# The Most Disgusting Obituary of All TIme **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 25, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831 "2002-06-25T04:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/1 "2002-06-25T04:30:10Z")
First, I invite you to read the following obituary as it appeared in the Austin American Statesman. [http://www.statesmanclassifieds.com/osform/MVCCService?osform\_template=/standard/resultDetail.oft&publication=austin&netgravityPublication=&category=AnnouncementsReligiousInMemoriam&queryString=PlMdjoPrjuPFzqPeYsI187d12Kmi57Io5czV2m](http://www.statesmanclassifieds.com/osform/MVCCService?osform_template=/standard/resultDetail.oft&publication=austin&netgravityPublication=&category=AnnouncementsReligiousInMemoriam&queryString=PlMdjoPrjuPFzqPeYsI187d12Kmi57Io5czV2m)…\_8QBIPQMczokUjgPUylnkYsrUyuOUjhMu6q1EGIBZWcINHKZKWI5GGC3g6qPr6FPejl5iJqZdJA0TYsIUG7d0G7m1kCz1YQeTfsei6AfeRs1CzA4rRAFCtFfefQBIPQMczokUjgPUylnEY9I18Kd12sIkOWBKHKIN2B59Od1azA4rRAFazANIsKG-&queryValues=Sg5dzqkdPQBd6K4dylPrRq3cfQBifFPrfQMSzl0vjQBiJq5byL4D6q5cSQBIPQMczokUjgPUylNSjhMu6q10OWBKHKIN2B59Od11OWNFGsrryABNz9ep&selectedCount=&resultCount=20&displayCount=20&sortOrder=descending&sortAttribute=startDate&queryStartElement=0&startElement=1&adIDs=7411&singleAd=true&queryResultCount=7&hideDirectory= Gosh, Mr. Amaya sounds like a wonderful man, doesn’t he? What the obituary FORGETS to tell you is WHY he’s “survived” by his wife Gloria: Because Gloria RECOVERED from the knife wounds David gave her! Their son wasn’t so lucky. The loving, warm father described in the obituary stabbed his son to death. He stabbed his wife repeatedly, then left her for dead. As the police were about to catch him, the scumbag killed himself. Now… I KNOW clerks at newspapers can’t be omniscient. When I die, friends can call the newspaper and tell them almost ANYTHING about me, however implausible (“Astorian was a devout Scientologist, a devoted Kenny G fan, and loved watching paint dry”), and clerks will probably just transcribe it without question. Still, the Amaya murder case was the #1 story in Austin, the front page story in the Statesman, the lead story on all local TV news shows. Wouldn’t you think SOMEBODY would question this obituary??? ---
**Author:** ![tigergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@tigergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tigergirl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/2 "2002-06-25T05:21:48Z")
As the obituary seems to be written by his parents, I can only assume that this is the worlds worst example of a Son-who-can-do-no-wrong. After writing something like this, they’d better watch out for a flying lawn chairs pitched by the (ex) wife I would imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/3 "2002-06-25T05:24:55Z")
Did I miss it, or did they not even mention the son he killed? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/4 "2002-06-25T05:29:24Z")
I don’t think it’s unreasonable. Should a family be denied the right to write a simple, decent obituary for their son just because he was an asshole? Or perhaps (and probably likely) mentally ill? Should they just up and forget him because his life ended in such a tragic way? I’m not saying I’m a fan of this dude, but really. Leave his family alone. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/5 "2002-06-25T05:39:20Z")
I work at the paper, and this is not an obituary. Obits are written by the funeral home (and not checked for accuracy at the paper), but this is what we call a “paid notice.” People can run them for whoever they want and say whatever they want. Usually they’re along the lines of “Dad, you’ve been gone ten years, we miss you.” Once I was posting these (I work on the Web site), and noticed that I was posting a paid notice for my college roommate. I hadn’t even known he’d died, five years earlier. Example: [http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/paid\_notices/article/0,1426,MCA\_660\_1226967,00.html](http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/paid_notices/article/0,1426,MCA_660_1226967,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/6 "2002-06-25T05:54:05Z")
I probably shouldn’t do this, but have a look at the on-line memorial. Weird. They must be moderated. [http://www.angelfuneralhome.com/obits.html](http://www.angelfuneralhome.com/obits.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/7 "2002-06-25T06:38:45Z")
I clicked the link that **Truth Seeker** provided. Just above the memorial to the fella mentioned in the OP is a memorial to his son. I hope that the memorial page is moderated, it is most inappropriate for anyone to use such a page to express hostile sentiments. As **friedo** said, Leave his family alone. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/8 "2002-06-25T06:51:00Z")
I think that perhaps somebody who would do what this guy did may have been mentally disturbed. In that case, both the killing he committed and his own death by suicide are truly tragic. It’s perhaps a little eerie to see something like that obit/ad/whatever-it-was, but you can’t begrudge the guy’s family for seeing the whole thing as one big tragedy that, in the end, took the life of their own son along with his victims. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/9 "2002-06-25T07:18:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > **Once I was posting these (I work on the Web site), and noticed that I was posting a paid notice for my college roommate. I hadn’t even known he’d died, five years earlier.** Wow, that sucks. My old friends just get married without telling me… although I cant really be sure. I think I’ll try to contact my college roommate now. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/10 "2002-06-25T11:57:57Z")
From the Bordens’ (Lizzie’s parents) obit: > [@](#): > > Died in her home at 92 Second Street, Fall River, Mass., on August 4, 1892, Abby D. Borden, second wife of Andrew Borden, age sixty-five; also died at eleven o’clock at the same time and place, Andrew Borden, age seventy. You won’t find the juicy details on the obits page. Thus it has always been. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/11 "2002-06-25T13:56:01Z")
Every time I click on this link, it crashes my browser. What’s the disgusting part? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/12 "2002-06-25T14:01:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by singular1 \* > Every time I click on this link, it crashes my browser. > What’s the disgusting part? The disgusting part is that it’s a glowing depiction of a “wonderful and loving father, son, brother, cousin, nephew, and friend, who was always ready to help others”, when the man tried to kill his wife, killed his son, and then killed himself. Apparently it was a big local headline, and his parents wrote an all-positive memorial in the paper for him that completely glosses over the tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/13 "2002-06-25T14:08:29Z")
The obit I can understand, but I thought the picture of the father and son on the funeral home memorial page was a bit… distasteful. Interesting that the son’s book has four pages of comments, and the father’s only has one. Another vote here for a moderated forum. ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/14 "2002-06-25T14:19:15Z")
I used to write obituaries for a local radio station. None of it is checked out. I just got the details from the mortuary and jazzed it up a little bit. I’ve got to say, though…this family is in total denial. Maybe that’s the only way they can keep from going nuts! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/15 "2002-06-25T15:46:02Z")
**Bobkitty** beat me to it. I can’t believe they put a picture of him with his son on that page. That’s just disgusting. Why not include the mother in the photo as well? I mean, sure, she’s not dead, but it would help strengthen the fact that they were a nice, happy family. I mean, before the whole divorce, restraining order, mureder/suicide thing. GOD, that’s horrible. I can see where the family is coming from. None of us know what the guy was like before all of this, he could have been a great guy, and as people who loved him, you want others to know that he did some decent things with his life. That’s understandible. If my child were every to die doing something vicious like this, I’d want others to know that they weren’t just some scum that didn’t contribute anything to society, they just fucked up bigtime, but there’s more to them than this. On the flipside though, no amount of flowery words could make up for such a horrible act. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/16 "2002-06-25T16:09:53Z")
you know what is really wierd? bobkitty posts, then immediatly after, we get the echokitty! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/17 "2002-06-25T17:19:47Z")
This is nothing new. A boyhood acquaintance of mine was shot to death by his girlfriend while he was in the process of beating her up for the umpteenth time. The obit said that he had “passed away suddenly. Survived by his special friend” the woman who had shot him. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/18 "2002-06-25T17:35:00Z")
The weirdest part of the obit for me was when it said “He was the life of our family…” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/19 "2002-06-25T17:39:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bobkitty \* > \*\*The obit I can understand, but I thought the picture of the father and son on the funeral home memorial page was a bit… distasteful. Interesting that the son’s book has four pages of comments, and the father’s only has one. Another vote here for a moderated forum. \*\* With regard to the picture, I’m astonished- The backdrop that is used makes it appear as though the child is being struck by lightning - a rather bizarre choice. 😕 I’m not so sure that the guest-book is moderated – I noticed that there’s a blank entry there, where someone had just hit the “submit” button without filling anything in. (Lazy scripting, but never mind.) I think that folks are relying on basic human decency to keep ranting or other abuse off the guest-book: With one or two regrettable exceptions, (I’m thinking of the Phelps mutation,) human beings are pretty sensitive about what’s appropriate behaviour around grieving families. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831/20 "2002-06-25T18:43:46Z")
[hyjack] I’m working on genealogy records for my family and I’ve come across relatives and situations that are less than desireable, shall we say. You still put down the date of birth, christening, marriage (if any) and death, and you put little comments in (even snide sometimes) in the comments section. The program I use allows for pictures, newspaper notices (obits), etc. Anyone reading just the dry dates is certainly going to miss a lot. 😃 [/hyjack] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgusting-obituary-of-all-time/115831.md?page=2)