After posting an angry obituary that accused a deceased woman and other individuals of committing a wide variety of atrocities, the publisher decided to remove the post from the internet.
There is now an error page for Linda Lernal Harvey Cullum Smith Stull’s obituary whenever you try to access it.
According to Gayle Harvey Heckman, who wrote the obituary and was also the woman’s daughter, she expressed her desire to clean her reputation in a phone conversation with the Sturgis Journal.
She said that her mother had to find an excuse that didn’t make her seem like a monster for the last 24 years to explain why her daughter wasn’t in her life. Heckman said her name needed to be reclaimed.
Though Heckman and her husband made just two phone calls to the publisher, Heckman expressed disappointment after the obituary was removed. She also said that she had thought the newspaper would have contacted her beforehand to let her know if there was a problem.
According to a report, Heckman then directed her wrath toward the newspaper that deleted the critical article, accusing the outlet of safeguarding child abusers.
Among the many accusations leveled against the woman in the lengthy obituary published after her death on December 12th are that she lied to Heckman about her biological father and allowed sexual abuse on her. The obituary states that Lernal was a harsh, angry, and spiteful mother. She assaulted Heckman in many ways, including physically, emotionally, intellectually, verbally, and financially.
An ex-husband of her mother’s was named in the obituary as one of the accused abusers. According to the obituary, Lernal falsely accused Gayle of attempting to ‘steal’ her husband. She then brutally attacked her.
At the conclusion of the obituary, Gayle and her household expressed their forgiveness to Lernal and wished her peace. They wanted to find tranquility. But everyone agreed that the world is a better place without Lernal.
According to Heckman, penning the obituary was cathartic. She said that many came forward with their accounts of abuse and that survivors shouldn’t stay quiet.
Heckman said people left their support and love on the internet, and the void in her heart was beginning to be filled.
