Mathena/Reynolds Deaths, 1940 or 1941 - Tazewell Co. VA

FORMER VA. SIDE GIRL, TIP TOP MAN VICTIMS
Van Fatally Injures Noah Mathena and Virginia Reynolds
     A Bluefield Va., girl and her uncle, a native of Tip Top, were fatally
injured early today when struck down by a huge moving van on the highway
some 25 miles north of Roanoke.
     Victims of the dual highway tragedy were Mrs. Virginia Leedy Reynolds,
26 of High Point, Md., and Noah Mathena, 43, of Washington.  Today in
Bluefield sanitarium, Mrs. Pansey Leedy Whitlock, of Roanoke, herself
injured in an accident Saturday night, was told of the deaths of her
daughter and brother.
TIRE BLEW OUT
     A tire blew out on the automobile in which Mr. And Mrs. Mathena, their
daughter, Connie May, and the niece, Mrs. Reynolds, were driving to their
eastern homes.
     Mr. Mathena stooped on the road to fix the tire and Mrs. Reynolds was
holding a flashlight to guide him when the dual tragedy occurred.  The wife
and child were not injured.
     The party had left Tip Top only yesterday afternoon for home after
paying a last visit at the sanitarium to Mrs. Whitlock, mother of Mrs.
Reynolds and sister of Mr. Mathena.
     Mrs. Whitlock, wife of a Roanoke railroad man, had been visiting her
sister and brother at her old Tip Top home when she fell and broke her ankle
Saturday.
JOINT FUNERAL
     Bodies of both the Tazewell countians will be brought to Bluefield
today and then taken to Tip Top where joint rites will be held tomorrow.
    Ms. Reynolds, the youthful auto accident victim, was born in Bluefield,
Va. on August 4, 1914.  She attended Graham high school and on September 22,
1938, was married to Ernest Reynolds, of Brooklyn, N.Y., formerly of
Bluefield, Va.
     She is also survived by the following sisters:  Mrs. Mamie Caldwell, of
Hollins, Va.; Mrs. Ruth Dillon, of Radford, Va.; Miss Louise Leedy, of
Roanoke; and two brothers, Harry Leedy, Jr., of Hollins, and Steve Leedy, of
Roanoke.
TIP TOP NATIVE
     Mr. Mathena, the other victim, was born at Tip Top in 1898, son of the
late Mr. And Mrs. S. P. Mathena, and was first married to Miss Flora Peak,
of Bluefield, Va.  He leaves on daughter, Connie May.  Following the death
of his first wife, Mr. Mathena later married Miss Mildred Clark, of Roanoke.
     He leaves his wife and the following sisters:  Mrs. Ella Barrett, of
Nemours; Mrs. Jane Mathena, of Mud Fork; Mrs. Mary Tate, of Nemours; Mrs.
Willie Clara Dawson, of Tip Top, and Mrs. Pansy Whitlock, of Roanoke; and
the following brothers:  S.P. Mathena, of Boissevain, and John Mathena, of
Tip Top.
     The accident which took the lives of two Tazewell countians reportedly
occurred at 1 a.m. today on the Lee highway three miles south of Buchanan,
Va.  Relatives here were informed by wire of the fatalities.
Tip Top, VA.  Walter Mathena Correspondent
     Tip Top, Va., Sept 28. - Last rites were held here Wednesday afternoon
for Noah Mathena, and Mrs. Virginia Reynolds, victims of a dual highway
tragedy agout 25 miles north of Roanoke, Va.  The accident occurred while
Mr. Mathena was fixing a flat tire, as his niece, Mrs. Reynolds, held a
light for him.  A large moving van, from North Carolina, struck the two,
killing Mr. Mathena instantly, while Mrs. Reynolds lived to reach a hospital
before succumbing.
      Both victims well known here, Mr. Mathena having been born and reared
at Tip Top.  He was employed on a construction job in Washington D. C., at
the time of his death.  He is survived by his wife and one child, and the
following sisters, Mrs. Ella Barrett, and Mrs. Mary Ttae, of Nemours, W.
Va.; Mrs. Jane Mathena of Mudfork, Va.; Mrs. Pansy Whitlock, of Roanoke;
Mrs. Willie Clara Dawson, of Tip Top, and two brothers, S. P. Mathena of
Boissevain, and John Mathena of Tip Top.
     Mrs. Reynolds was formerly from Bluefield, Va., although she lived here
for several months last year.  She was the daughter of Mrs. Pansey Whitlock,
of Roanoke.  She is survived by her husband and several sisters and
brothers.
     Joint funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Dan Gillespie, of
Bluefield.  Interment was in Mathena cemetery.

Submitted by June Barnes <junebarnes@email.msn.com>

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