Shelby’s children claimed that a directive signed by him earlier this year gave them the right to their father’s remains. Per their claim, Shelby wanted his body cremated, with the ashes split between his children and a family plot in East Texas.
Cleo Shelby, Carroll Shelby’s final wife, claimed that the document produced by his children was forged. From her perspective, a health care directive signed in 2010 gave her the rights to her late husband’s body.
Neither side seemed willing to yield, and a hearing was scheduled for Thursday, July 26. On Monday, July 23, however, the two sides reached an agreement to keep the issue out of the courts. Carroll Shelby will be cremated, per his wishes, with his ashes split between his children, the family plot, and his wife Cleo.
The Detroit News quotes Cleo Shelby as saying, “both sides have agreed to immediately halt the litigation involving the burial of my husband, and he will soon be laid to rest.”
Represented by Shelby’s son Michael, his children were a bit more critical, saying, “we’re not happy with it but we want to get my dad in the ground.”
We’re sure that Carroll Shelby’s name will pop up in the news for year’s to come, which is probably the way that Shelby himself would have wanted it. The man may be dead, but his legend certainly lives on.