Only People to Attend Hudson Valley Woman’s Funeral: 30 Strangers

Why did 30 people show up for a funeral for someone they've never even met before?

Dignity, they say.

Francine Stein passed away at the age of 83 in Rockland County last week. According to an article in the Journal News, Stein had no family or friends left that would attend the service, so the funeral parlor called in a rabbi for what they described as "the easiest funeral" he would ever do.

Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach didn't see the task as "easy." After discussing with his daughter the sadness he felt over officiating at a funeral with no attendees, the rabbi's daughter had an idea. She created a post on Facebook asking for strangers to attend the funeral, hoping to give the deceased a dignified sendoff.

After the post was shared throughout Rockland County, 30 complete strangers showed up to the funeral on Wednesday, taking time out of their day to make sure Stein was surrounded by the community as she was buried.

Because not much was known about Stein, the eulogy was brief. But according to the Journal News, during the ceremony it was revealed that the woman was musician and even taught at the Juilliard  School at one point during her life.

We want to know what you think about this story. If you heard that someone was going to be buried without anyone attending the service, would you go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.