After Chris Connors died earlier this month, his family made sure to get the last laugh.

In their local Maine newspaper, Connors, 64, was remembered in his obituary as a "Ladies man, game slayer, and outlaw." Even the headline poked fun at the husband and dad who was apparently joking until the end, "Irishman Dies from Stubbornness, Whiskey" (all jokes aside, he died fighting ALS and stage 4 pancreatic cancer).

Scattered in among the jokes are touching tributes and memories, remembering him for his "intelligent, impish smile, love for the spoken word, irreverent sense of humor, and stunning blue eyes that could make anyone fall in love with him."

Instead of the usual stuffy language typical to a traditional obituary, his family listed his surviving children as the failures from years as a "birth control device tester." The jokes really are ingenious.

His widow told the Seacoastonline news outlet, where the obituary was originally published this week, that Connors had told her "'I just want you to make it funny'" and "'I don't want a run-of-the-mill obituary.'" So they popped some bubbly and had an obituary-writing party.

And the jokes have landed.

The obituary has gone viral with news outlets in Europe even reporting about its touching humor.

The wide reach has helped the family spread the word about their water safety fund created in Connors' memory. The fund is a project of the York, Main fire department and water rescue team and aims to promote safe boating and water skills for kids.

As his family said, "Absolut vodka and Simply Orange companies are devastated by the loss of Connors."

May he rest in peace, eternally chuckling.