On a gray December morning in southeast London, Savash Turkel stood among a small group of mourners to say goodbye to his brother, Hassan Dervish. The 62-year-old had spent more than four decades dishing out ice cream to neighborhoods across the city. But this wasn’t your average funeral. This one came with ice cream truck jingles.

As the procession made its way toward the cemetery, something extraordinary happened. One ice cream truck appeared. Then another. Then more.

In total, 10 brightly colored vans joined in, their familiar tunes echoing through the streets.

The moving ice cream truck-filled scene, captured in a video posted on X that’s since gone viral with millions of views, wasn’t just a simple show.

It was a heartfelt nod to a man many considered royalty in their tight-knit community of frozen novelty vendors. Online reactions poured in, with one attendee saying she was in tears watching the vans follow Dervish to his final resting place.

This wasn’t the first time U.K. vendors honored one of their own

Similar tributes have rolled through Hampshire and Wimborne Minster in recent years, The Washington Post shared. But for Turkel, this one was personal. His brother, who emigrated from Cyprus around 1980, had built a life in southeast London. 

Dervish opened an ice cream factory in Lewisham, raised two kids, and made it his mission to bring joy, not just sugary treats, to the people he served.

His health declined after a 2019 cancer diagnosis, and he died in November 2021 after a difficult fight. COVID-era restrictions kept the funeral modest, but the presence of the ice cream truck convoy filled the streets with the sounds of kind earnestness and respect for an industry colleague. Turkel said the support overwhelmed him. Even in death, his brother brought people together.