Surprised 92-year-old reads own obit

BANGOR, Maine, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Some people like to see their name in the newspaper, but Anne E. Hathaway of Bangor, Maine, was more surprised than pleased to find her own obituary in print.

The death notice for the 92-year-old was factually correct -- in many respects, anyway -- because she had made advance funeral arrangements with the nursing home that forwarded the death notice to the newspaper. But the deceased in question was actually Ann Hathaway of Bangor -- not Anne -- The Bangor Daily News reported Sunday.

Anne Hathaway found out about the greatly exaggerated reports of her demise when friends began calling to see if she was still alive, the newspaper said.

The mistake occurred because a funeral home employee failed to notice there were two women with similar names, and the newspaper does not check paid death notices from funeral homes it works with regularly.

Hathaway fixed the situation with a letter and phone call to the editor, and maintained a sense of humor about her faux demise.

"I just laughed," she told the Daily News. "I went to the pearly gates and opened the door and they didn't have any strawberry shortcake and they didn't like the way my hair looked."