Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead!

Obituaries are typically an opportunity honor family members who have passed away with details about their lives, accomplishments and the people whose lives they impacted.

I read a beautiful obituary recently about a Mary A. “Pink” Mullaney, who was adored by her family members. The obituary described her resourcefulness, kindness and generous spirit. It was obvious that she positively impacted the lives of all who knew her.

This obituary was in stark contrast to another I read just week later about Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick. Rather than celebrating her life, her children celebrated her death. They described their mother as evil and violent, saying:

“She is survived by her 6 of 8 children whom she spent her lifetime torturing in every possible way…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.”

The obituary paints a picture of a monster. She apparently terrorized her children so much that even as she lied on her death bed, one of her sons asked doctors to sedate her before he entered the hospital to positively identify her.  When the hospital called to inform him that she had died, his response was “Ding Dong, the witch is dead!”

It’s hard for me to imagine the kind of cruelty that her children must have endured to feel this loathing, but we get a glimpse of it in the obituary. You can read Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick’s full obituary by clicking on the link.