“Dear Mother: I can’t stand it any longer. Bury me by Johnnie. Thelma”

With those her last words, in a note to her mother, Thelma Anderson, 14, daughter of Mr & Mrs Hilman Anderson, Gainesboro Road, [using] a shotgun... killed herself instantly. The tragedy took place at the home of the young girl at 6:30 last Sunday afternoon.

Thelma, who was an unusually beautiful girl and a student at the Pippin School, was thought to be grief stricken over the death of Johnnie White, 22, her sweetheart, who killed himself 3 weeks ago. She had not recovered from the shock of his death, and the note she left her mother is thought to have been written after a period of bitter grief, following which she decided to be her only path to happiness.

The deceased attended school in Cookeville for several years and later entered the Pippin School, where she was a student this year.

She is survived by her Father, Mother, three sisters and two brothers. Funeral services were conducted at the home Monday afternoon.