But on Wednesday afternoon of January 22nd a young boy by the name of W. Doyle Driver made his way quickly down Cervantes Street on his bicycle. He worked as a telegram delivery boy after school for Mr. Mahlon Henry Luff, the manager of the Western Union Company at 126 South Palafox Street. Mr. Luff had a telephone at his office, but chose not to use it for a situation as grave as the one outlined in the telegram. With that in mind the boy cautiously knocked on Idelette’s door and delivered the telegram exactly as Mr. Luff instructed him to do. Idelette opened the door and took the telegram from the young boy. After reading its horrible news she sent the boy to her husband’s law firm to deliver the telegram. Upon arrival, Richard read the crumpled message, which stated that their daughter Virginia was seriously ill with typhoid fever. He hurried home and found his wife packing to rush to their daughter’s side as quickly as possible. They sent word to John of his sister’s illness before proceeding to the L&N depot where Idelette caught the next available train for South Carolina. Richard kissed his wife goodbye and told her to contact him as soon as she had seen to Virginia’s condition.
At first Virginia seemed to be recovering, so Richard remained in Pensacola knowing his daughter was in the very best hands. But suddenly, on Friday, January 31st he received another telegram stating that Virginia had taken a turn for the worse and to come as quickly as possible. Richard dropped everything he was doing and caught the next train out of town. The train left the L&N depot and chugged slowly out of Pensacola heading north to Flomaton junction. In Flomaton, he changed trains and headed north to the hub in Montgomery. Another change of trains heading northeast took him through towns such as West Point, LaGrange, Hoganville, Newnan, and into East Point, which was the terminus of the line. There another change of trains took him through the Appalachian foothills of northeast Georgia and finally into Spartanburg. As soon as he arrived, he rushed to his daughter’s room where her grieving mother was firmly entrenched by her bed. However, he found Virginia incoherent as the fever ravaged her mind and body. Richard tried to temper his wife’s terror and at the same time soothe his daughter with his kind words as he wiped her burning forehead with a cool wet rag. But all he could do was watch his daughter wilt away in front of his eyes. He couldn’t help but think of another eighteen year old girl named Maude Majors who lay in this very same predicament only eight years before.
Finally, as the two grief stricken parents held each of her hands, they watched in horror as Virginia slipped away from them at 10:00 that Saturday morning on February 1, 1919. When final arrangements were complete, the grieving couple boarded a south bound train and escorted their daughter’s body back to Pensacola where it lay in state at their home on East LaRua Street. On February 3rd at 4:00 PM, they all accompanied the hearse from their church to St. Johns Cemetery to attend the graveside services just before sunset. Reverend Alexander S. Moffett conducted the funeral services and then he and his wife accompanied the family back to their home before leaving them to their everlasting grief. Richard would later become the Judge of the Court of Record in 1938 where he would serve until his death on August 1, 1941. He was buried in St. John's Cemetery where he was joined by Idellete in 1959.
Grave of Richard and Idelette West Reese, St. John's Cemetery