves didn’t learn about his own funeral until it was underway. He hurried to the event and announced that he was alive. His sudden appearance shocked his relatives, and some of them even tried to leap out of a window in fright.
1. Dragan And Dragica Maric
In 2016, Dragan and Dragica Maric decided to hold their own premature funeral. The couple, who had no children, wished to arrange a proper funeral for themselves while they were still alive. They didn’t want their loved ones to bear the financial burden of their funerals after their passing.
The couple purchased and personally raised their own tombstones, then sent out invitations to their funeral. Approximately 200 people attended. Dragan delivered a speech recounting the couple’s life full of love, and together, they bid farewell to their family and friends.
Following the ceremony, the guests gathered for a traditional post-burial meal at a local restaurant. The Marics had arranged for a live band, and they treated their guests to food and drinks. The event turned into an all-night celebration filled with music.
The Marics viewed their funeral as a success: Their minds and spirits were at peace, and they were ready to embrace death whenever it arrives.
