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!