Infomercial king and pitchman guru Billy Mays was honored at his funeral in McKees Rocks, PA yesterday just 5 days after he passed away in his Tampa, FL home last weekend. As you may recall, the autopsy report stated that Mays passed away due to an ailment of heart disease … he was 50 years old. Here are a few photos of Mays’s pallbearers all wearing blue OxiClean shirts in his honor at the memorial service yesterday:
References to television pitchman Bill Mays’ trademark image were everywhere at his funeral Friday near Pittsburgh. Most mourners wore stickers showing a cartoon image of his distinctive bearded face. The six pallbearers eschewed suits and instead wore bright blue button-down shirts like the ones Mays wore on TV. At the conclusion of the ceremony, they gave a “thumbs up,” just as Mays did at the end of one of his commercials. Mays, whose high-energy hawking turned products like OxiClean from infomercial curiosities into mainstream successes, was remembered as a pop culture icon who never forgot his hometown or spiritual roots. “He sold more OxiClean than Andy Warhol sold Campbell’s Soup,” cousin Dean Panizzi said in eulogizing Mays and comparing him to the Pittsburgh-born pop artist who turned soup cans into works of art. Panizzi’s 20-minute eulogy evoked everything from memories of their childhood together — complete with a Christmas Eve remembrance of their parents ringing sleigh bells outside — to Mays’ devout Christian faith. Panizzi recited various lines Mays made famous, including “Life’s a pitch, and then you buy” and drew a standing ovation parroting Mays’ signature introduction, “Hi, Billy Mays here.” Hundreds of mourners packed the black brick, gothic Catholic church in the suburb of McKees Rocks, where Mays was raised, to remember the popular pitchman … Outside the funeral, a company owned by fellow “Pitchmen” star Anthony Sullivan handed out the shiny stickers bearing a caricature of Mays’ face. Mays hawked everything from the Wash-matik, a device for pumping water from a bucket to wash cars, to Orange Glo, an environmentally friendly cleaner. Sporting a jet-black beard and coupling high-energy demonstrations with booming pitches, Mays always seemed ready to jump off the screen … Mays is believed to have died of a heart attack in his sleep June 28 at his home in Tampa, Fla., but further tests are needed to be sure of the cause of death.
It’s so sad that death has so dominated the world of pop culture in the last weeks … it’s a damn shame that the world itself has lost so many greats. Billy Mays is a testament of the American Dream … if you work hard and pay your dues, you can achieve any goal … any dream. It’s strange to say that I was a fan of an infomercial pitchman but … you know what, I was a fan. I admired Mays’s can do attitude and even admit that he talked me into purchasing some of his products. The man was a retail genius. He set a new benchmark for the entrepreneurial spirit. He will be missed. Again, my thoughts and prayers goes out to his entire family. May they heal quickly and may Billy Mays rest in eternal peace.
[Source]
RSS
Feedburner
