“If people aren’t laughing during my memorial, you’ve done it wrong,” my father told us for years, long before his death. “Funerals are inherently sad; for mine, cut the treacle a bit with humor.” He ...

Videos of the author's father were shown throughout his service, like this one from the author’s wedding reception in 2004. “If people aren’t laughing during my memorial, you’ve done it wrong,” my ...