‘Witch is dead’: Daughter’s brutal obit for mum

A daughter’s scathing obituary about a malignant mother has gone viral — for both its brutal honesty and savage delivery.

A scathing obituary about a malignant Maine mother has gone viral, for both its brutal honesty and savage delivery.

Florence “Flo” Harrelson, 65, died back in February, but her obituary wasn’t published by the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel until Thursday.

That’s because Harrelson’s daughter, Christina Novak, who wrote the abrasive obituary, said she only learned her mum was dead this month.

Florence Harrelson died in February, but her family only learned of her death in August — because according to her daughter, “she wanted those she terrorised to still be living in fear.” Picture: Christina Novak/Facebook

Christina Novak wrote the scathing obituary more as a public service announcement, she said. Picture: Christina Novak/Facebook

Christina Novak wrote the scathing obituary. Picture: Supplied

Ms Novak noted in the obit that her mother, a former US Marine who served as a Maine prison guard, died “on Feb. 22, 2024, without family by her side due to burnt bridges and a wake of destruction left in her path.”

Ms Harrelson had cancer, but died from heart failure, her daughter said.

Ms Novak said she last spoke to her mother 10 years ago.

“Florence did not want an obituary or anyone including family to know she died,” reads the obituary.

“That’s because even in death, she wanted those she terrorised to still be living in fear looking over their shoulders. So, this isn’t so much an obituary but more of a public service announcement.”

She also shared the obit to Facebook, and punctuated it with a line from The Wizard of Oz: “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”

Ms Novak told the Bangor Daily News she was “giggling to myself” while composing the obit.

She said she set out to write a traditional obituary, but kept drifting into sarcasm.

Ms Novak even considered listing the ways in which her mother wronged her relatives.

Ms Novak told the site she paid just over $86 for the picture-less obituary.

The ensuing entertainment, though, she said, was “priceless.”

This story was published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission

Originally published as ‘Witch is dead’: Daughter’s brutal obit for mum