The boss of a funeral home in Middleton has urged the public to 'show a little respect' when corteges pass by.
Ian Leary took to Facebook to call for people to 'revive' the tradition of members of the public taking their hats off, bowing their heads or stopping what they were doing to pay respects when funeral processions drive by.
The 41-year-old director of the Middleton Funeral Service says times have changed during his ten years in the industry and spoke to the MEN about the type of things he and his colleagues have witnessed, like motorists overtaking them as they drive through the streets of Middleton.
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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News he said: “When you think about years ago, people would stop, bow and pay their respects.
“When you turned into a street a lot of people would close their blinds and neighbours would come outside, and we hardly get that any more.
“It’s just about keeping up tradition and letting people know that when they do see a hearse, to show a little respect and to take a minute.
“We see all sorts when we’re out at funerals, we get overtaken by vehicles, wagons, vans and things like that."
Last month Ian took to Facebook write a post about the issue, which currently has over 50k shares and over 4k likes.
He asked people who see a hearse to 'stop, stand for a moment as it passes, perhaps take off your cap, and bow your head', as well as stopping at junctions when driving to allow vehicles in funeral processions to pass as a group.
The post sparked a conversation right across the country reaching up to five million people with commenters sharing heartfelt stories about the moments of respect they saw during the funeral of their loved ones.
Ian said: “It’s restored my faith in humanity a little bit, I didn't get any negative comments, it was all positive.
“I posted it at 10pm on 7 th November and when I woke up it went viral.
“It was just something on my mind and I thought ‘I’ll just have a little rant on Facebook.’”
“Over the month people have still been sharing it and still liking it.
“It’s reached five million people and if even just a percentage of those people take into account what they’ve read then it could make a difference to someone’s family at a funeral.”
