Daughter’s heartfelt obituary honors her ‘jerk’ dad. ‘Equal parts daredevil and lush’

When it came time to honor her 62-year-old father, who recently died of sepsis, Halliea Milner got creative.

Milner, the daughter of Kenne Pluhar, turned her father’s obituary into a full-blown roast. Commenting on her father’s marriages, stubbornness and “jerk” tendencies, Milner’s words have since captivated the internet.

“This hard as nails, redneck SOB finally found something meaner and more stubborn than himself,” Milner said in the obituary about Pluhar’s sepsis battle.

Pluhar, from Alton, Illinois, was described in the obituary as a “card-carrying, Ray-Ban wearing, camo coverall-lovin’ redneck.” He died from the infection complications on March 2 at Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton.

The obituary took Milner about 45 minutes to write, she told KTVI.

“Like every sad cowboy song, he couldn’t stay married, but that didn’t keep him from trying. Again. And again,” Milner wrote in the obituary. “He had a total of 4 legal marriages (and divorces) and one common law marriage under his belt - that we know of.”

The daughter — Pluhar’s only child, again, “that we know of” — said in a Facebook post that the obituary duties fell to her when she couldn’t find anyone else to write it.

She said Pluhar forever called his mother “mommy,” which Milner said is “proof that even the biggest jerks have a soft side, you just may have to dig deeper to find it.”

“Sharing in the Pluhar family heritage are Kenne’s siblings — all of whom managed to out live him, which is no surprise seeing as he was equal parts dare devil and lush,” the obituary states. “I mean, seriously, he probably invented the phrase - ‘Hey, y’all, watch this.’”

Milner told KTVI the obituary “came from a real place of love,” telling the station she “loved him dearly.”

The obituary was shared on the “Funny” subreddit, where many people shared their joy from reading it.

“On one hand I can’t believe someone wrote that, on the other that’s the best combo of honest love/tolerance I can imagine,” one commenter said.

“Whoever wrote this has got to be a lot of fun at parties,” another person said.

Loved ones will honor Pluhar with a party in Woodriver on Friday, March 24, according to the obituary.

“Although there will be music and mayhem, don’t plan to stay too long; we are going to kick you out at 10 p.m.,” the obituary states.

Alton is about 20 miles north of St. Louis.

This story was originally published March 15, 2023 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Daughter’s heartfelt obituary honors her ‘jerk’ dad. ‘Equal parts daredevil and lush’."