When it comes to material possessions, the old proverb stating “you can’t take it with you” always holds true. The sons of a Detroit car wash owner decided to pay tribute to their generous father by showering attendees of his funeral on Monday with rose petals and cold hard cash dropped from a helicopter. The family says they did inform the Detroit Police Department about the elaborate gesture, however, the police claim that they didn’t know that currency was being tossed from the hovering chopper.
Darrell Thomas died on June 15, and his family decided to follow his wishes to the letter. The 58-year-old, a licensed NHRA drag racer, owned Showroom Shine Express in Detroit’s Eastside. His niece, Crystal Perry, posted on Facebook that the family shut down the stretch of Gratiot Avenue in front of the car wash and dropped $5,000 over the street for the community to collect during a block party celebrating Thomas’ life. Perry told the Detroit Free Press, “This was a final expression of love from him to the community because he was a giver. Yesterday was simply a farewell tribute to an Eastside legend.” The video from the drop is stunning as the cloud of bill descended to the pavement like a sudden flurry of snow.
The police won’t take action for the money drop
As if the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t already have enough on its plate, the agency is investigating the money drop. I have never operated a helicopter company, but I don’t think there’s any clearance available for dropping stuff over a public road. The Detroit Police Department is surprisingly on the opposite side of the issue, deciding not to investigate or take further action. I can’t imagine that this will encourage others to suddenly start dumping cash over city streets as a part of their funerals.
Over-the-top funeral arrangements don’t always go to plan. A funeral rocket crashed last week while returning the “ashes and DNA” of 166 people from orbit. Typically, space-funeral provider Celestis will have the cremated remains of your loved one launched from California into orbit before safely returning to Earth. However, on this occasion, the recovery capsule’s parachute failed. The remains plunged into the Pacific Ocean. I’ll just take a modest cemetery plot.
