William “Freddie” McCullough was never one to conform to expectations. Neither did his obituary.
“Freddie loved deep fried Southern food covered in Cane Syrup, fishing at Santee Cooper Lake, Little Debbie Cakes, Two and a Half Men, beautiful women, Reese’s Cups and Jim Beam,” the obituary reads. “Not necessarily in that order.”
Son Mark McCullough wrote the death notice that first appeared in the Savannah Morning News and on savannahnow.com on Saturday. By Monday it had gone viral with more than 150,000 views, as of 6 p.m., on Savannahnow.com and multiple re-postings around the Internet.
A filmmaker, writer, director and producer, the younger McCullough prepared himself to write about his dad by reading 50 or so obituaries, most of them listing schools attended, awards received and illnesses battled. They served as a lesson in what not to write.
“Our dad was a unique and special guy,” said McCullough, the oldest of Freddie’s six kids. “I wanted to do things differently to honor him with an obit that fit him.”
Judging by the responses — more than 200 comments from family, friends and strangers in the online guest book — he did just that.
“This is the best obituary I’ve ever read,” wrote Melinda McCullough Rushing, a cousin. “He is smiling down on this one.”
McCullough, who recently moved back to the Savannah area from Los Angeles, is executive producer for Fort Argyle Films. He’s developing a TV show based on his dad’s “life’s adventures,” but is dismissive of praise he’s received for writing about his father.
“I can’t take credit,” he said. “I just wrote down what happened.”
Like this passage:
“Freddie adored the ladies. And they adored him,” the obituary states. “There isn’t enough space here to list all of the women from Freddie’s past. There isn’t enough space in the Bloomingdale phone book … He attracted more women than a shoe sale at Macy’s. He got married when he was 18 but it didn’t last. Freddie was no quitter, however, so he gave it a shot two more times.”
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