John Earl Reese Memorial Service Tatum, TX

John Earl Reese Family

(left) his Step Mom Alma Reese (she is the mother to his other siblings), (back left) William Reese, (front left) John Albert Reese, (front middle) niece, (back middle right) Sharon Reese Thompson, (second front right) Audrey Reese Morgan (back right) nephew

Saturday October 23, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., Services for the historical unveiling of John Earl Reese memorial service were underway.  Northeastern University School of Law  Civil Rights and Restorative Justice.

• 9:00 a.m. Graveside Ceremony at Smith Chapel Cemetery was held. Invocation & Occasion by Rev. Lewis Thompson Jr with the unveiling of a new headstone next to his old stone.
• 9:45 a.m.Tatum Public Library commemorating a plaque in John Earl Reese honor Remarks by Mayor Phil Corey
• 10:25 a.m. At former CR 2174 unveiling in John Earl Rees Road, remarks by Mike Pepper, Commissioner, Pct.2
• 11:00 a.m. Smith Chapel Baptist Church unveiling of the Civil Rights Marker by Clifford Harkless
• 11:00 a.m. Smith Chapel Baptist Church Sanctuary of The Church recognition by Margie Centers with Special remarks by Dr. M. Burnham, Northeastern Law Center and her staff
• 11:50 a.m. Closing Pray by Jamie Brown/ Refreshments were served afterwards.

People mostly responsible for making this memorial service happen are from the Northeastern University School of Law. They have dedicated years of  commitment, travel, research and interviews, along with personal time and efforts to obtain accurate facts and information. (pictured below)

Nathaniel Johnson, Kaylie Simon, Dr. Margaret Burnham & (cousin) Jocy Faye Nelson Crockett

John Earl Reese (cousin) Bonnie Fletcher, (aunts) Irene & Gladye Reese

It was a very emotional service. From graveside services to the moment we approached the installation of the plaque in the public library until the very end. All speakers spoke with great sensitivity and emotion.

While watching my sister as she went to each event trying to hold back her emotions. Also, watching John Earl Reese aunts, and cousins as they looked on. I could see the sadness on their faces. It was as if we were attending an actual funeral service.

I wasn't born when John Earl Reese was alive, but my sister Jocy F. Nelson Crockett would keep his memory alive forever because she was always talking about him and reminding us of that terrible tragedy from which seemed to be not so long ago.

As we approached the road re-named in John Earl Reese honor Commissioner Mike Pepper reminded us that this is same the road that John Earl Reese walked to school on every day.Commissioner Mike Pepper spoke with so much passion. You could actually see John Earl Rees as a little boy walking down that old road. After the sign was revealed as Joyce Faye Crockett touched the sign she could no longer hold back her tears. You could see everyone in the crowd being moved with emotion.

We moved across the road to Smith Chapel Baptist Church for unveiling of the historical marker. It was a somber feeling in the air. Clifford Harkless spoke passionately about the meaning of the marker and why it is placed where it is. 

The historical marker stands across the road from the old Mayflower school where John Earl Reese attended. The school is no longer a school. Northeastern University School of Law Nathaniel Johnson also spoke of the honor of the historical marker and it's significance.

Johnnie Myrle Nelson Arthur's children

Joyce Faye Nelson Crockett's children

Joyce Faye Nelson Crockett with her children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren

Jocy Faye Nelson Crockett sisters (left end) Irvia Nelson Sammon, (center) children, nieces and nephews (right end) Shirley Nelson Beckworth  

Smith Chapel Baptist Church Johnnie M. Thompson Johnson started the program with songs. Margie F. Centers was in charge of recognition and introductions.  Kaylie Simon spoke about the joy of spending time with Joyce Faye Nelson Crockett and  Johnnie M. Thompson Johnson. They assisted with a lot of the history, background information and detail of the shooting and murder.She also spoke of the love and compassion she has felt being among the people in the community

Guest speaker Dr. Margaret Burnham spoke with a lot of compassion as she talked about the life John Earl Reese and his possibilities. What he could should and might have been if he was alive.

Dr. Margaret Burnham reminded us that John Earl Reese would probably be around her age and probably have a family and children of his own. It was no telling what kind of contributions he could have made to society. But, we will never know because he never got the chance he deserved to have. His life was stolen from him. What a shame and a lost to his family, friends and loved ones and society. Dr. Margaret Burnham also spoke with compassion and truth in her voice.

Joyce Faye Nelson Crockett sisters (left) Irvia Sammon,(center left) Gwendolyn Deckard, historian China Galland (center right), and Evelyn Nelson (right)

(left) Gussey L. Daniel classmate of Joyce Faye Nelson Crockett  (center) Kaylie Simon, (right) Dr.Margaret Burnham.

Gussey L. Daniel dedicated his personal painting of a school bus riddled with bullets being driven by Horace Thompson and a bus load of children on their way to Mayflower school back in the 1950's. The other sites are of the school they attended and a head stone in memory of John Earl Reese.

Someone cried out in the front of me. When I looked up and I saw John Earl Reese's baby sister Sharon Reese Thompson. My heart went out to her. I felt so much compassion and heart break for the Reese family I had to talk to them or try to comfort them.  They began to talk about their childhood. Most of their lives was spent watching their father consumed with the lost of his son and  he adamantly refused to talk about him. They were never allowed to bring up his name to their father.

• Sharon Reese Thompson- said she had just found out about the memorial services a few days earlier because of by reading a article on the Internet. After reading the article she contacted her family because they all needed to be here. She went on to say she spend quite a bit of her time researching any information she can about her brother. She went on to talk about how painful it was for her not to know about her brother. She always wondered about him and felt like a part of her had been missing all those years. Yet, no one would talk about him.  "The entire memorial was wonderful. For the first time since I was a little girl I finally know the truth about what really happened to my eldest brother, who I will never ever truly know. Just knowing what I know today is a blessing. Knowing you and your family is a blessing as well. Thank God for the people who had the courage to see this investigation reopened  I thank God for all the hard work and dedication the researchers put in to this project".

• Audrey Reese Morgan- Thanked everyone for every thing and how she was pleased with the services. She told me that her older living brother John Albert Reese was the one in the family that most favored their oldest brother John Earl Reese.

• William Reese-  talked about it being painful for him. He grew up like his sisters wondering about the brother he never knew along with feeling the void in his life.

• John Albert Reese- talked about the pain of being named by his aunts John Earl Reese.  It was too painful for his father. His father told his sisters they had to change that name because nobody else could ever be called John Earl Reese.  People would called him John Earl Reese for years. When people started calling him John Albert Reese he had a hard time getting used to it.

You could clearly see the pain on their face as they spoke about their brother and father. Their father would carry the pain of loosing his son John Earl Reese deep in his heart for the rest of his life. After the death of John Earl Reese his father married a girl named Alma. They went on to have (2) sons and (2) daughters. He was also a proud grandfather to (8) grandchildren, and (4) great-grandchildren. Beloved father John Travis Reese past away June 23,1986.

John Earl Reese sisters and brothers are leading good productive lives with families of their own. They  are the sisters and brothers left behind. They now carry the pain from years of watching their father suffer from the sad and tragic death a brother they never knew. May the pain of the past be lessened and the memories for the future be sweeter.

John Earl Reese, 16, was murdered in a drive-by shooting while sitting in Hughes Cafe on Texas Highway 149 with his cousins Joyce Nelson, 13, and her sister Johnnie Myrle Nelson, 15.

He died the following morning October 23, 1955.

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."


Isaiah 41:10, 13