When I last wrote about the mystery of Henry and Linda Twaddle, whose detail-free obituaries had been running for weeks in our local newspaper, my wife suggested that it was time to “just leave them alone.”
Finally I can do that, now that I have discovered a bit more about them and that they did indeed exist and had some connection to Las Cruces.
Our good friend Cheryl, who is a determined researcher likely due to her long career as a librarian, found some information about the Twaddles that I had not been able to discover. She went on Ancestry.com and found that a son of the Twaddles had once lived and worked in Las Cruces. I assume Linda Twaddle was brought here to be near her son after her husband Henry had died almost two years ago in North Carolina. She died in June of this year, apparently here in Las Cruces.
Cheryl also found information that the Twaddle’s funeral/end of life services were being handled by a company called Willowise, which apparently does on-line celebrations for the departed. I looked up the company and found that it has no physical address, only a phone number and website. The phone number has an Idaho area code and the website offers testimonials from previous customers and information about how to set up a service. The company was apparently founded by a couple who wanted to celebrate the life of the husband’s father, who died of Covid unexpectedly in 2021. The website notes that the as the family “was processing through this sudden loss, we decided a virtual memorial service was going to be the most effective way to honor” the man who had died. I never knew such companies existed, but I guess more and more people are choosing non-traditional church funerals to remember their loved ones who have passed away.
I found this little bit of additional information about Henry Twaddle on the Willowise website:
“Henry J. Twaddle had a variety of interests that reflected his vibrant personality. He was passionate about gardening, often spending hours tending to his plants and flowers. He also enjoyed fishing, which allowed him to relax and connect with nature. Additionally, Henry was an avid reader and loved exploring different genres of literature.“
The website says there will be an online memorial service for the Twaddles at 1 p.m. Mountain Time on Oct. 4. If you’re interested, you can go on the website and register to attend.
I think at this point, I will, as my wife suggested, “just leave them alone.”
aero-cordero.com 