An Oklahoma teen is on major of the environment after winning a car last thirty day period at a funeral 30 miles absent from her dwelling — fulfilling the past wish of a lady she had hardly ever even achieved. 

“I’m incredibly grateful for this,” Gabriella Bonham, 16, of El Reno, Oklahoma, instructed Fox Information Electronic. 

“Every individual that I’ve explained to about it has explained, ‘Oh my gosh. Which is what I should do any time I go away.’ Or, ‘I must do one thing like that at my funeral.’ I imagine that it is really amazing to see a thing superior occur and the influence that it will make on other individuals who weren’t directly concerned in it. Just men and women want to do fantastic issues. It’s incredible.”

That is specifically the way Diane Sweeney of Oklahoma City wanted it. 

She died abruptly on July 7, 2022 — and just a few months just before had advised her nephew that when she died, she desired to gift a single of her prized belongings — a 2016 Volkswagen Beetle — to an individual who attended the funeral.

“She usually had a giving spirit,” Sweeney’s nephew, Rick Ingram, advised Fox Information Electronic. 

“She explained to a number of of us her wish. I remember it distinct as day. She reported, ‘Whoever comes to my funeral, I want them to have a prospect to win my Volkswagen Beetle.’ And I said, ‘Oh, Diane, I’ll make that occur.’” 

30 times afterwards, Ingram stated he obtained a contact telling him that his aunt experienced handed absent.

Sweeney, who worked in biostatistics for an East coastline pharmaceutical company, was not married and did not have small children. 

After a successful occupation, his aunt made a decision to go back to Oklahoma and live a easy daily life, said Ingram.

“She valued a peaceful everyday living,” Ingram reported. 

“She could have lived anyplace and driven any vehicle. And what she cared about was her Christian religion, her family and her Volkswagen Beetle. She also liked Sonic and Burger King.”

Ingram mentioned he and his cousin, Suzanne Singleterry, determined to make her remaining would like occur real. 

So they achieved out to nearby news shops to enable get the term out.

“We put it in the local paper,” Ingram stated. “That her want is that whoever arrives to the funeral — and she didn’t care if they knew her or not, or their age, race — would have a likelihood to gain her automobile. Channel 4 picked it up and requested if they could do a news story [about it].I stated, ‘Absolutely. It’ll pack the funeral home’ — which it did.”

Sixteen-year-outdated Gabriella Bonham was one particular of the people today who came to the funeral. 

“I noticed it on Television and then we kind of just laughed it off since we have been like, ‘That would be so humorous to go to,’” Bonham explained. 

“Then I was like, ‘Can we in fact go?’” 

Bonham talked two of her more mature sisters and some cousins into likely with her to the company — and what begun out as a enjoyment adventure turned into a much more meaningful working experience than she at any time imagined. 

There, Bonham uncovered about the lifestyle and kindness of Diane Sweeney.

“It was really fascinating not to know her and to see her lifetime by way of her family’s eyes,” Bonham explained. 

“They set alongside one another the slideshows and all the things and so it was just intriguing to feel like you realized someone that you experienced never ever achieved prior to. They stated that she was a really humorous and entertaining particular person to be all-around and that she loved her loved ones and church. It definitely appeared like she was a generous man or woman.”

Bonham filled out her raffle ticket and went on her way — but did not listen to just about anything for about a yr. 

Ingram stated it took that prolonged to settle Sweeney’s estate and then they were absolutely free to maintain the raffle.

Sweeney experienced enlisted two trusted close friends — Rudy Espinoza and Taylor Damage — to keep the tickets risk-free and eventually to attract a title on Sept. 15, 2023. 

The team of Resthaven Funeral Residence in Oklahoma Town also assisted facilitate the raffle.

Out of the blue, Bonham stated, she acquired a mobile phone simply call that changed her daily life — or at minimum her skill to get all-around town. 

She was going through challenges with her existing vehicle and it was not a reliable mode of transportation, she explained.

“I was not expecting it at all,” Bonham said. “I was just in a hotel room with my loved ones since we had been now on a excursion. They just instructed me and I was standing in the middle of the space, just so shocked. My parents have been attempting to guess what it was. They ended up like, ‘What transpired? Are you Alright? Who is it?’ Soon after I bought off the cell phone, we all acquired fired up and known as all of our family customers who understood that I went to the funeral.”

Ingram reported it was a whole lot of exciting creating the simply call and hearing the exhilaration of Bonham’s spouse and children in the history. 

“The fantastic winner was drawn,” Ingram said. 

“She was ecstatic and quite grateful. I experienced a divine experience from the start off [that] this desire would be viewed as a result of just one way or a further — a young girl commencing her lifestyle as Diane’s was ending. It worked out completely.” 

A number of days afterwards, Bonham designed the journey to Oklahoma City to assert her prize.

“I was attempting not to freak out since it was just so awesome,” Bonham claimed. 

“It was a whole lot of tension, driving absent in entrance of all people. I was type of anxious. So I was just thinking ‘Don’t do nearly anything stupid. You know how to drive. Don’t fret about it, just drive away.’”

Ingram mentioned he’s grateful for the information of his aunt’s daily life.

“Diane would have been thrilled with all people that attended the funeral,” Ingram reported. 

“She was usually imagining of many others, even just after her demise, which is one of her several legacies. And now [Gabriella] begins her lifestyle in the spirit of Diane.”