A self-proclaimed funeral “crasher” who claims to have attended the send-offs of over 200 strangers says that she has “always been fascinated with death”.
Jeane Trend-Hill, 55, apparently began attending funerals after accidentally crashing one when she walked into a church during an ongoing service in 2012.
She soon became a regular visitor to graves, and says local cemetery workers began to contact her to attend funerals when someone who died didn’t have friends or family who could attend.
“I’m proud to be that person that goes to strangers’ funerals when there is no one else who can attend,” Trend-Hill, from London’s Islington, said.
“I’ve always been fascinated with death since I was a child. We would go to cemeteries, and I’d walk around looking at all the graves. They are like outdoor art galleries.
“I accidentally walked in on a funeral at a church but raised as a Catholic I knew not to leave once there. Even though I didn’t know the person I was deeply moved,” she explained.
Trend-Hill said that, by attending various strangers’ funerals, she “realised that everyone has a story to tell”. “Everyone has lived a life and should have someone around to remember them when they die,” she added.
Trend-Hill was 14 when she lost her father and 20 when her mother died, which is when she began to visit cemeteries more often.
Now, the first thing she does when she travels is figure out where the closest cemetery is. She has also completed a PhD in mortuary science and is a cemetery historian.
Trend-Hill claims that people now reach out to her on Facebook to ask her to attend funerals. Her family has even started to call her a “rent-a-mourner”.
“It’s a name they gave me and it’s a bit fun,” she said. “Of course I’d never actually make anyone pay for my attendance at a funeral.
“I’ll wear mourning dress to funerals if people ask me to. Death has never worried me. I hope I can make death feel less scary for people. It’s my way of giving something back.”
Additional reporting by SWNS
