The post you are reporting:
I stumbled across this on myspace (by Lost and found Ohio.)
A smoker's final wish was fulfilled when his hearse was paraded through the streets bearing the sign Smoking Killed Me. Dick Whittamore's last request was that the stark message be displayed alongside his coffin and by his gravestone as a warning to others. The signs, printed in the same typeface as the health warnings on a cigarette packet, read Smoking Killed Me, Albert (Dick) Whittamore.
Passersby stopped to watch the unusual sight as the hearse travelled through the high street in Dover, Kent, where he lived. The former assistant theatre manager from Dover, Kent, suffered badly from emphysema, a lung disease caused by the toxins in cigarette smoke. He died aged 85 on February 16 in William Harvey Hospital in Ashford following a heart attack. He blamed his ill health on his addiction to tobacco in his youth.
Funeral director Paul Sullivan, 36, of Sullivan and Son undertakers in Dover, said the request in Mr Whittamore's will was an 'unusual one'. He said: 'He gave specific instructions in his will. Apparently he was a heavy smoker in his youth and he suffered from emphysema for several years, making his breathing very difficult.
'His will said he wanted to warn smokers what can happen if you continue the habit.
'We put the boards one each side of the coffin and one behind. His gravestone is going to have a traditional message on it, but we are to leave one of the printed boards saying "Smoking Killed Me" by the grave for one week. 'He wanted to do his bit to get the message across to people about the health problems which smoking can cause.' Mr Sullivan said Mr Whittamore, who was known as 'Dick' and had lived in Dover since he was 10, ran a printing shop for almost 50 years, never married and had no children. He was adopted and was buried alongside his adoptive mother. Emphysema is caused by cigarette smoking and it destroys the lung tissues and causes shortness of breath. Mr Sullivan added:' It is a very graphic image to have the sign by the coffin. 'I have never been asked to put signs in the hearse before, it is very unusual.'
The hearse went from Mr Whittamore's house through the streets, past the site of the old Royal Hippodrome Theatre where he was assistant manager and on to the cemetery. His friend, journalist Terry Sutton, 80, said: 'Dick was a great publicist - he loved the days when he worked at the Hippodrome Theatre.'He started as an errand boy before the war and during the war he was promoted to assistant manager.
Mr Whittamore's coffin lies in his grave at St Mary's Cemetery in Dover, Kent, alongside the sign 'He knew all the stars who came to the theatre before it was destroyed by enemy bombing during WW2. 'He loved to see the striptease artists there. In later years I would see him through the town in his mobility wheelchair and he was always very proud to have his age on a badge on his chest. 'He was a real character. He was a heavy smoker in his younger days so he asked his solicitors to make it public - he was doing this to persuade young people not to take up the habit. 'Although in an earlier will, he suggested strippergram girls should be at the graveside - but this was dropped.' A couple of dozen friends attended the funeral which was held at St Mary's Cemetery in Dover.
