ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RIDGEWAY
For the second time in three months, Charlie Tomlinson's obituary has appeared in The Roanoke Times, but the Ridgeway funeral home director still is alive and kicking.
The first time it happened, he had a sense of humor about it. But he was angry after it appeared again Tuesday.
``There's no reason it should occur,'' said Tomlinson, 60. ``The first time, yes, but not the second time. This one really bothers me.''
Kathy Gravely, assistant manager of classified advertisements for The Roanoke Times, said it is rare for such mistakes to be made once, much less twice for the same person.
Tomlinson regularly faxes obituaries to The Roanoke Times, where they are handled by the classified advertising department, Gravely said.
She said Tomlinson's latest fax was clear but ``the person who is typing it is somehow not seeing it as clear. ... It's basically a processing and proofing error."
``The fax is like any other that he sends. There are no discrepancies in what he sent,'' she said.
Tomlinson said he sent a faxed obituary to the newspaper for a 73-year-old Collinsville woman, Margaret B. Prater. The woman died Saturday and her funeral was Tuesday at Martinsville Church of God.
But the obituary in the newspaper states that the deceased is ``Charles R. Tomlinson, 73, of Ridgeway,'' whose funeral will be held at ``11 a.m. Sunday at Martinsville Church of God.''
His obituary was printed for the first time Nov. 15, 1995.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines KEYWORDS: OBITby CNB