News

Actions

Scathing obituary about great-grandmother goes viral: ‘Her presence will not be missed by many’

Posted at 9:57 AM, Jul 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-07 12:45:16-04

MURPHY, N.C. — A family is searching for the person responsible for writing a scathing obituary of a woman that said her “presence will not be missed by many.”

Cornelia June Rogers Miller died in February, WTVC reports. Nearly four months later, an obituary posted by the Cherokee Scout in Murphy, North Carolina, is making its way around social media.

Miller lived in Florida and had a summer home in Murphy.

The obituary reads, in part, “Drugs were a major love in her life as June had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. Please let June Miller’s life be a cautionary tale. Addiction and hatred are no es bueno for the living. We speak for the majority of her family when we say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed, and there will be no lamenting over her passing.”

Upset, Miller’s son Robert responded to the obituary, saying it’s untrue.

Robert blamed the writing on his sisters, although one sister said she didn’t write it and called the obituary tragic and sad.

After the obituary appeared, a viewer contacted WTVC to say it appeared that some sections of the obituary appear to have been plagiarized. Several sections are remarkably similar to the 2008 obituary for Dolores Aguilar ran in the Vallejo Times Herald in California.

“Unbelievable. [She] doesn’t even have the integrity to write something for herself – just goes out and steals something,” Miller told WTVC.

Cherokee Scout publisher David Brown told WTVC they haven’t pulled the obituary yet from the paper or from their online site, but it’s something they’re definitely considering.

You can read the entire obituary here.