R.I.P. Meinhardt Raabe

Meinhardt Raabe was a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, a carnival barker, and a spokesman for Oscar Mayer. He earned a bachelors degree in accounting in 1937 and a masters degree in 1970. But he was best known for his role as the Munchkin coroner in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, where he delivered the immortal lines
As coroner, I must aver
I thoroughly examined her.
And she’s not only merely dead,
She’s really most sincerely dead.

Raabe, only 23 years old when the movie was made, spent the rest of his life repeating those lines as a motivational speaker for schools and civic groups. He was also Little Oscar, “the World’s Smallest Chef,” and drove the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile for 30 years. Raabe passed away yesterday at his home in Orange Park, Florida. He was 94. Link -via Stinque

See a 2007 video interview with Raabe.

Raabe would stop by the photo shop I worked at on OP after he got done dropping off the "girls" at the mall. He drove the Checker commander that Penny Farms retirement home used for those outing. (think checker cab with 4 doors each side) He would come in and spend hours talking of his life and things to us and our customers. He was just a great guy. He will be missed.
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Whenever I'm asked to do impressions, and someone wants to hear a Munchkin, I'll do the Coroner's Solo. That guy always cracked me up! It sounds like he lived a long & productive life.

Some folks might find it distasteful, but I like to think that, like Margaret Hamilton, he would have loved to be eulogized thus:

"And he’s not only merely dead,
He’s really most sincerely dead."

RIP, Mr. Raabe.
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@Nicholas, the only problem with using the "merely dead" speech to eulogize Margaret Hamilton is that the Munchkin Coroner was speaking about her sister, the Witch of the East, who was under Dorothy's house when it landed.

Hers would have to be, "Ding Dong the witch is dead"...which might be, in fact, distasteful.
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My grandfather, who was a salesman for Oscar Mayer before he started working in the printing business actually worked with Mr. Raabe and often told us stories of "Little Oscar" and how they used to drive the WeinerMobile together. They were good friends and kept in touch for many years. I just wish I had had a chance to meet him.
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