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P
alm
S
unday
T
ornadoes
| 50
th
A
nniversary
12
| Saturday, April 11, 2015 The Goshen News
‘I’m not ashamed
of crying’
By SCOTT WEISSER
Correspondent
GOSHEN
O
n a recent rainy Thursday
afternoon, R.T. Snyder is tak-
ing a drive.
Snyder is heading west on U.S. 33
toward northwest Goshen and Dun-
lap. He’s pointing out spots along the
way, occasionally turning onto side
roads. Some things have changed
over the course of 50 years. Some
things aren’t here anymore.
R.T. Snyder is taking a drive. He’s
also offering a history lesson.
In April 1965, Snyder was a re-
serve officer with the Goshen Police
Department. The following month,
he began a 33-year career with the
Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department.
On Palm Sunday 1965, Snyder saw
what happened during one of the
worst days in Elkhart County history.
Looking back
Snyder was born and raised in Gos-
hen, graduating from Goshen High
School in 1961. He went to Ball State
University and then came home and
began working. In addition to being
a reserve officer in 1965, he was also
employed with the Goshen Engineer-
ing Department.
The afternoon of Palm Sunday
1965 in Goshen was extremely warm,
Snyder recalled, “and of course the
weather forecasting was nothing like
it is today.” That day, Snyder was at
his grandparents’ house on the north-
west side of Goshen.
“My granddad and I were out in
the yard and we could see the black
clouds,” he said. “We knew it was go-
ing to storm.” Then an announcement
was broadcast on TV: There were
tornadoes in the area.
“So we were standing out in the
backyard watching, and we could see
the first tornado that hit Midway,”
Snyder said. “… I heard all the sirens
and I knew that something must
have happened. I was married at the
time, and I left my wife there with my
grandparents.”
Snyder went to the police booth
at Main Street and Lincoln Avenue.
At that time, operations of the GPD
P
olice
& R
escue
R
esponse
z
Goshen Police reserve R.T.
Snyder got a first-hand view of
destruction on Palm Sunday
sCOTTwEISSER |
The Goshen News
R.T. Snyder
is shown outside Sunnyside Mennonite Church along C.R. 13 in Dunlap recently. Snyder was a
reserve officer with the Goshen Police Department when the Palm Sunday tornadoes struck Elkhart County in
1965. He provided assistance at the Sunnyside housing area, and also at Midway Trailer Court.
fROM THE ARCHIVES
Sheriff: This
is really bad
Below is a transcript of the
log kept by Elkhart County
Sheriff Woody Caton on April
11, 1965:
z
6:08 p.m. — South Bend
weather bureau reports
tornado on the ground near
Bremen.
z
6:15 — Tornado on the
ground at C.R. 17 and C.R.
32, heading northeast.
z
6:18 — Tornado strikes
Midway Trailer Park. Send
ambulances and help.
z
6:35 — This is really bad.
Need more ambulances.
Have utilities turned off ...
z
6:50 — Another tornado
just hit Sunnyside in Dunlap,
north of the tracks.
z
7:01 — Call Indianapolis
and advise that we need
National Guard activated.
z
7:02 — Tornado hit at
intersection of 15 and 20.
Everything is leveled.
z
7:21 — This station is
Signal 100. Hold all but
emergency calls.
z
8:10 — Temporary
morgues are set up at
Masonic Lodge and Yoder-
Culp.
z
8:34 — Need more help
at Sunnyside and there is a
strong smell of gas.
z
9:00 — Turnkey Vern
Smith turns over radio duties
to LaMar Snyder.
— Compiled by Stu Swartz
goshen news file photo
Sheriff Woody L. Caton
is pictured here ac-
cepting the keys to a new Massey-Ferguson loader
sent to Elkhart County for use in the cleanup opera-
tion here by the Massey-Ferguson Company’s state
office in Indianapolis. Kenneth Miller of J.A. Miller
and Son, Wakarusa is presenting the keys to Ca-
ton. The Miller firm went to Indianapolis to get the
loader and is providing gasoline for the tractor and
maintaining the unit. The loader may be used free
of charge.
See
Snyder
| 28
