A local newspaper is facing backlash after refusing to publish a grandmother’s obituary that states President Trump “hastened” her death.
Frances Irene Finley Williams died on Nov. 21, a day before Thanksgiving, at the age of 87. Her daughter, Cathy Duff, included Frances’ strong political beliefs in her obituary, which stated, “Her passing was hastened by her continued frustration with the Trump administration.” It was supposed to run on Dec. 24 in their local paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal.
“I just felt like, along with everything else that was in there, that was a vital part of her personality and something she expressed with me over the last few months — just like she expressed she felt strongly about a dress code for funerals,” Duff told the Washington Post.
The Courier-Journal declined to publish the $1,684 obituary unless the political line was removed, citing it as “negative content.”
Duff and her brother Art Williams took their grievances to Facebook.
Frances and her husband, Bruce WilliamsCourtesy of Art Williams“I was, and still am, dumbfounded, surprised, but most of all disappointed,” Williams wrote in a post on Jan. 5. “My mom would have been offended.”
On Tuesday, Laurie Bolle, director of sales for Gannett’s West Group, which owns the Courier-Journal, apologized to the family in a column.
“In this political climate we now find ourselves, partisanship should have no role in deciding what gets included in an obituary that captures a loved one’s life — especially one as amazing as what Mrs. Williams led,” Bolle wrote. “I’m certain she is missed greatly by those who loved her. We send the family our deepest condolences and apologies.”
But even with all the turmoil this has caused, Duff is taking solace in the fact that it has gotten people to talk more about politics.
“It’s getting people talking about something that was really important to her,” Duff said.
