John William (Bill) Ryland of Urbanna died on Sept. 2, 2000 at the ripe old age of 93.
Mr. Ryland was the son of Walter Hugh Ryland, who at the turn of the 20th century was owner and editor of the Southside Sentinel. Bill grew up on Spouts Cove on Urbanna Creek and across from my great-grandparents’ home on Watling Street in Urbanna. He was a lifelong resident of the Town of Urbanna.
When Bill was a boy there was a narrow wooden footbridge across the mouth of the cove that allowed folks living in what is today the Waverly Subdivision to walk into town without hitching up a horse. Children used it all the time and the path on the town side went right by the home of my great-grandparents’ — Nannie and Charlie Palmer’s.
Several days before Mr. Ryland passed away I received a phone call at the Sentinel from his wife, Evelyn. She said he needed to see me “right now!” Mr. Ryland had been my first Scoutmaster, my Sunday school teacher at Urbanna Baptist Church and a person to this day I greatly admire. I knew he was sick. I wondered though what he wanted with me in these last days of life.
My father was Henry Shepherd Chowning Jr. and people called him Shep. The moment I walked into Mr. Ryland’s bedroom and he spoke, I realized he did not want me. He wanted my father.
He grabbed my arm and almost breathless he said, “Shep! Shep! I have to tell you this. When I was a boy, I was the one who drowned your grandmother’s cat on the footbridge. I am so sorry. I know Nannie is just waiting for me in heaven.”
Without hardly a thought, I said, “Mr. Ryland you were just a boy and anyway grandma (she was actually my great-grandmother) hated that damn cat. She was glad to see it go. I think you can Rest In Peace!” He died a few days later.
It Happened Here in Rivah Country!
