A former miner who kept asking his family to ram him into a dump truck after he died has had his last wish come true.
When Dave Newton, 81, began pre-planning his funeral about 12 years ago, he started joking that he wanted his casket to be driven in.
When he passed away suddenly on March 20 this year, his family decided it was “the only appropriate thing” to transport his coffin in a dump truck.
Son-in-law Phil Cooper, 56, said it was a joke at first, but then the father-of-three “started saying it over and over again”.
Phil said: “Dave had decided what he wanted his funeral to be and he chose a funeral director whose company also had a construction business.
“He had done some work in the bungalow and used to run tipper trucks.
“When he was deciding which car to take to the funeral, he said he could ram into a dump truck and the dump truck ended up ramming him.
“He mentioned it many times and even told the undertaker about it.
“It was only fitting that we made sure that happened.”
Phil said he would have wanted a dump truck to be used for the funeral as Dave, a former miner, was the “life and soul of those involved”.
“He was a very genuine man, a very loyal man. He passed away the day before his 60th wedding anniversary to his wife Anne.
“They were going to come to the church where he had his funeral to renew their vows, and we were going to have a party.
“He was the life and soul of every party. He was always the first one to get drunk at family Christmases and barbecues.
“He was just enjoying life and had some illnesses in the past, but he overcame them all.
“It just meant living his life the best he could, and he did that.”
Most people didn’t see the truck until the funeral was held on April 10, but after the funeral everyone was “laughing” at the truck.
He also posted a photo of the service on social media platform X and said the response was “ballistic.”
Phil, from Derby, Chesterfield. “Most people didn’t see it until now because it was raining at the start of the service and people went into the church.”
“When everyone came out and loaded the coffin into the truck, everyone was laughing and shaking their heads in disbelief.
“It really changed the atmosphere because it was a really emotional service and kind of a release for people.
“When I posted it on Twitter, it took off and I got a lot of comments from soccer fans all over the country.
“Everyone is saying it’s great and it’s been really popular on Twitter.”
