Obituary Sheds Light on Family Feud in Florida

Obituaries typically give surviving family and friends the opportunity to honor the deceased in a public forum. However, one man in Florida placed an obituary for his mother with the intention of insulting his siblings and revealing a long standing family feud.  

“A.J.” Anello included the following line in his mother’s obituary:  “She is survived by her Son, ‘A.J.’, who loved and cared for her; Daughter ‘Ninfa’, who betrayed her trust, and Son ‘Peter’, who broke her heart.” A.J. told the Tampa Bay Times that he was following his mother’s wishes by including the insults in the obituary. A.J. claimed that Ninfa and her husband took Josie’s social security checks to go on vacations.

Ninfa Simpson later told the Tampa Bay Times that A.J. became controlling over their mother after their father died and that Peter had been estranged from the family for twenty-five years. Ninfa also claimed that A.J. took his mother’s savings and maxed out her credit cards.

For more on this story, see Josie Anello: Obituary Reveals Florida Family’s Feud, The Huffington Post, Feb. 23, 2012. 

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Attorney at law, Florida Probate Attorney Wills and Estates Law Firm) for bringing this article to my attention.