My dad lived much longer than he deserved: Family writes savage, brutally honest obituary for kin

 The eulogy read in part. “Leslie was surprisingly intelligent, however he lacked ambition and motivation to do anything more than being reckless

Kenyans are known to big lairs, even at funerals. It is common to hear Kenyans glowingly eulogise even the worst of human being, like hard-core gangsters, rapists, thieves and related miscreants. Many other people across the world are fond of the same.

That, however, was not the case with one family in Texas, US. They slammed one of their dead family members in an obituary that has gone viral and arguably the most brutal and honest ever written. And perhaps to prove how fed up they were with the deceased, besides writing the savage eulogy, they refused to hold a funeral to ensure he gets a decent send off.

In the scathing death notice, the family wrote that the 74-year-old’s life was ‘much longer than he deserved’.

Leslie Ray Charping died in late January, according to his obituary. The 74-year-old’s brutally frank remembrance stated that that was “29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved.” The obituary was posted to Carnes Funeral Home website, according to multiple news outlets.

According to the obit, Leslie left behind two “relieved” children — a son and daughter — along with “countless other victims including an ex-wife, relatives, friends, neighbours, doctors, nurses and random strangers.”

The eulogy read in part. “Leslie was surprisingly intelligent, however he lacked ambition and motivation to do anything more than being reckless, wasteful, squandering the family savings and fantasizing about get rich quick schemes,” it said.

“Leslie’s hobbies included being abusive to his family, expediting trips to heaven for the beloved family pets and fishing, which he was less skilled with than the previously mentioned.”

Domestic violence

It continued: “Leslie’s life served no other obvious purpose, he did not contribute to society or serve his community and he possessed no redeeming qualities besides quick [witted] sarcasm which was amusing during his sober days.”

The daughter to Leslie who wrote the obituary told local press that she was just being honest. “I am not sorry for telling the truth, and I am not sorry for standing up for myself,” she said.

“At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanising and being generally offensive... Leslie’s passing proves that evil does in fact die and hopefully marks a time of healing and safety for all.”

According to the original obituary, Leslie was cremated and is currently being kept in the family barn. If the idea of speaking ill of the dead disturbs you, Leslie’s daughter, the obit’s author, assures you you’re fortunate to miss the point. “I am happy for those that simply do not understand, this means you had good parent(s) -- please treasure what you have,” she told the press.

“I apologise to anyone that my father hurt and I felt it would have been offensive to portray him as anything other than who he was,” she also said. “This obituary was intended to help bring closure because not talking about domestic violence doesn’t make it go away!”

Court records indicate that indeed Leslie pleaded guilty in 1979 to an assault charge on a relative. He also pleaded guilty in 2008 to assault; pouring hot liquid on his then-wife of 40 years.

The next year he pleaded guilty to violating the resulting restraining order by calling another family member and threatening to kill her.