A Canadian man is making headlines across the globe after his hilariously honest obituary for his “penny-pincher” mother went viral. Margaret Marilyn DeAdder passed away on January 19, 2021, at the age of 78.
Her award-winning cartoonist son Michael DeAdder didn’t hold back and began her obituary, which was published in Canadian newspaper The Chronicle Herald, by fondly remembering her as a “professional clipper of coupons, baker of cookies, terror behind the wheel, champion of the underdog, ruthless card player, and self-described Queen Bitch”.
He went on to say that Marilyn, as she was affectionately known, “loved all children who weren’t her own and loved her own children relative to how clean-shaven they were”, adding that, “she excelled at giving the finger, taking no shit and laughing at jokes, preferably in the shade of blue.”
Michael also listed his mother’s lifelong hobbies as “painting, quilting, baking, gardening, hiking and arson”.
“Marilyn loved tea and toast,” he wrote. “The one thing she loved more than tea and toast was reheated tea and toast. She reheated tea by simply turning on the burner – often forgetting about it. She burned many a teapot and caused smoke damage countless times, leaving her kids with the impression that fanning the smoke alarm was a step in brewing tea.”
He ended the obituary saying she’s survived by her “three ungrateful sons… whose names she never got completely right”, grand-daughters who “could do no wrong”, and a brother “who still owes her $600”.
“While her sons grew up on root vegetables and powdered milk (funnelled directly into the bag to hide the fact that it was powdered, fooling nobody), her grand-daughters were fed mountains of sugary snacks as far as the eye could see, including her world-famous cookies and cinnamon rolls,” he wrote.
“Marilyn is also survived by an incredible number of close friends, who cannot be named for fear of missing somebody.”
And it didn’t take long before Michael’s funny obituary sent the internet into a frenzy, with the majority saying they had never read an obituary like it before.
Twitter user @mchughgrudic wrote, “Very well-written. Your mom [sic] must have been one-of-a-kind. Lucky you. Deepest condolences.”
And @MRCANADAONE added, “Sounds like your mom [sic] was an awesome lady. Sorry for your loss.” While @GordonStevensNS commented, “Was just reading this in hard copy. Very sorry for your loss, but grateful to have stumbled across the obituary, which is one of the best I’ve ever read. She must have been a wonderful woman with a tremendous sense of humour.”
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