EXETER -- People from across the Wyoming Valley paid their respects on Monday to a well-known man from West Pittston who died last week.
The man is even better known now after his upbeat, self-written obituary went viral online.
According to his obituary, Kevin McGroarty of West Pittston died from mediocrity, but his friends will tell you Kevin was anything but mediocre.
"He was a genius. He was an artist. He was able to communicate to people in a way that they understood exactly what he was saying," said Jim Alaimo of West Pittston.
If you don't believe friend Jim Alaimo, just take a look at Kevin's obituary, which he wrote himself before he died.
"It was exactly what I expected," said Alaimo.
The obit claims McGroarty didn't have any children that he knew of, and that his biggest regret was not starting a revolution to reduce the price of a Hershey bar.
The obituary went viral on the internet, giving Kevin the last laugh.
"It just seemed like comments were coming in from everywhere, people who didn't know him, people who felt they knew him all his life. It was just, it was Kevin," said Alaimo.
Even the priest at the funeral joked that maybe Kevin wrote it as a hoax and is still alive.
"There might be a Kevin McGroarty sighting within a week or so."
Kevin McGroarty was well-known in the valley before the obituary. He worked in advertising and was involved in the state police Camp Cadet program. Despite the new extra attention, St. Cecilia's in Exeter was filled with mostly family and friends.
To those who are just coming to learn who Kevin McGroarty was thanks to that obituary, friends say, "you missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime."
Friends said goodbye in a service that had more laughter than tears.
"It's classic Kevin. He wanted people to think. He wanted people to do the right thing," said Tim Yurek of Wyoming.
Friends say that's just how Kevin would have wanted it.