Sympathy Saturday

    Sympathy Saturday will be where I share the obituaries and my condolences for members of my family tree who passed recently.  When you get to be a certain age, you begin to read the obituaries every day.  As the days go by, you read about more and more of your friends and family members who have died.  You compare their age to your own and get a jolt. "That could have been me." 

    For genealogists, checking obituaries and visiting cemeteries is as normal as breathing. I learn so much from an obituary, i.e., maiden names, parents' names; children's' and grandchildren's' names, funeral and burial locations, sometimes even a cause of death.  I want to learn these things not for any purpose but to put it on the family tree for future generations to see and learn about the family that went before them. I admit, most of these relatives I have never met, but I think it is important to share that they were here on this Earth, and they were important.

    So I am signed up with at least three funerals homes from Swainsboro, Vidalia, and Wrightsville to get daily notices of obituaries sent to my email.  Every day, I peruse them and with the help of the family tree, figure out who is related to me and add any new information to the tree.    Some weeks there are several, and some weeks there are none. This week there is someone who actually passed away a few weeks ago.

Official Obituary of

Danny Beasley

October 28, 1946 - May 29, 2026

Danny Beasley, 79 of Panama City passed away on May 29, 2026. He was born on October 28, 1946, in Emanuel County, Georgia.

He proudly served his country in the United States Air Force as an aircraft mechanic. Following his military service, he dedicated 35 years to Lockheed Martin, where he retired as a respected launch supervisor.

A passionate musician, he was a founding member of Danny and The Breakaway Band and shared his love of music with countless audiences over a span of more than 60 years, continuing to play as recently as last year.

He was also a proud member of both AM Vets and VFW, reflecting his lifelong commitment to service and community.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Mary Beasley; parents, Hilmer and Mary Beasley.

Those left to cherish his memory are his son, Bryan C. Beasley; grandson, Brendan C. Beasley; nephews, Richie Breedlove and Nathan Foskey. He is also remembered by his sister, Donna and husband Hugh Foskey, along with 100’s of friends.

A Final Farewell will be held Thursday, June 4, 2026, from 2:00 until 3:00 pm. Mr. Beasley will be laid to rest in the Parker Cemetery on Friday, June 5, 2026, at 2:00 pm.

Heritage Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Danny Beasley.

    - https://www.heritagefhllc.com/obituaries/Danny-Beasley?obId=48559337

    When this obituary showed up in my inbox, I had no idea that I was related to him.  However, I always read obituaries carefully because a clue could be in any name mentioned, i.e., parents, grand-parents, siblings, in-laws, etc.  That is what happened here.  Nothing was clicking until I saw his brother-in-law's name. It sounded familiar.  Sure enough, he was in my family tree - related to me through the Drakes. This lead me to do some more digging and checking with my knowledgeable cousin, Loraine, and I discovered that I am also related to him and his sister through my Page line!  Believe me, it is a small world in Emanuel and Johnson counties!  

Please join me in offering condolences to Danny's family and holding them in the light.

Friday's Faces from the Past

 

Isaac B Bush

1777-1836

Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina, USA

Wedding Wednesday

 

German Washington 'George' Gardner

10 May 1866 - 18 Jun 1938

on his wedding day with his second wife,

Susie Patrick

07 Aug 1883 - 14 Jan 1970

They were married on April 22, 1910 in Clinton, Hinds, Mississippi, USA

George's first wife and the mother of his 7 children had been dead for only 2 months when he remarried.  

Newspapers.com, Simpson County News, Mendenhall, Mississippi, Thursday, April 21, 1910, Page 5.

Tombstone Tuesday

 

Elizabeth Dora "Lizzie" Morris Campbell

04 Mar 1928 - 23 May 1972

and her husband,

George P. Campbell

14 Jun 1922 - 20 May 1972

West View Cemetery,

Wrightsville, Johnson, Georgia, USA

photo taken by Liz Tapley, 08 Sep 2013

Mappy Monday

 

Johnson County Highway Map, 1932, State Highway Board of Georgia, Held by Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia, Digital Collection: County Maps, Surveyor General, RG 3-9-66

    My family's roots run deep in Johnson County, Georgia.  Since it's Monday, I thought I would try to show a map of  the general areas where three of my ancestral families settled.

    My branch of the Tapley family lived near Fortner Mill Pond which is near Powell's Chapel United Methodist Church. As a matter of fact, that area was named Powell on census records.  This area is between Kite and Bartow (Jefferson County) off Highway 221.  The land had originally belonged to the Solomon Page family but when my great-grandparents married - Jim Tapley and Becky Page, it became Tapley land.  Each one of their married children was given a plot of land so they were all neighbors.  

    My Drake family was from Adrian. Now Adrian straddles the Johnson and Emanuel County lines.  Some Drakes lived in each county, but my line - the children of James William Drake and Mary Ann Brantley - were born and spent their childhoods in Emanuel County.  Unfortunately, I do not know where their land was exactly.  They attended Poplar Springs Church which is in Johnson County.  

    George Schwalls settled outside of Kite near the Tom community.  He and his family attended Minton Chapel church and many are buried there. I do not know the location of their homeplace. Since George is my biggest brick wall, and my friend says he was a spy, I guess way out in the country in Johnson  County is as good a place as any to hide.  

Sunday's Obituary

Randel Gorden Wheeler

July 3, 1956-January 17, 2026

Kite, GA

Kite, GA- Randel Gorden Wheeler, 69, entered into rest January 17, 2026.

Randel was the son of the late Dudley and Sara “Liz” Wheeler and graduated from Butler High School. He enjoyed all types of racing from dirt track, drag racing, and NASCAR. He was an accomplished bowler who had over two 300 games and competed in leagues for many years. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing but most of all he loved his family.

Family members include his children: Tracy Stubblefield and Randy Wheeler (April); grandchildren: Macie Barela (Paul), Shawn Ford, Wyatt Wheeler, Ellie Kate Wheeler, and Gordon Wheeler; brother: Ronnie Wheeler (Wanda); longtime partner and friend: Maye Lowers; and numerous extended family members.

The family will receive friends on Monday, February 2, 2026 from 5:00 until 7:00 P.M. at Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 364-8484. Please sign the guestbook at www.thomaspoteet.com.  Obituary courtesy of Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, www.thomaspoteet.com/obituaries/randel-wheeler

    Nowadays, a LOT of the obituaries I find in my research are online from the funeral homes' sites, especially recent obituaries.  I always check Newspapers.com (a paid site that I have a subscription to) first, but if the obituary is from the last, I don't know, 10 years or so OR it's in a newspaper that is not on Newspapers.com, like the Augusta newspaper, I will not find it.  

    That's when I do a general Google search with the person's name, indicate it's an obituary I am looking for, the year and the state when and where the person died. Most of the time, if nothing else comes up in my results, Legacy.com will.  

    I also have an automatic Google search that goes out and searches for the Tapley and other family names daily and sends me the results.  I am signed up with several funeral homes to receive obituaries every day.  So it is rare that an obituary gets by me.  Oh, it happens, but I catch most of them.  

    I do not recall how I found out about Randy Wheeler passing away.  I did not know Randy, but he was my cousin, and when I found they were having a visitation here in Augusta, I decided to attend.  That's actually a bold move for me.  I don't usually "crash" funerals or visitations, but something told me this was the time.  I enlisted my cousin, Keith, to go with me.  He is always up for meeting people.

    And... it turned out to be a great experience.  We met Randy's son and his wife, his daughter, his grandson, and his brother and sister-in-law.  They were all so gracious and seemed genuinely glad we came.  As soon as we said we were family, we were welcomed.  I am grateful for that reaction and so glad we decided to go.  

    The lesson for me that I have to keep re-learning?  Push myself out of my comfort zone and good things can happen.

Friday's Faces from the Past

 

Laney Alice Minton Tapley

1869-1937

Thriller Thursday

     Today's story is a sad one.  Of course, when there is a death, it is always sad.  However, this one seems to be a case of domestic violence that left a young girl (a baby, really) without her parents.  

    Allen Thomas Brantley was 32 years old and lived in Dublin, Georgia when he died.  He was married to Dawn Elizabeth Fordham and they had a little girl.  He was a veteran of the Air Force and a former police officer.  He was a police officer in both Soperton and Dublin for 12 years.  He had just left the force a year earlier.  At the time of his death, he was a sales rep for an industrial contracting company (or as the newspaper article terms it, "a local machine and tool shop) in Dublin.

    Dawn worked at a Dublin furniture store.

    From the outside looking in, they were just a normal couple, working hard to provide for their family.  

    During the early morning hours of Sunday, April 6, 1997, Allen shot and killed his wife, Dawn.  He called his sister to come get his child.  Then he killed himself.  

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, Monday, April 07, 1997, Page 3

    Both Allen and Dawn were buried on the same day in separate cemeteries. However, they were mentioned in each other's obituaries.    

    This is the only article I found about the incident, so I do not know if anyone ever knew what happened that night to drive Allen to do this.  I share these stories, not to revel in the thriller aspect; I share them to show that our ancestors and outlying family are/were just people, with happiness, depression, joy, trauma, love, and anger during their lives.

Wedding Wednesday

 

"MISS SHARON LA VERNE RICKERSON, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Rickerson, whose engagement to Mr. Thomas Randall Woodall, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Woodall, has been announced by her parents. The wedding will be March 1st at the St. Claude Heights Methodist Church." - Transcription by Google Gemini

"MRS. THOMAS RANDALL WOODALL, the former Miss Sharon LaVerne Rickerson, who was married at St. Claude Heights Methodist Church on Saturday, March 1, 1969. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Pierce Rickerson, Sr., of Arabi. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Woodall, of Chalmette." - Transcription by Google Gemini

Thomas Randall Woodall Sr

and

Sharon La Verne Rickerson (1950-2010)

were united in marriage

March 1, 1969

St. Claude Heights Methodist Church,

Arabi, St Bernard, Louisiana, USA

Tombstone Tuesday

 

Leon Faron Lampp Jr

1956-1996

Buried at Savannah Valley Memorial Gardens

Thomson, McDuffie, Georgia, USA

Military Monday

    Military Monday posts are made to honor those in my family tree who have served in the United States military.

George Washington 'G.W.' Tapley

1937-2016

Sgt, U.S. Army, Korea and Vietnam

Sunday's Obituary

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph,
Macon, Georgia, Saturday, July 07, 1956, Page 9

Tabitha "Bosh" Tapley Lampp

b. 10 Mar 1875 in Johnson County, Georgia, USA

d. 03 July 1956 in Louisville, Jefferson, Georgia, USA

Chosen Family

     The story goes that when I was about two years old, my father was sitting in a restaurant, probably drinking coffee.  A waitress fainted and my dad caught her before she hit the floor.  Thus began the friendship between our family and the Adkinsons, i.e., Robert and Colene, and their children, Mike, Vickie, Faye, and Becky.  I was seven years younger than their youngest daughter, Becky.  

    They lived only about 25 minutes from us over the state line in South Carolina.  The families vacationed together; ate together; shared birthdays and holidays together (which we still do now that I have moved back to Georgia); took many Sunday afternoon shopping trips together; etc., etc. Even when we moved to Florida and then back to Georgia in Swainsboro, we still visited and did things with them.  They have been a part of my life nearly my entire life.  

    One of my earliest memories is Colene and Robert picking me up and taking me with them to Six Flags.  Most of my memories involve the Adkinsons.  Even when I grew up and moved away from home, Colene never missed my birthday, and almost every time I came home, I visited them.  Colene and I wrote letters and when I called, we always said "I love you" before hanging up the phone.  The Adkinsons are our chosen family.  

    Colene passed away yesterday at the ago of 90.  She had Alzheimer's so she really hasn't been with us ever since I moved back.  Sometimes I thought she knew who Mom and I were; other times not.  But she was still Colene with the witty, sharp tongue and the looks she gave.  I am grateful I got to see her on Saturday for one last visit.  She didn't know I was there as far as I know, but I was able to tell her how much she meant to me.  How so many of my memories include her.  I am grateful she is at peace now, but I sure do miss her already.  

Colene
This is probably about how she looked when she met my father.

    Colene was a spitfire.  I was always in awe of her because she was the only person I knew who would stand up to my father.  I remember we were camping with them once, and she was making sandwiches.  Daddy said something, and Colene cooly replied, "You can eat it or you can wear it!" No one else ever got by with talking to him like that.  

From left: Faye, Vickie, Becky and me (about age 3).
This was a vacation to Florida the families took together.

Colene at her dining room table.
I cannot tell you how many meals I have eaten at that table.

Here I am at that very table, celebrating
my 10th birthday.

Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina
Another vacation and with the next generation.
Front: my niece, Missi, and Colene and Robert's
grandson, Kenny;
Back: Colene's niece, Angela, my mom, me
(probably about 14), and my nephew, Harry Jr. 

Colene and Robert Adkinson
about 2005

Thriller Thursday - The McDonald's Murders

    My cousin Keith and I rode down to Dublin this week to visit a couple of cemeteries.  When I go on a trip like that, I print out a report from Family Tree Maker listing everyone in my family tree that is buried in the particular cemetery I plan to visit.  I indicate on the report how I am related to them, who they are descended from (because Keith always asks me, and I can never remember!), their married name for women, and any other information I think I might need while I'm out there.  It's not a perfect system, but it works for me.  So while I was researching the family members on said report, I discovered a cousin that had died at age 34.  Well, I smelled a story.  So I started searching Newspapers.com, and boy, did I find a BIG story.  A sad story, but one that needs telling.  You'll understand why in a moment.

    Fredrick Lee 'Rick' Kea Jr (1954-1989) was living in Macon, Georgia in January of 1989.  He had worked as a manager at the McDonald's on the corner of Riverside and Northside Drives for about five months.  He had worked at Wendy's prior to this job.  McDonald's had a policy of doing night deposits.  We have all heard the stories about employees being robbed late at night when they leave to make the night deposit for a restaurant.  

    On the night/early morning of January 14, 1989, the restaurant closed at midnight.  Rick and another manager, Steve Rose, stayed until 2:30 am doing inventory.  I know they understood the inherent danger of their jobs because they had actually sent out the night deposit early - before midnight.  For whatever reason, inventory took about an hour longer than usual this particular morning.  

    They finished up and walked out the side door of the restaurant - the one by the drive thru lane.  All McDonald's have that exit door.  Evil was waiting for them outside.  Evil had stalked and waited that extra hour for the managers to leave the restaurant.  There was no hesitation on the part of the killer(s).  Rick was shot in the chest immediately and was found a few minutes later by police right in the drive thru lane where he fell. 

    Steve Rose reacted and began to run away.  He ran toward Northside Drive in front of the restaurant and was shot in the arm and leg while he ran.  He made it across the road and tried to climb an embankment behind the Gulf Insurance office and Steak 'n Ale, but because of his injuries, he couldn't make it.  A shooter/robber/murderer followed him, shot him in the left temple, and left Steve there where he was discovered by police about 3 hours later.  Steve was 40 years old and left a wife and two children.

    There was no night deposit to be stolen.  The killer(s) took each man's wallet.  That was it.  

    From the start there was little to go on to solve the crime.  There were no cameras like there are today.  The killer(s) never entered the restaurant so there was no fingerprints or DNA (even if there was DNA testing in 1989) or eyewitnesses.  There were a few spent shells that told the police that a .22 caliber pistol was used.  That was it.  There was a reward put together by the city, county, McDonald's and others that grew to almost $50,000, but no leads ever came out of that. Time was wasted chasing a fake lead a woman in Atlanta called in.  Turns out, she was just trying to get revenge on her boyfriend.   

    The police worked non-stop trying to solve this crime.  The McDonald's itself was outside Macon city limits, but where Steve Rose died was inside the city limits.  So the city police and the county sheriff departments came together to work this case.  No one ever came forward to say they saw anything or to name someone they thought was involved.  Nothing.  All leads dried up.  

    I followed the articles all the way until 2005 when the lead detective on the case retired.  It was still unsolved 16 years later.  I checked again tonight and the case has never been solved.  It has been 37 years.  These families deserve justice.  

    If anyone has information regarding this cold case, they should contact the Bibb County Sheriff's Office at (478) 751-7500  or use the the tip line for Macon Regional Crimestoppers at (478) 742-2330 or toll-free at 1-877-68-CRIME (1-877-682-7463).

 

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia

Monday, January 16, 1989, pages 9 & 10

Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia
Tuesday, January 17, 1989, pages 1 & 4

Wedding Wednesday

 

Rosalyn Harrison 1937-2023

and

Jimmie Ray Smith 1936-1972

united in marriage

October 7, 1955

Tennille, Washington, Georgia, USA

Rosalyn and Jimmie had two children, a boy and a girl. 

Military Monday - Talmadge Lewis Lynn

 Military Monday posts are made to honor those in my family tree who have served in the United States military.

Talmadge Lewis 'Tab' Lynn

1920-2000

U.S. Army, World War II

Thank you for your service.  

On this Memorial Day 2026, I want to thank all of the soldiers in my family tree who gave their all in service to our country.

Friday's Faces from the Past

 

Tabitha "Bosh" Tapley Lampp

b. 10 Mar 1875 in Johnson County, Georgia, USA

d. 03 July 1956 in Louisville, Jefferson, Georgia, USA

Aunt Bosh married 

Benjamin Allen "Ben" or "Mann" Lampp (1866-1938)

in 1895.  

They had 5 children together:

Benjamin James "BJ" Lampp (1896-1965)

Sidney Jackson "Sid" Lampp (1901-1970)

Mozelle Elizabeth Lampp Kniphfer (1903-1993)

Walter Donald "Shot" Lampp Sr (1906-1981)

Lila Lee "Bouquet" Lampp Newsome (1913-1977)

Recently, I decided to go back to basics and research using Ancestry Hints, Find-a-Grave, and obituaries from newspapers and funeral homes on the children of my great-grandparents, James M "Jim" Tapley 1847-1912 and Elizabeth Rebecca "Becky" Page 1844-1924.  I have learned so many tidbits that I had never heard of before!  Would highly recommend!