His family say he would have taken it in good humour.
But that doesn’t make the theft of a man’s ashes only half an hour before his funeral any less macabre.
Eleonare Hockabout is now pleading for the safe return of her husband Marvin’s ashes, which went missing from a church in Alameda, California at the weekend.
Mrs Hockabout, 70, had packed three urns containing his remains into a green rucksack – a tribute to his love of travel – and left it unattended for just ten minutes as she went to prepare for his memorial service.
When she returned, the bag – which she had placed on a table near the altar – had vanished.
The couple’s 43-year-old son, Sean, told Alameda Patch: ‘One minute you’re ready to start a memorial service and the next minute rector’s saying, “Where is he?”‘
Mr Hockabout died at the age of 74 after a long illness. He had earned a diplomatic passport in his career as a State Department courier, which his wife placed – along with his ashes – into his favourite Rick Steves backpack
