[Dixielandjazz] OKOM--She had a jazz band for funeral

[Norman Vickers]

To:  Listmates
From:  Vickers, Pensacola.

Especially for the Brits—isn’t everyone from England a Londoner—Just like
every American is a New Yorker  ?  (smile) From recent British press.

OKOM connection—she had a jazz band for a funeral.



Pensioner shocked to death in garden pond
By Diana Pilkington
A pensioner who was found dead in her electrified fishpond had been chasing
a frog that hounded a shrine to her late husband, her daughter has said.
On May 7 Sheila Russell, 72, fell into the pond in Merton Park, south
London, next to where she kept an urn containing her husband's ashes, and
received a shock from the electric pump.
Her daughter Julie Russell suspects she slipped after pursuing a frog that
had been causing a nuisance for weeks.
continued...

Julie, 44, said: "She wanted to keep the pond perfect for dad. She was
neurotic about that pond."
Spotting Mrs Russell, who had a weak heart, floating on top of the water,
neighbours alerted her family.
Unable to pull her out because of the current in her body, Mrs Russell's son
Derrick plunged into the water to rescue his mother, receiving an electric
shock and finding himself stuck in the pond in the process.
Torn between tending to her mother and helping her brother out, sister Anita
had to switch off the electrics before Derrick could get out of the water.
The family were taken to St George's Hospital. Although Anita was not badly
hurt, metal plates left in Derrick's back from a previous operation caused
the elctricity to pump round his body for hours later."
Julie said: "It's the sort of thing you only hear about. It's like something
out of Agatha Christie. My sister felt the electricity in her arms and said
it was like a horror film."
She added: "God spared my brother and sister. For that I'm pleased."
With six children, 19 grandchildren and six great grandchildren, Julie
described her mother as "a mum to many and a friend to everybody".
A committed housewife, Mrs Russell's door was always open to those who
needed her.
"She took in anybody and everybody that needed to go in. She would give up
her last meal."
A 200-strong crowd gathered at Mrs Russell's funeral last Wednesday. Led by
a horse and carriage and a jazz band, the procession made its way from her
home in Whatley Avenue, Merton Park, to Haynt Walk, Raynes Park.
Julie said: "The priest said he'd never seen so many people. It was a
celebration of my mother's life. Everyone came in bright colours. We want to
thank everyone who sent flowers and condolences. It showed how loved she
was."
It is not clear exactly how Mrs Russell died. An inquest will be held on
July 6.
7:52am Tuesday 
        Not to be outdone—in Texas some months ago, Baptist preacher was
baptizing a convert ( they do it by total immersion)  The preacher standing
in the pool with the baptisee, reached out to adjust the microphone and was
electrocuted.  Presumably in Baptist seminaries world-wide they will begin
teaching seminarians the fundamentals of electricity!  Presumably there was
no jazz band at his funeral!