Posted on 01/29/2013 11:12:39 AM PST by nickcarraway
David S. Kime Jr., 88, of West York, enjoyed eating fast food daily. His family honored him Saturday with a trip to the Burger King drive-through before he was buried.
On the way to his final resting place Saturday, David S. Kime Jr.'s loved ones took a spin through the Burger King drive-through on the corner of Route 30 and Pennsylvania Avenue for one last WHOPPER JR.
The 88-year-old West York man died Jan. 20 at York Hospital.
"He always lived by his own rules," said Linda Phiel, one of Kime's three daughters. "His version of eating healthy was the lettuce on the WHOPPER JR." As a tribute to a man who loved fast food, Phiel's family stopped for some burgers on the way to the cemetery. Mourners followed the hearse carrying Kime's flag-draped casket through the drive-thru. Each got a WHOPPER JR. The sandwich was among Kime's favorites.
"He liked his WHOPPER JRs.," said Margaret Hess, head manager of the Manchester Township Burger King. She and her staff prepared 40 of the sandwiches for the funeral procession.
"They also wanted one for the deceased," Hess said. Phiel said the display wasn't a joke, rather a happy way of honoring her father and the things that brought him joy.
"All of us are going to be in this position," she said. "And I think there's a certain group who think we should be crying. But on the other hand, he lived a wonderful life and on his own terms."
Phiel said her father did what he wanted and ate what he wanted since her mother, Grace, died about 25 years ago. "My mother kind of kept him in check," Phiel said. "When she died, for a while, he would eat with us. But he considered us health freaks because we ate things that were green, like broccoli."
Kime was borderline diabetic for years and had a pacemaker. Phiel told him a healthy diet would help him live longer.
"He would say, 'I won't live longer, it will just seem like it because I'll be more miserable faster,'" Phiel said.
Her father wasn't a big man, only about 5 feet tall, but he could eat.
"He was not prejudiced," Phiel said. "He would go to any fast food place anyone invited him to."
He liked tacos, pizza, hamburgers, subs and hot dogs. "He would take his Cadillac, which he loved, and drive up to Hanover and have a gut-buster," Phiel said, referring to hot dogs. "If it wasn't the kind of day to drive out to Hanover, he would drive out to Wiener World on Memory Lane."
After a while, Phiel gave up lecturing her father. "When you're 88 years old, I guess you've earned the right to do what you want to do," she said.
Though the tribute to her father was light-hearted, it was hard to say goodbye.
When Phiel placed the WHOPPER JR. atop the spray of lilies and roses on her father's casket, she started
But knowing her father lived a full life gives her solace.
"I think his biggest fear was that he not be able to live as he chose," she said. "I'm so grateful he never had to."
A Burger King first
After working for Burger King for 34 years, Margaret Hess saw something new Saturday: a funeral procession at her drive-through.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Hess, the head manager of the Manchester Township Burger King.
Heffner Funeral Chapel & Crematory made arrangements in advance to bring the procession through.
The idea was to honor David S. Kime Jr., a World War II veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. The 88-year-old West York man loved to eat fast food, and dined at various places every week. He died Jan. 20 at York Hospital from heart complications.
Hess said she didn't know Kime by name, but she knew his face and remembered he ordered WHOPPER JRs.
"It's nice to know he was a loyal customer up until the end -- the very end," Hess said.
That’s just bizarre- and creepy.
The vast majority of our neighbors can only be classified as “ignantmufukahs”.
I don’t think so.
They did something he loved to do - and took him to a place he loved while he was alive.
Bizarre and creepy would have been if they took the casket inside, opened it up and proped it up in the corner while they ate lunch.
I guess you could say he “had it his way”...
Ate fast food and lived to 88! The health nuts can Go To Hell!
Good for them
The idea was to honor David S. Kime Jr., a World War II veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. The 88-year-old West York man loved to eat fast food, and dined at various places every week.
___
We lost another one. Call it creapy or whatever but, a WWII vet that took a hit can eat and live/die anyway he wants.
Ghoulish.
” That’s just bizarre- and creepy.”
To each his own. When I die if you show up at the right bar the drinks are on me.
Ghoulish? How so?
my best friend died in ‘09 - he was 39 and an accomplished engineer.....while an extremely healthy and athletic guy, he was known for Mountain Dew and Reese Peanut butter cups for a morning sugar jolt.....when his funeral service concluded, about 800 friends and relatives met in the Hall and had a Mountain Dew and Cups in remembrance.
I miss him dearly....in typical engineer fashion, he was book smart - loved Corvairs for their uniqueness and had a quad that he could just not fix so it ran smoothly - refusing my help and prideful in doing it himself, I honored that...when the time came for his wife to sell it - she asked me to look at it - it was a 10 second turn of the carb air screw.....I had to laugh to myself....I pictured him doing a homer simpson DOH in heaven LOL
In all seriousness, I think that photo should win the Pulitzer Prize.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.