‘NO JOKE’

Daughter’s Savage Obit for Mom Who ‘Terrorized’ Goes Viral

Christina Novak said her four-sentence obituary for her late mother, Florence Harrelson, was a “PSA” about a woman who “burnt bridges.”

Christina Novak, daughter of Florence Harrelson, told People magazine that the jaw-dropping obituary she wrote for her mother is “no joke” after it went viral. Published in Augusta, Maine’s Kennebec Journal, Novak said her four- sentence farewell was meant to serve as a “PSA” for a woman who “burnt bridges.” Florence “Flo” Harrelson died at 65 on Feb. 22, 2024, “without family by her side due to burnt bridges and a wake of destruction left in her path,” the obituary reads. “Florence did not want an obituary or anyone including family to know she died. That’s because even in death, she wanted those she terrorized to still be living in fear looking over their shoulders.” Although her words were “written with sarcasm and relief,” Novak, 47, said her claims were “no joke.” She added, “It’s real.” Novak said Harrelson, a former Maine State Prison corrections officer, was gone for a whole two months before anyone knew she was dead. Her family only discovered she passed because Novak saw her death notice online from a crematorium. “I messaged my aunt, her identical twin sister, and I’m like, ‘Did Mom die?’ And she’s like, ‘I don’t know,’” Novak added.