Bio: Joyce, Edward (Death from Pneumonia – Oct 1918)

Contact: Ann Stevens
Email: ann@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Joyce, Frean

----Source: Neillsville Times (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 11/14/1918

Joyce, Edward (Death from Pneumonia – 4 OCT 1918)

As will be noted from the following letter, Edward Joyce died at an American Red Cross hospital in England and it is presumed that he was a victim of the influenza and that he died shortly after landing in England. Ed. was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Joyce who live north of this city and he was a whole-souled, genial young fellow who numbered his friends and acquaintances by the score. These friends extend to the bereaved parents their most sincere sympathy for their loss is indeed a deep and irreparable one. The letter received by Mr. and Mrs. Joyce fully explains the death of the young man.

From Mrs. W.P. Frean, Conway House, Paignton, Devon, England, to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Joyce, Greenwood, Wis., Oct. 4th, 1918.
Dear Mr. Joyce: Long before this reaches you, you will have received the official notification of the death of your son, Private Edward Joyce, at Military Hospital No. 21, on Oct. 3rd at 4 p.m. As visitor for the American Red Cross, I write to convey to you the deep sympathy of the Society, and of the residents of Paignton, both English and American, in your irreparable loss. We feel sure that you would like such details as it is possible to give of your son’s last days. They were spent in one of the most luxurious and well-appointed hospitals in England, where he was tenderly cared for by a skillful staff of American surgeons and nurses, ministered to by a Roman Catholic priest and surrounded by every comfort that skill and money could provide. With other Red Cross visitors I was present at his military funeral, which was conducted with all reverence by the R.C. Parish Priest, amid touching signs of sympathy from the people of Paignton. The casket was covered with the “Stars and Stripes” and on it rested a beautiful tribute of white roses, maidenhair and chrysanthemums from the Red Cross, with other tributes sent by sympathizers. It was born to the grave by New Zealand soldiers, and at the close of the service three volleys were fired, and the “Last Post” was sounded by the bugler. The cemetery in which your son rests is a particularly lovely one, situated on a hill, with a fine view of the English Channel. We hope in a short time to send you a photograph of the grave. In the meantime I enclose a flower from the casket a photograph of the hospital in which he died, and a clipping from the “Paignton Observer.”
 

With the most sincere sympathy,
Mrs. W.P. Frean