No Love Lost Here

Texas man’s family writes savage obituary on his passing, refuses to hold funeral

Sara Gonzales 7 hours

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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A Texas man’s obituary has gone viral, but not for reasons that reflect kindly on him or his life’s work.

Leslie Ray “Popeye” Charming of Galveston, Texas, apparently didn’t earn the respect of his family throughout his 74-year-long life before he died of cancer on January 30. His family didn’t hold back in his lengthy obituary, which was originally displayed on the Carnes Funeral Home website.

“Leslie Ray ‘Popeye’ Charping was born in Galveston on November 20, 1942 and passed away January 30, 2017, which was 29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved.  Leslie battled with cancer in his latter years and lost his battle, ultimately due to being the horses ass he was known for,” the obituary read. “He leaves behind 2 relieved children; a son Leslie Roy Charping and daughter, Shiela Smith along with six grandchildren and countless other victims including an ex wife, relatives, friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses and random strangers.”

Sparing no feelings, the obituary went on to describe Charping’s earlier years, criticizing both his lifestyle and parenting skills.  “At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive,” it said.

The obituary mentioned Charping’s military service, but expressed it was certainly not for love of country, but to get out of a prison sentence instead. “Leslie enlisted to serve in the Navy, but not so much in a brave & patriotic way but more as part of a plea deal to escape sentencing on criminal charges,” the obituary read. “While enlisted, Leslie was the Navy boxing champion and went on to sufficiently embarrass his family and country by spending the remainder of his service in the Balboa Mental Health Hospital receiving much needed mental healthcare services.”

It went on to describe Charping’s history of wasting his family’s money and even being abusive. “Leslie was surprisingly intelligent, however he lacked ambition and motivation to do anything more than being reckless, wasteful, squandering the family savings and fantasizing about get rich quick schemes.  Leslie’s hobbies included being abusive to his family, expediting trips to heaven for the beloved family pets and fishing, which he was less skilled with than the previously mentioned.”

And though the obituary was penned, the family made it clear there would be no funeral services for Charping. They also made clear their intentions with his cremated ashes. “With Leslie’s passing he will be missed only for what he never did; being a loving husband, father and good friend.  No services will be held, there will be no prayers for eternal peace and no apologizes to the family he tortured.  Leslie’s remains will be cremated and kept in the barn until ‘Ray,’ the family donkey’s wood shavings run out.  Leslie’s passing proves that evil does in fact die and hopefully marks a time of healing and safety for all,” it concluded.

Since the release of the obituary and the attention the family has received, one of the family members who helped craft the obituary gave a statement to KTRK-TV, on condition of anonymity. She explained that the family made the decision to publish the obituary, primarily to bring closure and also bring attention to domestic violence issues:

“I wrote my father’s obituary. I loved my father because he was my father and his passing would not have been any less difficult had he been a good father. As someone that ‘hated a liar’, I believe even he would have appreciated the honesty. I apologize to anyone that my father hurt and I felt it would have been offensive to portray him as anything other than who he was. This obituary was intended to help bring closure because not talking about domestic violence doesn’t make it go away!

Thank you to those that have offered sincere condolences, understanding and prayers for our family, your words bring comfort. I am happy for those that simply do not understand, this means you had good parent(s) — please treasure what you have.

Although I appreciate everyone’s concern, it would have been much more appreciated at any time during my childhood. For those being cruel, please remember that you now resemble my father and I would be more than happy to pen your obituary as well.”

The full obituary can be read below:

“Leslie Ray ‘Popeye’ Charping was born in Galveston on November 20, 1942 and passed away January 30, 2017, which was 29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved.  Leslie battled with cancer in his latter years and lost his battle, ultimately due to being the horses ass he was known for.  He leaves behind 2 relieved children; a son Leslie Roy Charping and daughter, Shiela Smith along with six grandchildren and countless other victims including an ex wife, relatives, friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses and random strangers.

“At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive.  Leslie enlisted to serve in the Navy, but not so much in a brave &patriotic way but more as part of a plea deal to escape sentencing on criminal charges.  While enlisted, Leslie was the Navy boxing champion and went on to sufficiently embarrass his family and country by spending the remainder of his service in the Balboa Mental Health Hospital receiving much needed mental healthcare services.

“Leslie was surprisingly intelligent, however he lacked ambition and motivation to do anything more than being reckless, wasteful, squandering the family savings and fantasizing about get rich quick schemes.  Leslie’s hobbies included being abusive to his family, expediting trips to heaven for the beloved family pets and fishing, which he was less skilled with than the previously mentioned.  Leslie’s life served no other obvious purpose, he did not contribute to society or serve his community and he possessed no redeeming qualities besides quick whited sarcasm which was amusing during his sober days.

“With Leslie’s passing he will be missed only for what he never did; being a loving husband, father and good friend.  No services will be held, there will be no prayers for eternal peace and no apologizes to the family he tortured.  Leslie’s remains will be cremated and kept in the barn until ‘Ray,’ the family donkey’s wood shavings run out.  Leslie’s passing proves that evil does in fact die and hopefully marks a time of healing and safety for all.”