A US woman wrote a hateful obituary for her mother in which she addressed her as "violent, hateful and cruel." The obituary also claimed that the mother physically, mentally, emotionally and financially abused the daughter. The obituary was published in Three Rivers News on December 15, three days after the mother's death on December 12.
The
obituary of the mother, who goes by the name Linda Lernal Harvey Cullum Smith Stull was written by her first child and daughter Gayle Harvey Heckman.
What did the obituary say?
The scathing obituary further stated, "Lernal accused Gayle of 'trying to steal her
husband' and proceeded to beat her senselessly."
It concluded by saying, "Gayle and her family forgive Lernal and hope that she has found peace. They also hope to find peace within themselves. Lernal will not be missed by Gayle or her family. They all understand the world is a much better place without her."
Why did the daughter write a scathing obituary?
Explaining the reason behind writing a spiteful obituary, Gayle said, "Well, honestly, I wanted to write it for myself because I wanted to clear my name. For 24 years and before that, my
mother has had to come up with a reason as to why her
daughter isn't in her life that doesn't make her look like a monster. ... I had to reclaim my name."
She also said that she didn't intend to be hateful in her obituary. She was only trying to express that she was angry and wanted to break the cycle of generational
trauma.
"I don't understand if we don't talk about this, how are we supposed to... break the cycle of trauma, especially generational trauma."
The newspaper took down the obituary
The newspaper that ran the obituary claimed that it deliberately shortened it because "it was just being a spiteful hate piece against a beloved member of our community"
Moreover, Mile Wilcox, the publisher of Wilcox Newspaper, said that the obituary was sent through their website and they had not taken a look at it before publishing. Furthermore, Wilcox said that the obituary was taken down as soon as complaints about its content poured in. He further added, "After taking (it) down, several (mostly the daughter) complaints and phone calls were received admonishing us for doing so".
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