[Sundae]

I've always wondered if it's used in non-celeb cases to comfort people who knew the deceased on a friends basis. Like they may have seen them in town only a few weeks before and see the obituary and think, "Why didn't I ask how they were? If only I'd known they were ill!"

Mum used the phrase when Auntie Alice died. I was pleased she did, because it was the only way some people who knew her heard of her death. She had a stroke - not her first - and died in hospital shortly afterwards. She wasn't in great health at the time, but some of the people who came up to me at the funeral didn't even know that. They remembered her more as the strong vibrant woman she'd been for years, looking after the elderly, going to whist and bridge, shopping for poorly neighbours. She made such an impression on them in this phase of her life that they failed to notice when she slowed down and then disappeared off the radar. They honestly believed she'd been organising trips to the seaside for OAPs right up until the obituary appeared.

Just my take on it.