THIS is the touching moment that a funeral procession is led by an impressive Only Fools and Horses tribute for a late superfan.
Ellie Nunn’s father John sadly passed away last month aged 74 but was an avid fan of Del Boy and Rodney’s adventures on the legendary British TV show.
So, in fitting style, John’s funeral took place on Tuesday and his final send-off was led not by a black hearse, but instead by Del Boy’s Trotters Independent Traders van.
Video shows the funeral procession making its way to Reading Crematorium in Reading, Berkshire, where the traditional black cars carrying family members can be seen bringing up the rear.
At the front though, and being preceded by the officiant, is the iconic yellow three-wheel van, complete with the business name on the side and luggage strapped to the top.
The van is towing a matching yellow trailer with red roses adorning on the roof, inside which John’s white coffin rests.
The Only Fools and Horses theme tune, Hooky Street, can be heard playing throughout, as pedestrians and passers-by bow to pay their respects.
In front of the van, the officiant leads the procession, dressed entirely in black and donning a top hat much like Rodney did when Del Boy bagged him a new job – as a “chief mourner“.
In the scene from the 1987 episode, Rodney sees Del and his friends whilst guiding the hearse past the trader’s market and starts shouting abuse at his older brother.
However, whilst threatening Del, he accidentally leads the hearse the wrong way down a one-way street and is left trying to hilariously reverse the traffic.
Ellie, 40, posted the video to social media yesterday with the caption: Love and miss you dad. Thank you to Only Fools and Hearses for making my dad’s send-off perfect.”
The clip has since received over 20,000 likes and more than 250 comments from impressed users who shared their sympathies.
One user wrote: “R.I.P, I may know nothing about your dad, but I do know he had great TV taste.”
Another commented: “Now that’s a proper send off, R.I.P.”
A third replied: “If my funeral isn’t like this, I don’t want it.”
Another said: “My cousin runs this, he runs a fantastic service. What an amazing send off, your dad would be proud.”
Speaking today, Ellie said: “My dad was a huge fan of Only Fools and Horses, he had every episode on DVD and all the books and David Jason autobiographies.
“He watched the episodes on UKTV Gold all the time.
“He had the Only Fools and Horses grandad cup that my kids got him and drank his tea from it every day. It was his favourite show, and I can still hear his laughter even now.
“My sisters and I came up with the idea at first after finding Only Fools and Gearses online.
“After contacting Darren, the owner, we were over the moon that he was available on the day, and he let us know about all the other add-ons they offer including Batman and Robin and blow-up dolls.
“We thought it would be perfect and that he would be looking down laughing his head off, our mum agreed it would be perfect.
“The car played the theme tune on the way to the crematorium and passers-by stopped and looked and gave him a smile or a thumbs up.
“Friends and family all agreed it was a brilliant idea and said that John would have absolutely loved it. It brought a smile to people’s faces at a time of sadness.
“Darren who owns Only Fools and Hearses is so amazing at what he does and did my dad and our whole family proud.”
Ellie has also shared a fundraising page in honour of her late father to raise money for the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Berkshire Hospital who treated John for 13 days prior to his death.
The link to donate can be found here: https://john-david-nunn.muchloved.com/?fbclid=IwAR01yDBPYLNO1kw7UtQr-Rb89M8ZRYU9OuGmbKc15O8zrGmXLfs2MTHTzpI
