Truly sorry about your loss. My sympathy to you and family.
While I'm sure that this was the furthest thing from your mind(as it should be), were you able to get the CSR's name or employee I.D.? It really doesn't sound like United did much for you but rather a compassionate United employee. I've had a couple of occasions where if not for a very helpful CSR who was willing to "go the extra mile" or even bend the rules a little, I would have had problems. This case sounds like one of those occasions. If I knew who the CSR was that helped cy-gone, I myself would call United and express my gratitude. If anyone gets one of these 1-in-100 CSR's, please don't fail to acknowledge their helpfulness by speaking to there supervisor.