Sad News from Manitoba

February 9, 1935  Mama and Mary did Saturday’s work.  The children do not feel very good.  We went to Meade.  We got the message that the elder Mrs. P. P. Reimer  from Manitoba died on February 8 in the evening.

Sad news had come from Canada – Mrs. P. P. Reimer had died the evening before at the age of 58.  Her maiden name was Elizabeth R. Dueck (1876-1935), and she had married Peter P. Reimer, who was a second cousin to Cornelius’ wife Margaret.  And Cornelius had surely known them when he had lived in Manitoba.  She was called the elder Mrs. P. P. Reimer because their son Peter P. D. Reimer was also married, so his wife was the younger Mrs. P. P. Reimer. 

Most communication in the 1930s was written.  People frequently wrote letters and postcards back and forth between Meade and Canada.  Sometimes they would notify faraway relatives of a death by letter, but then they would outline the edge of the envelope in black ink so that the recipients would know before opening that the letter contained sad news.

In this case, the news must have come by a long-distance phone call or telegram because the Meade community found out the next day.  Long-distance calls were only made in case of a death, so when you got such a call, you knew it was not good.  If it was by telegram, the Western Union office in Meade would receive the telegram.  Usually then they would make a local phone call to the recipient and read it to him, and then the recipient could pick up the paper telegram next time he was in town.

Only one family in Meade would be notified, so whoever received the notification, whether by letter, phone call, or telegram, passed the word along to the rest of the community.  Because of the time and cost, it was impossible to travel to a funeral in Canada, even for a sibling, parent, or child, so faraway relatives would gather to mourn informally where they lived.