‘Life of the party’ at KY trailer park memorialized in viral obituary written by son
When his dad died Thursday, Rocky Loveless said he had no idea how to write an obituary for the “goofy” and “hilarious” Pulaski County man who was “the life of the party” at the trailer park.
Then, sitting in a gravel parking lot next to his Granny’s house, Rocky Loveless started writing about the good memories he had of James “Jamie” Loveless, 60, who died after an illness. In just 10 minutes, it was all on paper.
The result was an obituary that by Tuesday morning had received more than 700,000 page views on the Pulaski Funeral Home website, was widely shared on social media and led people from Science Hill to Australia to tell Loveless it was the best obituary they ever read.
The obituary said, in part:
“On many occasions in life, James was seen in his back yard at the trailer park during the early hours of the morning, hammering beers, standing over country-style ribs, and yelling, ‘It’s got a head like a cat on it!,’ while nearby neighbors would peek out their windows bearing looks of disgust and amazement, as his party guests were slurring remarks about needing to speed up his cooking style. ‘We’ve been here since 5 o’clock,’ they would say. ‘I’ve got work in the morning.’
“We don’t know if he was married, but he definitely was a lady’s man. There was Kathy, Mary Lou, Tammy, Debra, Carrie, Tina, etc., etc. ‘It’s the bones,’ he told us as he proudly pointed to his skinny, pasty-white legs. ‘Women love a good shin.’ We think he might even have some females waiting for him on the other side.
“Jamie loved his family more than anything else in the world... except ice-cold Busch, room-temperature Busch, T-bones, New York strip, prime rib, shrimp, swimming, poker, hatch-back Mustang GTs, tank-tops, Kentucky Men’s basketball, and his personal copy of Eddie Murphy’s Raw.”
The obituary described Jamie Loveless as a gluttonous eater of fried foods and snack cakes, as well as the occasional chili cheese dog. It said in addition to his family, he left behind “a pair of old boxers which have ‘Buttweiser the King of Rears’ printed on the design.”
From the time Jamie Loveless’ obituary was posted on Thursday until Tuesday morning, it received 700,853 page views on the Pulaski Funeral Home’s website.
Michelle Godbey, one of the funeral home directors, said a typical obituary receives 1,500 page views.
About 400 people wrote expressions of sympathy online. Many said they did not know Jamie Loveless, but would have loved to drink a cold beer with him.
“All of those things he said about his dad ... are things that we can all identify with,” said Godbey.
She thinks that’s why the obituary resonated with so many people.
Rocky Loveless, 39, lives in Arizona, and his twin brother, Rodney Loveless, lives in Pulaski County. Rocky Loveless said there is one thing in the obituary that isn’t true. It says his father will be “moderately” missed.
“I lived across the country from him and I missed him every day,” Rocky Loveless, a former teacher, said Sunday.
The family held a small memorial service Saturday. They expect that will evolve into an annual event, open to anyone who wants to come.
“I feel like there’s a little bit of Jamie Loveless in everybody,” said Rocky Loveless. “Everybody wants to cut loose and yell at the top of their lungs when they’re having a good time.”
