Casseroles made and missed: Why so many obituaries honor this treasured dish

With her Department 56 Christmas village and mistletoe doilies in place, Lynda Finch spent last Christmas Eve cooking a smorgasbord for her family to graze on the next day. That night, with green bean salad, mashed potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, bacon-wrapped hors d’oeuvres and chile relleno casserole prepped and tucked into the refrigerator, Finch went to bed and died in her sleep at age 73.

Nancy Lee Hixon, asks that you 'please pray for the Constitution of the United States'

In addition to being a teetotaling mother and an indifferent housekeeper, she was a board certified naturopath specializing in poisonous and medicinal plants; but she would like to point out, posthumously, that although it did occur to her, she never spiked anyone's tea.

Renay Mandel Corren, 84, leaves her favorite son, the gay one who writes catty obituaries

A plus-sized Jewish lady redneck died in El Paso on Saturday. Of itself hardly news, or good news if you're the type that subscribes to the notion that anybody not named you dying in El Paso, Texas is good news. In which case have I got news for you: the bawdy, fertile, redheaded matriarch of a sprawling Jewish-Mexican-Redneck American family has kicked it.

The New Yorker's Afterword: 'It is the ending that makes the story'

We read birth announcements, wedding notices, and obituaries for the same reason: they each offer a tidy narrative. Best of all, they are stories buoyed by their elemental importance rather than the prominence of the characters. You do not have to argue the news value of an obituary—it is the ending that makes the story.

Dr. Peter Charles Ross, 98, remediated dental flaws

No obituary can fully convey the breadth and depth of his long life. It would take a full-length movie, starring someone like Gregory Peck or Sean Connery (dark, lean, ruggedly good looking, stern when needed, a winning smile when not). The trailer would show him show-jumping horses; flying airplanes; racing his 38-foot sloop, Tynaje, and winning; remediating dental flaws and damage as his day job; and in the evening, being the greatest dad ever, demanding but fair and caring.

Frances Frumin Weiner, 77; now, that's an obit!

She also leaves behind three quarts of expired sour cream, fourteen pairs of activity-specific sneakers, and the Sunday New York Times opened and folded to the crossword puzzle.

Thomas Lee Flanigan, 48, rode off ridden off into the glorious sunset

Well, that's it. I have completed my shift as the great American cliché.