Last week, Val Patterson, aged 59, of the US died because of throat cancer. He has left behind a self-written obituary, in which he clearly recalls of all those good times that he has spent with his wife and others in Utah when he was young but along with this there are a few confessions too. Yes, he has confessed in this last letter of his that he had never attained a PhD degree in his life. He feels sorry for those acts which he should have not done.

His obituary in the Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City reads "As it turns out, I AM the guy who stole the safe from the Motor View Drive Inn back in June, 1971. I could have left that unsaid, but I wanted to get it off my chest".

He has also shared his lifetime secret that how he exactly got the PhD degree. It was the day when he visited his college for submitting a loan amount and the girl working there put his receipt into the wrong stack by mistake. After two weeks, his PhD diploma was dispatched to him through mail.

He was not even a graduate. He was totally unaware of the term, policies and most of all the responsibilities of a PhD diploma holder.