howardrobardhughes
12-14-2004, 11:05 AM
While the Colonel had business on his mind the day of
the funeral, several of the mourners gathered in Graceland's
music, dining, and living rooms for the 2:00 P.M. service
on August 18 [1977] found his behavior more peculiar than
ever, beginning with his dress: a Hawaiian shirt and a
baseball cap, from which protruded unruly tufts of
gray-brown hair."If Elvis looks down and he sees the
Colonel all dressed up, he's gonna say, 'What the hell
is that?'" Parker explained later. "This is the way I
always dress. Informal. No point putting on airs now."
When he saw Tom Hulett dressed appropriately in a tie and
black suit, the Colonel told him to go change into his
usual jeans and loafers.But what galled everyone was that
Parker refused to be a pallbearer, and, as Jackie Kahane
remembers, "every time he would go past the coffin, he
would avert his eyes." Larry Geller also found it strange.
He remembers the Colonel being stoic."
He didn't talk to many people, and he was way in the back.
He certainly wasn't sitting in the front room, and he
could have been right down there with Grandma [Minnie
Mae Presley] and Vernon if he'd wanted." Afterward,
Geller expected Parker to have a private moment at the
casket before the lid came down for the last time and
a white hearse trailed by seventeen white limousines
carried the body to Forest Hill Cemetery. "But it never
happened. He wouldn't walk up. He didn't even look. You
could almost see him struggling not to look."...Years
later, Parker boasted that he never once wept at the
funeral. "No, sir. If anybody had seen my eyes mist up
for a second they must have had their hands in my
pockets."
TCB
Wade
the funeral, several of the mourners gathered in Graceland's
music, dining, and living rooms for the 2:00 P.M. service
on August 18 [1977] found his behavior more peculiar than
ever, beginning with his dress: a Hawaiian shirt and a
baseball cap, from which protruded unruly tufts of
gray-brown hair."If Elvis looks down and he sees the
Colonel all dressed up, he's gonna say, 'What the hell
is that?'" Parker explained later. "This is the way I
always dress. Informal. No point putting on airs now."
When he saw Tom Hulett dressed appropriately in a tie and
black suit, the Colonel told him to go change into his
usual jeans and loafers.But what galled everyone was that
Parker refused to be a pallbearer, and, as Jackie Kahane
remembers, "every time he would go past the coffin, he
would avert his eyes." Larry Geller also found it strange.
He remembers the Colonel being stoic."
He didn't talk to many people, and he was way in the back.
He certainly wasn't sitting in the front room, and he
could have been right down there with Grandma [Minnie
Mae Presley] and Vernon if he'd wanted." Afterward,
Geller expected Parker to have a private moment at the
casket before the lid came down for the last time and
a white hearse trailed by seventeen white limousines
carried the body to Forest Hill Cemetery. "But it never
happened. He wouldn't walk up. He didn't even look. You
could almost see him struggling not to look."...Years
later, Parker boasted that he never once wept at the
funeral. "No, sir. If anybody had seen my eyes mist up
for a second they must have had their hands in my
pockets."
TCB
Wade