Latest Viral Obituary: Mom Was 'Violent, Evil'

Obit describes woman as abusive, neglectful toward kids
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2013 1:22 PM CDT
Latest Viral Obituary: Mom Was 'Violent, Evil'
   (Shutterstock)

"Viral obituaries" are quite trendy these days, and they're usually heartwarming—or at least hilarious—but not so in this latest case. Gawker spotted the obituary for Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick in the Reno Gazette-Journal, and though the paper removed it, Gawker has the full text. Whoever wrote it says Johnson-Reddick, who died recently at age 78, "spent her lifetime torturing [her eight children] in every way possible," "neglect[ing] and abus[ing]" them while they were young and later "stalk[ing] and tortur[ing] anyone they dared to love."

The obituary goes on to claim, "Everyone she met, adult or child was tortured by her cruelty and exposure to violence, criminal activity, vulgarity, and hatred of the gentle or kind human spirit." Her survivors "celebrate her passing from this earth and hope she lives in the after-life reliving each gesture of violence, cruelty, and shame that she delivered on her children," it continues, before ending with an exhortation to fight child abuse. The Gazette-Journal's publisher tells Gawker the obituary was a paid placement, but the death date listed was inaccurate and the listing was removed for review. Click to read it in full, or check out another acrimonious obituary. (More obituary stories.)

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