Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
By Lucy Albright, LNP, Lancaster, Pa. (TNS) An outgoing outdoorsman who made friends everywhere and led tours of Lancaster County’s Amish country is likely one of six or fewer Pennsylvanians to die of West Nile virus this year. Timothy Wade Talley, who died Oct. 4 at age 70 after a 22-day illness, worked as a tour guide at the Amish Farm and House, a tourist business in East Lampeter Township, where he put his friendly disposition to use. Also a celebrated photographer, he was so outgoing that he maxed out his Facebook friend list at 5,000, according to his son. “He loved people so much, and everywhere he went ... whether it was literally in a restaurant or doing his job, going to church or just being out and about, like, he would just strike up conversations with people,” Brandon Talley said. Through his work, the recent transplant from North Carolina befriended members of the Amish community — some of whom visited him while he was in the hospital. “He brought this ... joyous southern hospitality that maybe Lancaster isn’t totally used to. And it was infectious,” Brandon Talley said. His social network was evident even in death; Brandon Talley said he and his mom received guests for hours during visitation at Tim Talley’s funeral services in North Carolina. Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson Mark O’Neill would not confirm whether any of the one confirmed or four probable West Nile deaths in Pennsylvania this year occurred in Lancaster County, citing privacy concerns when county death counts are below five. O’Neill also declined to comment on whether Tim Talley’s death would be officially counted as a West Nile death. The death certificate lists acute hypoxic respiratory failure as the immediate cause of death, and West Nile encephalitis as the underlying cause. As a tour guide, Tim Talley was skilled at sharing his knowledge in a down-to-earth way, and liked telling jokes and making fun of himself, said Mark Andrews, general manager at the Amish Farm and House and Tim Talley’s friend. He was good at making people feel at ease, Andrews said. “I know a lot of people really liked his photography, which he would post on Facebook,” said Cory Van Brookhoven, a former coworker of Tim Talley’s at the Amish Farm and House and president at Lititz Historical Foundation. Tim Talley and his wife moved to Strasburg Township in June 2020 to be closer to their son and his three daughters, Donna Talley said. Donna Talley said she was shocked when her husband’s West Nile virus diagnosis was confirmed. She had heard about West Nile on the news, but didn’t envision being affected personally. Tim Talley — who developed meningitis and encephalitis — was among the fewer than 1% of West Nile patients who become severely ill. “My husband had been a outdoorsman for pretty much all his life, and had had many, many mosquito bites and tick bites and, you know, all kinds of bites,” Donna Talley said, “and then all of a sudden this one particular mosquito that transmitted this West Nile virus, it was just shocking.” Tim Talley died on Oct. 4 at Lancaster General Hospital. It is unclear where he caught the mosquito-borne illness that led to his death. But according to Brandon Talley, he hadn’t traveled far in the time before he got sick.
