A funeral service was held at Our Lady of Levity. Bobby McFerrin sang Don't Worry, Be Happy.

WORCESTER, Mass.-- Harvey R. Ball, inventor of the Smiley Face,

died Thursday after a short illness. He was 79. Ball, who co-owned an advertising and public relations firm in Worcester, designed the Smiley Face in 1963 to boost the morale of workers in two recently merged insurance companies. Ball was paid $45 for his artwork by State Mutual Life Assurance Cos. of America -now Allamerica -in 1963. He never applied for a trademark or copyright. At its peak of popularity in 1971, more than 50 million Smiley Face buttons were sold. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Smiley Face stamp.

-- lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), April 13, 2001

Answers

Prize awarded for best epitaph.

-- lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), April 13, 2001.

Look down about 12 threads from yours on the main page. Topic already posted.

-- (pay@ttention.silly), April 13, 2001.

Here I lay

with a smile

Plant me down

a friggen mile!

ohh...is today my lucky day? :)

-- Peg (pegmcleod@mediaone.net), April 13, 2001.

LOL! Peg, you seem to be on a roll.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), April 13, 2001.