Kevin O'Grady's family says he often talked about taking an East Coast trip - right up until he died at age 73 while undergoing treatment for lymphoma in Seattle.

Then, after a lifetime of punctuality, the Spokane man missed his own funeral because the Postal Service mis-routed his cremated remains. Instead of an overnight trip across Washington, tracking records show the box went through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Chicago - one of the cities he most wanted to visit.

Daughter Shana MacVicar told The Spokesman-Review ( http://bit.ly/XpmU03) the family is chuckling about the mistake now, because the Postal Service gave O'Grady the trip he always wanted.

When the remains of the Air Force veteran finally arrived home they were buried in the state Veterans Cemetery near Medical Lake.

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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com