A scathing obituary from Reno, Nev. has gone viral after Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick's daughter took a very unusual approach to writing the piece. USA Today shared the details on Sept. 12, and this one has shocked quite a few people.
The full piece appeared in the Reno Gazette-Journal. The scathing obituary notes that during her life, Johnson-Reddick “abused her small children" and "she refused to allow anyone else to care or show compassion towards them.” The obituary says she stalked and tortured anybody who loved her adult children, and she regularly exposed her children to criminal activity, violence, vulgarity and “hatred of the gentle or kind human spirit.”
The scathing obituary of Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick goes on to say that her children “celebrate her passing” and are hopeful that her afterlife exposes her to the same cruelty her children endured. It adds that the children will now have peace and closure that the nightmare is over. The piece was written by Johnson-Reddick's daughter Katherine Reddick, 57.
Surely nobody in the family expected the scathing obituary to go viral online, but the attention is likely of little concern after all the now-grown children of Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick seemingly experienced. Johnson-Reddick died on Aug. 30 at the age of 78 at a nursing home. She had been dealing with bladder cancer, and became a ward of the state until she died.
Was it appropriate for Johnson-Reddick's daughter to publish such a scathing obituary? Online commentary seems mixed. Some are glad the adult children have said their piece, while others think they should have just kept the obituary simple. Many would guess that in all likelihood, the family expected it to go mostly unnoticed and simply provide a way for the family to formulate their own closure, but the scathing obituary quickly spread like wildfire.
