A son’s hilarious eulogy for his late father has gone viral.
Charles Boehm, 41, wrote the scathing, sarcastic tribute last week, days after the death of 74-year-old Robert Adolph Boehm.
The anecdotes are sometimes offensive and paint a picture of a cranky old truck driver who died swearing in his apartment in Clarendon, Texas on October 6.
From there the 585-word commemoration continues, with all the tact of a full court press. It contains accusations of cowardice, draft avoidance and talentlessness, brought together in a surprisingly heartwarming story that only a son can provide.
Days later, it has captured thousands of eyes, most of whom were hooked after the first of many jabs designed to mock the late father. Boehm also took time to speak with DailyMail.com, where he remembered his father just as mercilessly.
Charles Boehm, 41, wrote the scathing, sarcastic tribute last week, days after the death of 74-year-old Robert Adolph Boehm.
Robert is seen here with his late wife Dianne, daughter-in-law Kim and son Charles during better days.
“Robert Adolph Boehm, in keeping with his lifelong commitment to his own personal style of decorum, muttered his final unintelligible and probably unnecessary curse on October 6, 2024,” Boehm begins saying.
‘[This came] moments before he tripped backwards on ‘some stupid thing’ and hit his head on the ground,” he added.
Boehm delves into the details of his father’s life, including how he impregnated and married his mother Dianne as a teenager before eventually becoming a full-time truck driver.
This earned him an exemption from the draft for the Vietnam War – a point Boehm made clear when he made it his mission to prepare a merciless roast.
He wrote how, after the birth of his older brother and two sisters, ‘possibly concerned about the impending conflict in Grenada’, Robert fathered a fourth child: himself.
“This lack of military service was probably for the best, because when he took up photography as a hobby in his later years, he managed to blow not one, but two holes in the dashboard of his own car on two separate occasions,” writes Boehm. .
‘[This] Sadly, he didn’t even startle, let alone surprise, his dear wife Dianne, who was used to such events in his presence and might have been safer in the jungles of Vietnam all along.”
The native Texan, who said he was inspired by an equally brutal obituary he saw in 2019, then recalled Robert’s exploits as a young father “while the world was in conflict elsewhere,” including learning how to roof and maintain road signs.
Boehm told the Washington Post that the tribute was made in jest and that his father worked for the community after becoming beside himself following the death of his wife in February.
Robert then embarked on a career as a semi-professional truck driver – an occupation that Boehm claims is “not to be confused with a professional semi-truck driver.”
During this life of peace, “Robert’s attention drifted somewhat counterintuitively toward weapons of war,” Boehm recalled, writing how his father took up a hobby: collecting weapons used in conflict throughout history.
“There are so many examples of these regular hobby items lying around his small apartment in Clarendon, Texas, that one of them could very well be the item referenced in his aforementioned eloquent final epitaph,” he then jokes.
‘He also had a penchant for fashion and was often seen around town wearing the latest trend in homemade leather moccasins, a wide collection of unconventional hats and noticeably mismatched shirts and trousers.’
Boehm further recalls how his father also had a wide selection of harmonicas on hand.
These, however, were “not for personal play,” the grieving man wrote — but instead to “encourage his beloved dogs to howl continually at odd hours of the night to entertain his many neighbors.”
Other times, he gave the portable instruments to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren — “to play loudly on long car rides with their parents,” Boehm recalls ruefully.
The piece then turns somewhat serious, pointing out how Robert’s wife of more than half a century – his mother – died last February.
“We’ve all done our best to enjoy Robert’s antics so far, but he’s God’s problem now,” Boehm concluded, drawing attention to the retired truck driver’s checkered legacy.
However, the moment is only fleeting, with Boehm coming to categorize the event as “God finally shows.”[ing]mercy” – by “getting her the hell out.” [their house] for some well deserved peace and quiet.’
This left Robert without Dianne to happily entertain himself, his son writes, describing how the retired truck driver “shifted his creative focus to the entertainment of you, the fine townspeople of Clarendon.
“If you haven’t met Robert in the last eight months or seen his road show, you probably would have done so quickly,” he says of his father’s more recent activities.
“We’ve all done our best to enjoy Robert’s antics so far, but he’s God’s problem now.”
A funeral was held by the family in Amarillo on Monday, a few days after the obituary – Boehm’s first – went live.
Since then, countless responses have poured in, all singing songs of praise.
The story was subsequently picked up by the Washington Postwho Boehm went to interview.
There too, a parade of positive comments poured in – one of which reminded him of his old man, he told DailyMail.com.
“If I want any of this to amount to anything, I have to say it’s for people around the world to support the mental health of people in small rural towns,” Boehm said. “They go there to retire, and when they get old their children scatter and they end up alone. Many people slip through the cracks
“One person said, ‘laugh and the world will laugh with you,’” he said in an interview with the newspaper on Wednesday, hours after the Post piece was published.
“My dad said the same thing, but followed up with ‘fart and you’re alone’.”
He quickly added, “But in all seriousness, I am amazed and humbled that what should have been a light-hearted than-you and apology letter to the small community there in Clarendon has led to so many people remembering my father and for worry him. ‘
“When my mother died earlier this year, my father began to be forgotten in many ways,” he added
“That was my biggest fear and it would have been my biggest regret.
‘Thanks to the social media community and journalists like you and Cathy Free [the Post piece’s writer]What would have been a whispered wail in the void is instead a scream in the wind.
“He wasn’t perfect, but he deserved this kind of memory.”
Telling the post how his father had become beside himself after being without his wife for so many years, he added: “I would have to say that if I want anything to come out of all this, it’s to people all over the world is about the mental health of people in small rural towns.
“They go there to retire, and when they get old their children scatter and they end up alone. Many people slip through the cracks.’
He concluded, “We have to take care of them.”