Fleet of Ice Cream Trucks Join Funeral Procession to Honor “King of Ice Cream”

By Darby Jones December 23, 2021
In keeping with tradition in the ice cream community, a group of trucks joined the funeral procession of a beloved ice cream man in the UK.

Savash Turkel joined a small group of family and friends last week in southeast London to bury his brother, Hassan Dervish, an ice cream man for more than 40 years who recently died of cancer.

Something was unique about this funeral procession: The music from ice cream trucks, driven by colleagues who knew and admired Dervish, flooded the streets in memory of a 62-year-old man hailed by loved ones as the “king of the ice cream,” Turkel told The Washington Post.

“The first one came and then there was another and then there was another,” said Turkel, 57. “All of a sudden, there were probably 10 ice cream trucks that followed him all the way to the cemetery. There were so many ice cream trucks for my brother.”

The moment was captured by UK resident Louisa Davies, who posted a video to Twitter that has been viewed more than 13 million times.

“Just witnessed an ice cream man’s funeral and all the ice cream vans came and followed in solidarity,” tweeted Davies “I AM SOBBING.”

The ice cream truck procession is a common tradition for vendors to honor fallen colleagues. In February, 10 trucks came together to celebrate the life of Pasquale Marucci, an ice cream man in Hampshire, England, according to the BBC. 

Turkel said his brother was passionate about his work. “He was always helping out all his friends. He helped them all out,” Turkel said. “That’s why so many people loved him. My brother was a really honest and hard-working person.”

Image source: Press Democrat