On Tuesday, the Reno Gazette-Journal published the obituary of Marianna Theresa Johnson-Reddick. The obituary was written by Marianne's daughter, but was not one of tears, grief or gratitude. Instead, the obituary was a scathing nine-sentence attack on the mother.

The obituary reads:

"Marianne Theresa John­son-Reddick born Jan 4, 1935 and died alone on Sept. 30, 2013. She is sur­vived by her 6 of 8 children whom she spent her lifetime torturing in every way pos­sible. While she neglected and abused her small chil­dren, she refused to allow anyone else to care or show compassion towards them. When they became adults she stalked and tortured anyone they dared to love. Everyone she met, adult or child was tortured by her cruelty and exposure to violence, criminal activity, vulgarity, and hatred of the gentle or kind human spirit.

On behalf of her children whom she so abrasively ex­posed to her evil and vio­lent life, we celebrate her passing from this earth and hope she lives in the after­life reliving each gesture of violence, cruelty, and shame that she delivered on her children. Her surviv­ing children will now live the rest of their lives with the peace of knowing their nightmare finally has some form of closure.

Most of us have found peace in helping those who have been exposed to child abuse and hope this message of her final passing can re­vive our message that abus­ing children is unforgive­able, shameless, and should not be tolerated in a "hu­mane society". Our greatest wish now, is to stimulate a national movement that mandates a purposeful and dedicated war against child abuse in the United States of America."

Marianna actually died on Aug. 30 at age 78 in a Reno nursing home called ManorCare Healh Services. Her cause of death is unknown, but she had bladder cancer and was a ward of the state.

The obituary's author, Katherine Reddick, 57, was not in contact with her mother when she died.

According to Katherine, she and her brother moved from California to Las Vegas and eventually ended up in a Carson City orphanage. She said her mother, as well as various foster parents, abused them for years. Katherine allegedly slept on the floors of different places while her Marianna ran an escort business.

Patrick, 58, Katherine's brother, said his sister and he thought about writing the scathing obituary when they heard she died. Since the obituary's publishing, the piece has gone viral, something the Reddick siblings did not predict.

"People may see this as something we did to shame our mother, but this is to bring shame to the issue of child abuse," Patrick said in an interview with Reno Gazette-Journal. "I want every single person to realize this could be your obituary."

Between 1963 and 1964, six of Marianna's children entered Nevada Children's Home, a Carson City orphanage.

In the 1980s, Katherine and Patrick testified against their mother at the Nevada Legislature regarding bills of child abuse and elimination of parental rights. Marianna's rights were never taken away.

"It was something that could have given us a life," Patrick said. "How do you let a child live in foster care for 14, 15 or more years?"

The obituary ran in the Reno Gazette-Journal on Tuesday and went on its web site. Apparently, obituaries posted through the newspaper are submitted through a self-service online portal. Since then, the obituary has been removed from Reno Gazette-Journal's online obituary page.

"We've removed the online listing of this obituary as we continue our review of the circumstances surrounding its placement," John Maher, Reno Gazette-Journal president and publisher, said in a note to readers. "Once we've completed our review, we'll determine what, if any, further actions are required.

Not much is known about Marianna. When the mother entered the hospital, she told doctors she lived with 13 cats in a trailer in Reno.  She also told doctors that she was raised by nuns and priests and "was a sister of Good Shepherd for 8 years." Afterwards, she said she got married and some of her children died.

"The other children went their way," Marianna said in the psychiatric evaluation record. "I went my own way."

Doctors determined that Marianna had dementia, a mood disorder and poor memory and judgment.

Articles from Reno Gazette-Journal's archives detail her applying for a license to run an escort service, and opening Ace Secretarial and Printing Services and Academy Personnel Agency Inc., which was subsequently ordered by the state to stop discriminating against job applicants due to race.

Toward the end of her life, Lance van Lydegraf, Marianna's attorney had trouble finding family members to take care of her.

"We would try and locate family members who would be willing to step in and act as her legal guardian for purposes of medical care and financial issues," the lawyer told Reno Gazette-Journal. "In fulfilling those responsibilities, she indicated that there was no one that I could contact."

"The things she did to us were horrible, but it's still happening to kids every day" Katherine said. "You can imagine that the lives we lived. It has been hard to have a normal one."