There are fans and there are die hards

[my miss storm cat]

Mourners asked to make a flutter for horse-racing fan
by Steve White, Daily Mirror 3/12/2010

IN life Eddie Haslam loved a flutter. And so when he died, all bets were on.

Friends at the 78-year-old’s funeral were asked to pick a horse from the next day’s races. The winnings will go towards a gravestone, to be engraved “Eddie’s Last Bet”.

Eddie, a father-of-two with eight grandchildren, died of a heart attack leaving Joyce, his wife of 55 years. The former council worker, described as a quiet man who didn’t like fuss, had one lifelong hobby – going to the bookies near his home in Dukinfield, Manchester, to place his daily bet.

His son Edward, 53, came up with the funeral flutter idea ahead of his dad’s service at St Mark’s Church. He said: “Dad loved his racing. He was not a big better – the most he would put on was £1.50 – but he would bet every day.

“He never won massive amounts but more often than not he would win his money back.

“He used to watch all the races. He was quite educated in that respect – but he could never give you the winner.

“I thought it would be a fitting thing to do this, to have this final bet for him. He wouldn’t want flowers.” Sixty bets totalling £90 were put on the races, with winnings of £32.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-22757848/