In July of 1908, Viola Grace was born to Lulu and her husband, William, a southern Ohio farmer; Viola was the second oldest of eight children. She was raised on a farm with fields and forests to roam and plenty of fresh air to breathe. She was a spunky, carefree, and happy country girl. Brute reality dampened this spirit with an overwhelming loss to her and her family when a baby brother, Charley, died at six months of age in 1915. Then, in 1921, Viola's older sister and best friend - Rosa - died at the age of 14 from rheumatic fever. Viola's remaining brothers and sister were James, Arnold, Adam, Walter, and Emmogene.

Farm life could be fun at times but was also tremendously hard work. Strapping young sons were able to help with farming chores, but only one cook was really needed in the kitchen, so daughters were often considered just another mouth to feed and body to clothe. With this in mind, when Viola was 16, her father arranged for her to marry Pearl, 11 years older than her, in September of 1924. One could only imagine how different and difficult it would be to have an arranged marriage instead of falling in love with your soul-mate.

In June of 1925, Viola and Pearl welcomed their first child, a daughter, Dorothy June into the world; this was followed by a son in November of 1926, Earl Junior. Sadly, another devastating loss in Viola's life occurred when her and Pearl's third child was stillborn. Their fourth child, a son named Luther Russell, was then born in July of 1929. After this last birth, Viola became deeply saddened with her life and its tragedies, and was unable to take care of her young family. Consequently, she was admitted to the Athens Mental Hospital in December of 1929 at the age of 21 from what is commonly known today as post-partum depression.

Dorothy (Viola's oldest child) remembers her mother as a loving, beautiful woman with long, dark hair who loved to wear bead necklaces. Dorothy also recalls how Viola would sing to her children with an angelic voice. But, after Viola was hospitalized, she seemed very sad to Dorothy. During the first few months of Viola's hospital stay, her children and husband were able to visit her; however, the stress of trying to raise three small children while his wife was in the hospital proved to be too much for Pearl, and he lost custody of the children soon after he rolled his car one night when they were driving home from the hospital. Dorothy and Earl were subsequently placed in an orphanage and never saw their mother again. Luther, the baby, was raised by maternal grandparents, William and Lulu, who were unable to care for all three children.

After Viola was in the Athens Mental Hospital for some time, she showed signs of improvement and there was talk of her coming home to her family soon. Unfortunately, she contracted tuberculosis while staying at the hospital (although the hospital was originally established to care for mentally ill or depressed persons, it cared for tuberculosis patients at the time Viola was there as well). Sadly, her life ended in April of 1934 at the age of 25 from tuberculosis. The family was not able to bury her due to the economic strains they faced as a result of the great depression. Therefore, Viola was buried at the Athens Mental Hospital cemetery with the headstone simply numbered 607. Viola was survived by her parents, her brothers and sister, her husband, and her three young children who would later have 26 children of their own (Dorothy had 10, Earl and Luther each had eight). As a result of Viola's untimely death, she was never able to see or enjoy any of her 26 grandchildren.

Over the years, many of Viola's family members have made the trip to the cemetery, and when they found the first stone numbered 607 under the tree that is just over the hill, they thought they were at Viola's grave site. In fact, in 1990 Dorothy and her family placed a new engraved headstone at the site that had been visited by Viola's family for decades. It wasn't until this year, 2006, that Dorothy (who is the only person still alive that actually knew Viola) found out that this entire time everyone has been going to the wrong site in the cemetery. No one in the family was aware that there were two stones numbered 607 in the cemetery.

We are so thankful that we have found Viola's correct grave site and that her daughter Dorothy has been able to visit this site. This would not have been possible if others had not taken on the task of restoring these cemeteries to what they are - sacred burial places of people who deserve the respect and acknowledgement that all others who were born, lived, and died receive. To those who have been working hard to restore these cemeteries, Viola's family appreciates all of your efforts and thanks all of you with our whole hearts.

It has been said that one should not judge someone else unless you have walked in his or her shoes. Indeed, the people buried in these cemeteries are more than just a number on a headstone; they all have their own life stories, like our beloved Viola Grace.

Written by Nancy Morris,
Daughter of Dorothy June

On May 26^th2006

To honor the memory of my grandmother,
Viola Grace Cottrell Rapp