MYSTERY SOLVED!!!

                                  As all of you know, my search for Walter and Roger has continued over the years. I visited Reno, Nevada in late September

                                  ostensibly to take a hiatus from Real Estate with the idea of doing a bit of research on Uncle Roger, as time permitted. (More 

                                  on that later...) What prompted me to continue my search for  Roger was the uncertainly of who was buried in the VA cemetery

                                  in California. The military pension files were confusing and it was never clear to me whether Timbrell had stolen Roger's 

                                  identity and successfully  passed himself off as Roger or if Timbrell had abandoned the scam when he learned that Roger 

                                  had  received a dishonorable discharge.                                                                                                                      

                                  Early in the Spring of 2006,  I was perusing the Ancestry.com site. Out of habit, I keyed in Walter Timbrell's name under 

                                  the newspaper search. I was shocked when  I downloaded this page. The following obituary appeared  at the top of page 3 

                                  of the March 7, 1941 edition of the Reno Evening Gazette.

                                  BATTLE MOUNTAIN, NEV. March 7- Walter A. Timbrell, who has been a patient in the local hospital for the last 

                                   several months died there Wednesday  morning. He had resided in Battle Mountain at various times during the last several

                                   years and was employed at local clubs. He is survived by a daughter who resides at Long Beach, Calif.

                                   Postscript: I visited Washington Street in Reno, hoping to get a glimpse of the Pickett Hotel, where Roger made his home 

                                   for so long, however it  has either been torn down or the numbers of the buildings has been modified over the years. I  also 

                                   checked in at the historical society.  No one seemed to know about the Pickett nor was there anything on file regarding Roger. 

                                  Another dead end in my search.

                                   Strangely enough, I found myself  sitting at a stop sign looking at the Ross-Burke Funeral Home in Sparks, where Roger's body

                                   was taken after he expired at the Veterans hospital. George had taken a wrong corner down a side street and there it  was -  

                                   unexpected in style and curious looking to say the least.  Nestled among some very humble dwellings on a little side street,

                                   it barely resembled a proper funeral home.  It was throw back from the sixties with it's faux brick facade and  flashy ultra 

                                   modern sign; not at all what I had imagined while reading the pension files. I felt strangely sad.

                                   Over the years, I have often found myself wondering why Roger left a loving family in Florence to move so far away to a 

                                   foreign land where he knew no one; a place where there was no one to care; I have often mused that the West was where 

                                   he found his peace. Who are we to question another persons reality and destiny?

                                 Having said all of that,  after visiting the West, I think I know why Roger needed to be so far away from home and family. 

                                The answer is simple: "freedom".  Finally, an epitaph for an Uncle I have come to love and know very, very well:

                                                                                                Without freedom, there is no life.

                                                                                                     Lost,  but never forgotten-

                                                                                                                     R.I.P.

                                                                                                               Uncle Roger

                                                                                                                                          (1877-1955)