Because they had "lately" been alive.
Dead
If the phase used is " The late Michael Jackson" it means the named person is dead. Some people use the term expired as they feel its not as cold as the world "dead".
because they are never on time for appointments
You write it as the "late" Mr./Mrs. XYZ
delayedslowtardy
Someone who is always late is called tardy, a procrastinator, and terminally late.
'Deceased' is the best way to deal with a person who has died and easier to communicate this word rather than 'dead' to a client.
A late husband is a dead husband. Late means dead in this context.
A person who has sex with a corpse is referred to as a necrophiliac.
Necrophilia.
pray
dead! Actually it is a testator.