Tom sawyer question-16-17 Why is the sermon ironic?

At last, Tom has achieved exactly what he has always wished for: every adult in town mourns his death and every child at school vies to be connected to him in some way, one even claiming that "Tom Sawyer he licked me once." How ironic that the minister and clergymen that used to punish Tom in Sunday school now only relate "many a touching incident" and the boys' "sweet and generous natures." Even the church bell at the start of the funeral service begins to "toll, instead of ringing in the usual way."