Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Reese, Virginia M. Bishop, 1937 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ VIRGINIA MARY BISHOP REESE Funeral services were held at 3 o’clock Monday afternoon at the grave in Sebrell cemetery for Mrs. Virginia Bishop Reese, wife of the late Emmett Francis Reese, who died at her home in Sebrell early Sunday morning in her 84th year, after a long illness. For several years she has been confined to her bed, but bore her affliction with cheerfulness and patience. Always ready to greet visitors with kind words and welcoming smiles and always appreciative of the untiring care and devotion of her loved ones. Mrs. Reese is survived by five daughters: Mrs. L.J. Sledge of Emporia, Mrs. L.M. Cobb and Misses Berta, Rena and Jean Reese of Sebrell; four sons: Dr. E.F. Reese of Courtland, G.W. Reese of Richmond, R.R. Reese of Sebrell and L.T. Reese; 17 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. The services were conducted by her Pastor, Rev. A.W. Roten of Sebrell M.E. Church, of which she was a member assisted by a former Pastor, Rev. H.F. Turner of Alberta, Rev. F.P. Davis of the Courtland Baptist Church and Dr. J.W. Kincheloe of the Emporia Baptist Church. The hymns, "Now the Laborer’s Task is O’er" and "The Old Rugged Cross" and the poem "Mother" were used at the grave. There was a profusion of lovely floral tributes. Active pallbearers were: Dr. E.F. Reese, R.R., G.W. and T.E. Reese, L.M. Cobb, Jr., Jefferson Sledge, W.J. Sebrell and John N. Sebrell of Norfolk. Honorary pallbearers were friends and relatives. Among out-of-town relatives and friends attending the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. John N. Sebrell, Miss Rena Sebrell, R.A. Sebrell, Dr. and Mrs. Southgate Leigh and Miss Jean Cobb of Norfolk; Mr. and Mrs. B.W. Sebrell and Miss Fannie Urquhart of Lawrenceville; Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Everett and Mrs. B.W. Mahood of Emporia; Mrs. O.E. Parker, Misses Emma and Annie Reese of Richmond; Mrs. B.T. Bell of Dendron; Mrs. C.H. Perkinson and son of Dolphin; Mrs. E.P. Ferguson and son of Newsoms, and Miss Winston Cobb of Windsor. ******************************************************************************* Mrs. Virginia Bishop Reese, widow of the late Emmett Francis Reese and daughter of Dr. John L. and Caroline Sebrell Bishop, died at her home at Sebrell, Va., February 7, 1937, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. Mrs. Reese was a woman of rare qualities of heart and mind. Her gentle, genial disposition. Her unreserved firmness in her convictions, her keen and ready with and high sense of humor, all combined, as a magnetic force, to attract to her a host of friends and admirers wherever she went. She was a true and devoted wife, a loving and indulgent mother and a kind and faithful friend. Her happy home was ever the center where her friends loved to assemble, for there was always found true hospitality, not only for her friends and acquaintances, but also for the "stranger within her gates". A consistent and loyal member of the Methodist Church, she was prominent, not only in the work of her church, but in everything that pertained to the social uplift in her community hers was an active, useful life until the result of a fall she sustained several years ago, rendered her practically helpless and caused her to be an invalid the rest of her life. During all those years of her sickness, though sometimes in great bodily pain, no murmur was ever heard from her lips, but she bore her sufferings with that Christian Fortitude which was so characteristic of her all her life long. All that medical skill could co, all that the faithful ministering of loved ones and friends and the tender and untiring efforts of her devoted children could do, was done to soothe her sufferings and bring strength back to her tired body, but God had willed otherwise, and took her away, where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no death. "Sweet be her rest, where the white lilies lean, Crimson the roses that keep guard above her; Gentle the darkness that gathers between The sleeper at rest and the torn hearts that love her." When the end came she was not afraid. Like the gentle flickering of a lamp her light went out quietly and peacefully. "More softly than the dew is shed, Or cloud is floated overheard, ‘He giveth His beloved sleep’." Mrs. Reese is survived by five daughters: Mrs. L.J. Sledge of Emporia, Mrs. L.M. Cobb and Misses Berta, Rena and Jean Reese of Sebrell; four sons: Dr. E.F. Reese of Courtland, G.W. Reese of Richmond, R.R. Reese and L.T. Reese of Richmond; seventeen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. In the presence of a large assemblage of friends and relatives her funeral services were conducted at the grave in Sebrell Cemetery on February the 8th, by her pastor, Rev. A.W. Roten of Sebrell Methodist Church, assisted by a former pastor, Rev. H.F. Turner of Alberta, Rev. F.P. Davis of the Courtland Baptist Church and Dr. J.W. Kincheloe of the Emporia Baptist Church. The hymns, "Now the Laborer’s Task Is O’er" and the "Old Rugged Cross," and the poem, "Mother" were read in the sweet, impressive service. Under the fragrance and purity of the many beautiful floral tributes, she was laid away to sleep by the side of her other loved ones "until the day dawn and the shadows flee away". "Rest comes at length, though life be long and dreary, The day must dawn, and darksome night be past, All journeys end in welcome to the weary, And heaven, the heart’s true home will come at last. "Angels, sing on! Your faithful watches keeping; Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above; Till morning’s joy shall end the night of weeping, And life’s long shadows break in cloudless love." RENA F. SEBRELL Virginia Mary (BISHOP; Mrs. Emmett F. [Sr.]) REESE, b. 25 Nov 1853, Southampton Co., d. 7 Feb 1937, at home, Sebrell, interred in SEBRELL-SIMMONS Cemetery (Plot 25*), Sebrell, 8 Feb 1937, "The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Feb. 12, 1937; "The Richmond (VA) Christian Advocate" *Additional information: Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, Miscellaneous Cemeteries, Vol. 4 (IV-11): http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/miscvol4.txt Her mother (1831 - 1891) is buried in Plot 24 (IV-10). D.Cert. 5295 (Jerusalem #2) Virginia was the mother of 12 children, 9 of whom survived her. Her husband's obit ("Tidewater News," Nov. 9, 1934) is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/r200e2ob.txt Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mariah Kello Nunn, William J. DelMonte (JazzyBill@aol.com) & Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/r200v1ob.txt