When Lloyd's funeral was concluded at the cemetery, Bernice asked Billy Hinds, Bill Featheringill, H.B. Lee, and Ken Wallis to meet with her at the Telpage office as early as possible the following week. Lloyd's office was turned into a conference room and Bernice used it as her office. The meeting was held early in the week as she had requested and they began to discuss the needs that faced the company. Lloyd's oldest brother, Alvin Escue, attended the meeting also. He had been named in Lloyd's will as a co-administrator of the estate to serve with Bernice. Bernice assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, the position that had been held by Lloyd.
The first matter discussed was the general manager's position. Telpage's General Manager had resigned prior to Lloyd's accident and his last day with the company was to have been the day of the funeral. They asked him if he would stay with the company until a replacement could be hired and he agreed to do so. His reason for wanting to leave had been that he wanted to be able to have a part ownership in the stock of the company. Lloyd and Bernice had not wanted anyone else as a stockholder so there was no compromise possible on the issue.
The next matter discussed was the Sales and Marketing Manager's position. That position was held by a man who most of those at the meeting felt should be let go, mainly because of the way he was handling sales in light of the competition in Birmingham. It was decided to start a search for a replacement for that position along with the search for a new General Manager.
At the time of Lloyd's death Telpage was on the brink of acquiring RCC of Virginia, the company that controlled all of the Radio Common Carriers in Virginia. That plan was halted with his death. Bernice was not in the mood to take on more. She and Lloyd pretty much owned the Alabama part of the company outright but there were several partners involved in the Tennessee and Georgia portion. The partners all wanted to sell the venture in those areas and Bernice wanted to as well because she saw it as too much for her to be involved with. The search was on for buyers for Telpage of Tennessee, Inc.
The financial condition of the company was discussed with the accountant, H.B. Lee, and it was determined that the business was in fine shape. There was plenty of cash on hand and debts were well under control. Back when Lloyd was working out the details on buying RCC of Virginia, attorney Tom Ritchie had reviewed all of the insurance policies on Lloyd's life. There was a total of $1,760,000.00 covering his life when that review was submitted to the attorney by Lloyd Wilson of New York Life Insurance Company, July 25, 1980.
When the death claims were paid over the next two months, Telpage, Inc. was paid a total of $1,172,796.55. Bernice received $565,374.45, and Birmingham Communications, Inc. received $61,938.71. A half million dollars of the money Telpage received was to secure a loan with a bank in Tennessee and that loan was paid off with the insurance money. Birmingham Communications had a loan with a bank in Birmingham that was secured by the policy it received benefits from and that loan was paid off. The car that Mike called "his" had a loan that was insured so that loan was paid off. The key man insurance carried on Lloyd put the company in a position where there was in excess of $1,000,000.00 in the bank and very little debt. This condition made it an attractive buy to someone wanting to jump in the business right at the birth of cellular telephones.
The annual Telocator Convention was held in Las Vegas the following month. Bernice and H.B. Lee attended representing Telpage. Bernice went by way of San Francisco, where she spent some time visiting with her Aunt Lydia. Attending the convention also was Bill Young. Motorola had sent him as a representative of the RCC market because of being selected salesman of the year from the Atlanta area office. While at the convention, he and H.B. Lee were conversing about the Sales and Marketing Manager position that needed to be filled at Telpage. Bill told him whom he would recommend for the job. Later at the convention, Bill and Bernice were talking and Bill told her about the conversation they had about the job. She wanted to know if Bill himself would be interested in the position. Bill told her that with his position at Motorola, he was already on the Telpage team, involved in sales and marketing, and they didn't even have to pay him.
Lloyd was honored by Telocator at the convention for his years of service to the organization, and for his early visions that in time became realities to the industry. Bernice was very proud of him and she was doing her best to give the impression that although she had remained in the background over the years, she would now be in the forefront of the business.
The name of the man Bill Young had recommended for the job was Wayne Teas. He and Bill had joined Motorola at about the same time and had been schooled in radio communications together. Where Bill was involved strictly in the radio common carrier market, Wayne worked in the general market. When it was time for a decision to be made, the company asked Bill if he would accept the job. He was caught by complete surprise when he was contacted by the General Manager. He said that he would and assumed the position of Sales and Marketing Manager for Telpage on February 1, 1981. Motorola asked Bill for his recommendation for someone to replace him in the RCC market. He named Wayne Teas and Wayne took over his duties and became a real asset to Telpage.
With both of her children gone from the family home, Bernice did not want to continue living there by herself. She purchased a condominium atop Red Mountain in February 1981. The condo was Unit 311 at Regency Terrace, located at 1120 Beacon Parkway East. She kept the house on Jacque Circle because Mike still needed a place to call home when he came home from college.
Lloyd and Bernice had talked in the past of the day when they would want to sell Telpage, Inc. She had always looked forward to that day and when the children would be off to school. The last time it was discussed there were buyers willing to pay at least $2,000,000 for the Alabama part of the business. She conferred with both of her children who had now left home to see if either of them had any interest in operating the company in Alabama. She received a negative answer from both of them so she decided to sell the Alabama operation whenever the time was right.
Telpage had operated in four Alabama locations without any competitors until 1978. When Bill Young joined the company in 1981, he sensed right away the importance of keeping the customers they already had. He put in to place programs designed to retain their present customers and make the competitor go and find his own. The sales people were paid according to how many new pieces of equipment they put into service during a pay period. In some cases they might add 25 new customers in their territory while losing 15-20 of the old customers to the competition. This was just not the way to do business as Bill saw it so he worked to correct the situation. He was not a brain surgeon but he knew it was more profitable to Telpage to keep the customer base it already had than to pay the sales people to go out and find new subscribers. One of the things Bill did was to develop a jingle to be played on the radio to acquaint listeners with what Telpage was all about. A meeting of all of the location managers was held in Birmingham in April and all of the new programs were introduced at that time.
Bernice held a staff meeting in the conference room every Monday morning. The managers in charge of administration, sales and marketing, and the technical end of the company, as well at the General Manager, were in attendance. Each gave a report of what was happening in their area. The reports included the good, the bad, and sometimes, the ugly.
Bernice took Sherry, Jabe and Mike on a trip to Acapulco, Mexico in May 1981. It was a fun trip for them and they have memories to this day from that week there.
Brandon Myers was born in August 1981 and Rose was on hand to help out. Before she could hardly turn around she had another grandchild with the birth of Marrilee Foukal the following month.
In the second week of October, the Telocator annual convention was held in New Orleans. Bernice was going to drive down to New Orleans for the meetings. Also attending the meeting from Telpage would be the General manager, the Sales and Marketing Manager, and the Technical Department Manager. Bill Young asked the General Manager if he could have Monday off in order to go down to New Orleans to conduct some private business that day before the meetings started on Tuesday. When Bernice heard that he was going to fly down on Monday, she asked him if he would mind driving down with her on Sunday. She offered to let him use her car on Monday in order to conduct his business. The two of them drove down on Sunday and Bill dropped her at the hotel where the convention was to be held and he went on to where he was staying until the meetings started on Tuesday. When he went to where he was to conduct his business on Monday morning it turned out to be Columbus Day and nothing was open. He called Bernice on the telephone and told her what had happened and said he would return her car to the hotel if she needed it because where he was going he was going to take the streetcar. She said she would not need it so to just wait and bring it Tuesday when he checked in at the hotel. Before the conversation ended she asked Bill where he was going on the streetcar. He was going out to Audubon Park to relive a day at the zoo he had experienced when he had come to New Orleans for the first time as a ten year old. Bernice asked him if he was going with anybody else. He said no and asked if she would care to join him. She said yes because she loved animals. Bill then said he would come and get her but he still wanted to take the streetcar out to the park like he had done as a kid.
Off they went for a day that turned out to be quite a day. When the day at the park was over and they were on their way back to where the car was parked, Bill asked Bernice if she had any dinner plans. She said no so he asked if she had ever been to "The Court of Two Sisters". Her answer was again no so he asked her if she would like to go there that evening as it was a real nice place where you could sit outside in a courtyard to dine. She said that would be very nice so they found themselves dining there that evening. Here were two people who had known each other for eight years now who ended up spending the day together at the zoo and dining together that evening. During the course of the day and evening they found out that they had so much in common. When they returned to Birmingham after the convention, it was not long before Bill asked her if she would like to go to see a show that was in town. She said she would and he invited his friend Wayne Teas and his wife to join them just so it would perhaps make Bernice a little more comfortable. It was a great evening and the first of quite a few that would follow.
Bernice's friend, Leah Martin, knew a man through her jewelry business that had a place on Lay Lake that he was trying to sell at a price that seemed fairly reasonable for what was being offered. They went down to see it and Bernice was pretty happy about it right from the start. It was just a basic cabin made of cinder blocks but had a lovely view of the lake from on high ground. A boat house and two boats came with the place. She decided to purchase the place and it became a wonderful weekend retreat. What was purchased at that time in no way resembles what is located on the property today.
The Escue family had Christmas at the lake house in 1981 and Bill Young came down for the get together. While he was there he proposed marriage to Bernice. For an engagement ring he gave her a ring with an amethyst that was circled with diamonds. If you have known her long, you may have noticed that ring.
