First, forget that image of a stiff, black-and-white photo of a stern-faced banker. The S. Wales Evening Post obits are a full-on technicolour parade of personalities. You’ll find a greying man grinning next to a prize-winning leek, a woman holding a trophy for the best sponge cake in Glamorgan, or a fella in a flat cap who once “broke the land-speed record for bingo dabber usage.” I made that last one up. Barely. These people lived, and the paper celebrates every single, glorious, weird second.
And the language! It’s always the same glorious formula: a life distilled into four paragraphs of pure, unadulterated Welsh gold. You’ll read that someone “passed away peacefully at home after a short illness,” which is code for “they beat the system by not being in a hospital.” Then comes the crucial bit: the hobbies. They weren’t just a retired electrician; they were a champion ballroom dancer, a legendary card sharp at the working men’s club, and a man who “could fix any Hoover with a bent paperclip.” That’s not a joke—that’s a career path.
The Greatest Hits of Welsh Life
Every single obituary must mention where the Sunday roast was eaten. It’s the law. You’ll see lines like, “He was a loyal patron of the Cross Keys for 47 years, where his order of a pint of Brains and a steak-and-kidney pie was never forgotten.” That pub is basically their second address. And the family? They are listed with the precision of a royal lineage: “Beloved husband of the late Margaret, cherished father of Gareth and Sian, adored taid of Rhys, Owen, and little Elin, who wants you to know she still has your lucky golf tee.” It’s a family tree, a memoir, and a surprisingly emotional trip all in one.
But the real surprise is the sheer, joyful normality of the incredibly specific. I once saw an obituary for a man whose life’s work was “ensuring the A48 had no potholes near Sarn.” He was a legend. Another celebrated a woman who “won the Neath town whist drive eleven years in a row, a feat so impressive the runners-up formed a support group.” I’m exaggerating, but only a little. The South Wales Evening Post doesn’t just record death; it chronicles a community where being interesting is the highest virtue.
South Wales Evening Post Obituaries & Death Notices Guide - Ranker Blog
