Woman who wrote brutal obit says she meant every word
GALVESTON COUNTY (KTRK) -- An obituary for a Galveston County man has gone viral, but not because of the kind words written about his life.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Galveston man's obituary: 'his life served no obvious purpose'
"I told the truth. I am not sorry for telling the truth, and I am not sorry for standing up for myself," explained Sheila Smith.
Smith's father, Leslie Ray Charping, died of cancer last month. But he wasn't a good man. He served time in prison and was, by several accounts, both physically and verbally abusive. So, Smith wrote a scathing obituary for her father, calling him evil and offensive.
"For someone that knew him and family members that knew him and to see something on there was a complete lie would've been an insult to everyone that he did bad things to," Smith explained. "I couldn't write that in good conscience because it's not going to bring closure to anyone or to myself."
The obituary has been so popular it even crashed the funeral home's website.
Smith has received thousands of positive and negative reactions.
"When you don't talk about it and you don't acknowledge the problem even exists, it just grows," she said. "It's not going to stop until people say, 'this is a problem' and they talk about it.
In case you were wondering, Smith is paying for her father's cremation.
Charping didn't have any insurance.
You can read the obituary here:
Leslie Ray "Popeye" Charping was born in Galveston on November 20, 1942 and passed away January 30, 2017, which was 29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved. Leslie battled with cancer in his latter years and lost his battle, ultimately due to being the horses ass he was known for. He leaves behind 2 relieved children; a son Leslie Roy Charping and daughter, Shiela Smith along with six grandchildren and countless other victims including an ex wife, relatives, friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses and random strangers.
At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive. Leslie enlisted to serve in the Navy, but not so much in a brave & patriotic way but more as part of a plea deal to escape sentencing on criminal charges. While enlisted, Leslie was the Navy boxing champion and went on to sufficiently embarrass his family and country by spending the remainder of his service in the Balboa Mental Health Hospital receiving much needed mental healthcare services.
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. 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. 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 whited sarcasm which was amusing during his sober days.
With Leslie's passing he will be missed only for what he never did; being a loving husband, father and good friend. No services will be held, there will be no prayers for eternal peace and no apologies to the family he tortured. Leslie's remains will be cremated and kept in the barn until "Ray", the family donkey's wood shavings run out. Leslie's passing proves that evil does in fact die and hopefully marks a time of healing and safety for all.
