WHEELING WOMAN DONATES BOOKS ON CHILD SUICIDE TO VALLEY HOSPICE'S BEREAVEMENT LIBRARY

Emma Wilkins has spent the better part of the past 24 years reading and collecting books and news articles designed to help parents who have lost a child to suicide cope with the tragedy.

Emma and her late husband, James, Sr., amassed a huge collection of materials and books after the suicide death of their son, James Hawthorne Wilkins, in August 1983. The couple scoured garage sales for many of their books. Recently, Wilkins donated a part of that collection to the Bereavement Department at Valley Hospice.

Carole Tarr, senior bereavement coordinator at Valley Hospice, accepted the collection of books which are housed in the new central office in Rayland.

"Emma's collection is a wonderful addition to the materials we have in our library. Her willingness to share the knowledge that helped her family cope with the tragic death of James is sure to benefit others in the future,"
Tarr said.

Wilkins and her husband, a longtime minister at the Christian Church in West Liberty, began searching for information about grief and coping with the suicide death of a child. At the time, she recalls, there was no formal group in West Virginia to aid parents who had lost a child to suicide. She recalls feeling that she was the only one ever to go through such an event.
Over the years, the couple became involved in creating groups designed to aid parents who experienced what they had and who were trying to find answers to why the event had occurred. During those early years the couple met Tarr who was involved in grief counseling at a local medical facility.

Today, awareness about the subject has grown and more programs have become available to families who have experienced the loss of a child due to suicide. Wilkins also has been participated in Tarr's grief sessions for those who have lost a spouse. Wilkins also has a daughter who is a chaplain at a senior complex in Illinois where her husband is chaplain at Northwestern University.

Today, Wilkins resides at Brook Park Apartments in Wheeling and has retired from active participation in the grief counseling programs. Before he died, Wilkins and her husband discussed what to do with their large collection of materials. She has donated some of the books to a bereaved parents group in Beaver, PA and has donated others to friends of hers who own Books on the Avenue in Warwood.