A Father’s Final Afternoon
A reunion thirteen years in the making ended in sudden tragedy over a watermelon in a Walla Walla shop.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Overjoyed at the visit of a son whom he had not seen for thirteen years, S. R. Cole, proprietor of the small dyeing and cleaning establishment at 14 N. Third street, was stricken with heart disease in his place of business at noon today and died before his son's eyes. The son, A. M. Cole, a prominent Spokane printer and a former resident of Walla Walla, arrived in the city last night. The two had not met before in years. The father was overjoyed and insisted on showing his boy about the old home town, pointing out improvements that had taken place. It is supposed that the excitement weakened an already weak heart. Death occurred in the front part of the shop as the two were enjoying a watermelon and talking over old times. Mr. Cole was born at Belfast, Ireland, and was 65 years of age. He had been a resident of Walla Walla about 18 years, conducting a dye works and cleaning establishment.
“Death occurred in the front part of the shop as the two were enjoying a watermelon and talking over old times.”
This heartbreaking scene captures the intimate human scale of Walla Walla in 1903. While the city's physical geography has evolved, the sudden loss of a local business owner remains a shared community experience, reminding us that every storefront held the weight of a life and family history.
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