Who or what taught you about death?

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Today I was talking with some friends, and some how we got on the subject of death. A subject I usually try to avoid, unless necessary but it was an interesting conversation none the less, and it inspired this discussion. First of all some of you may or may not know from my other posts that my mother is a nut job. But just in case you didn't I wanted to put that out there to begin with, although it will be obvious as you read on. When I was three years old my Great Uncle J.B. died. I remember my mother answering the phone, looking upset, and then coming back to the table, and sitting down. And saying word for word "Sissy, Uncle J.B. died, he's gone, you'll never see him again, because the boogieman got him." I was terrified. I was upset that he was gone, but I was more terrified than anything, because like a lot of people as a small child my parents always threatened me with the boogieman if I miss behaved. So to me it meant that there was a boogieman on the loose, that wasn't following the rules. You know - only taking bad children. He was taking adults too, and sick old people who were nice to everyone. I was terrified of the dark because of this for years, and then when I was five my dog died. I just shrieked and was impossible to console, because it meant 'the boogie man' was back. A few hours later, my parents were at wits end because they couldn't get me to calm down, so they called my Grandmother over. She ended up getting me calmed down enough so that I could tell her what was going on. She ended up telling me what death really was, and a spiritual explanation that I won't get into right now. But now as an adult, I've decided that I will never threaten any child with any sort of 'boogieman', and that I would never do something that cruel to any child. What was your first experience with death? What were you told? How have you explained death to your own children? At what age do you feel it's appropriate to explain death to a child?