P
alm
S
unday
T
ornadoes
| 50
th
A
nniversary
The Goshen News Saturday, April 11, 2015 |
17
Remembering our friends and neighbors lost on
Palm Sunday 1965:
ELKHART COUNTY
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Jefferson Place Area
Jean Krehbiel, 28, Middlebury.
Timothy Krehbiel, 5 months, her son.
David L. Yoder, 28, Goshen.
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Middlebury Area
Margaret Nihart, 65, Middlebury.
Lester J. Miller, 38, Route 2, Middlebury.
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Midway Mobile Home Park
Carolyn Sue Jackson, 23.
June Ann Jackson, 5, her daughter.
Vandy Jackson, 1, her son.
Denward Jackson, 35, Wakarusa, visiting.
Daniel Jackson, 3, his son.
Leslie Jackson, 5, his son.
Ada Mae Higginbotham, 22.
Timothy Higginbotham, 6 months, her son.
Nancy Keisel, 23.
Chris McIntosh, 1.
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Ind. 15 and U.S. 20
Irving Doerscher, 34, Bristol.
William Doerscher, 10, his son.
Tamara Doerscher, 6, his daughter.
Beverly Wolfe, 14, his stepdaughter.
Janie Ruth Spradlin, 10, Bristol.
Jackie Spradlin, 7, her sister.
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Sunnyside Dunlap
Donald S. Yoder, 51, Goshen, in his car.
Edward Hearld, 14.
Barbara Burkholder, 29.
Steve Forsythe, 10.
John Price, 13.
Carolyn Ford, 4.
Charles Warren, 86.
Elizabeth Warren, 83, his wife.
Rosabelle Keating, 73.
Calvin Kettlebar, 59.
Gladys Kettlebar, 42, his wife.
Leslie Kettlebar, 9, their son.
Nellie Zentz, 87.
Marklin Roberts, 37.
Frances Roberts, 30, his wife.
James Roberts, 8, their son.
Kenneth Griffin, 54.
Ruth Griffin, 55.
Grace Stoner, 56.
Michael Dowell, 2.
Kent Shanholt, 7 months.
John Edward Wirt, 11 months.
Hans Randa, 50.
Roxann Boone, 6.
Norma Shell, 25.
Helen Brenneman, 53.
Opal Vaughn, 33.
LAGRANGE COUNTY
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Shipshewana Area
LeRoy Yoder, 55, Topeka.
Florence Yoder, 53, his wife.
Willie Bontrager, 58, Shipshewana.
Grayce Bontrager, 56, his wife.
John S. Yoder, 66, Shipshewana.
Jennie Yoder, 60, his wife.
Frank Haarer, 78, Shipshewana.
Grace Haarer, 69, his wife.
Noble Haarer, 36, their son.
Bessie Hostetler, 68, Shipshewana.
Bernis Hostetler, 45, her daughter.
Iva Nofzinger, 54, Shipshewana.
Ida Miller, 46, Shipshewana.
David Miller, 19, Shipshewana, her son.
Clarence Clindaniel, 21, Shipshewana.
Mable Miller, 60, Shipshewana.
Hallie Schindler, 70, LaGrange.
Mary Alice Schindler, 75, his wife.
Grover Moore, 51, Follenbee, W. Va., driving on
Toll Road.
REPORTED LATER
Anna Dillman, 80, Route 2, Goshen.
Clara Mae Weaver, 62, Osceola.
Tommy Lee Moore, 3, Wakarusa.
— List compiled by Stu Swartz
In memoriam
Marking the paths
Sunnyside Addition
Between 30 and 45 minutes after a
tornado destroys the Midway Trailer
Court, an F4 twister flattens the
Sunnyside Housing Addition, killing 27
people.
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A squall line reached from
near LaCrosse, Wisconsin
through Rockford, Illinois to
Champaign, Illinois. SELS
issued another tornado
forecast. It was valid over
the northern half of Indiana,
northwest Ohio, and
southeast Michigan.
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With several twisters
already on the ground in St.
Joseph County, The South
Bend Weather Bureau issues
a tornado warning for Elkhart
County.
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Twin F4 tornadoes strike the
Midway Trailer Court, near
where the C.R. 17 overpass
currently crosses U.S. 33. Ten
people were killed and nearly
all the mobile homes were
either destroyed or severely
damaged. Six people died in
a single trailer.
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The tornado that leveled
Midway continues northwest
and plows into the Jefferson
Place Subdivision just south
of the Jefferson Elementary
School. Three people
traveling in cars on Ind. 15 are
killed.
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A second F4 tornado
tears through Dunlap and
the Sunnyside Housing
Addition, killing 27 people and
destroying many homes.
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A third tornado hops over
the south side of Goshen and
eventually hits the Rainbow
Lake area of Shipshewana,
destroying homes, severally
damaging the Shore
Mennonite Church and
claiming 16 lives in LaGrange
County.
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The twister that tore through
Dunlap continues northwest
and destroys most buildings
at the intersection of Ind. 15
and U.S. 20 and killing six
more people. The twister cut
a path through Middlebury
township and took the life of
two more residents before it
was finished.
Midway Trailer Court
At approximately 6:18 p.m. the
first of three major F4 tornadoes
strikes Elkhart County,
destroying much of the Midway
Trailer Court and killing 10
people there.
Jefferson Place
The same twister that devastated
Midway, plows into the Jefferson
Place subdivision, destroying
dozens of homes. Three people
driving on Ind. 15 are killed.
15 & 20
The same tornado that destroyed
Sunnyside continues on its deadly path,
killing six people near the intersection of
Ind. 15 and U.S. 20 and two more people
in the Middlebury area.
Shipshewana area
A third F4 tornado churns through
Elkhart County and into LaGrange
County where it shreds the
Rainbow Lake area, including
Shore Mennonite Church. Sixteen
people are killed.
4:35 p.m.
6:08
6:18
6:30
6:50-7:15
6:50-7:15
7:25
Palm Sunday Timeline
THE GOSHEN NEWS
Notes from the 1965 Palm
Sunday Tornadoes as reported
in the pages of The Goshen
News:
• It was estimated some vic-
tims were pulled into the air
and carried as far as 1,000 feet
away to their deaths. Cars were
tossed around like toys.
• Debris was found as far
away as Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Wind speeds were estimat-
ed at 260 mph in the Category 4
storms.
• There were 91 families
residing at Midway Trailer
Court on April 11, 1965. Ten
people died, six in one trailer,
and 30 were injured. More than
half of the park’s residents lost
their homes.
• Wayne Hoke of Sunnyside
in Dunlap lost his First National
Bank of Goshen checkbook in
the tornado. It was found by
Mrs. Robert Voorhees and her
sons at the edge of a wooded
section near their home in
Tecumseh, Michigan. An
Elkhart County license plate
was found in Sturgis, Michigan.
• Among those having homes
destroyed or damaged in Jeffer-
son were Jerry Biller, Cal Zehr,
Mel Eash, Fred Call, Frank
Lower, Clarence Stahley, Virgil
Riley, Ruth Swoveland, Duane
Blough, Burns Stark and Del-
bert Getz.
• Among those residing at
Midway in 1965 were LeRoy
Lambright, Jerry Snyder, Ted
Holewinski, Mike Wheeler,
Glen Anglemyer, Eli Kauffman,
William Higginbotham, Lula
Zimmerman, Keith Stickel and
Leonard Spigutz.
• The old landmark intersec-
tion of Ind. 15 and U.S. 20 was
wiped out on Palm Sunday
1965. Six people died in a home
not far from Elcona Country
Club. Two semi-tractor trailers
at the truck stop were over-
turned and the Midway Restau-
rant was destroyed. Only the
stools survived.
• John VanHout was among
many amateur radio operators
kept busy after the storms
struck. The Goshen CB Club
stood by at City Hall, relaying
messages.
• Goshen News sports editor
Norm Schweickart and his fam-
ily of four huddled in the base-
ment of their C.R. 17, just north
of Midway Trailer Court. They
could see debris flying through
the air, but the storm spared
the Schweickarts and went east
of their home.
• Bill Books and Bill Ogle of
the Goshen Fire Department,
using a station wagon, took
eight injured from Midway to
Hotel Goshen for treatment.
Dan Delcamp and Floyd
Wortinger transported five in
the city ambulance to Goshen
General.
• Elkhart County Sheriff
Woody Caton and Goshen
Police Chief Glenn Kindy
helped coordinate rescue
efforts. The Dunlap EUB
Church and Goshen High Park
Medical building were among
spots used to treat the injured.
Pierre Moran School in Elkhart
served as a temporary morgue.
• Kenneth Swanson was
administrator of Goshen Gener-
al Hospital in 1965. Attorney
Robert Hepler offered the
Masonic Lodge for the home-
less and George Davis of the
Red Cross arranged for blood
supplies delivered from Fort
Wayne.
• The Goshen News staff
worked around the clock to
report the tragedy. Among
reporters were Bill Sheffer, Jim
Miller, Bob Conrad, Norm Sch-
weickart, Jo Wohlford and chief
photographer Mel Troyer.
Victims tossed around like dolls
oDDS & ENDS
Other Local news in the pag-
es of The Goshen News from
April 11, 1965 (Palm Sunday
Tornado Day):
• Ground was broken at St.
James Episcopal Church for a
new parish house. The Rev.
Bruce Mosier shoveled the
first dirt. Others involved in
the ceremony were G.R. McCo-
nnell, John Snobarger, Milton
Latta, Lewis Fidler and Goshen
High School senior Tom Kin-
tigh who was acolyte.
• Fix-up, paint-up week
started in Middlebur y with
Mrs. Sam T. Yoder, Mrs. Ger-
ald Hayworth and Mrs. Jon
Yoder of the Middlebury Gar-
den Club among those on the
committee.
• John Boyts returned to his
Sixth Street home after spend-
ing the winter in New Orleans
with nephew Jerry Rarick and
his family.
• Jim Yoder, 1960 GHS grad,
and his wife visited his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Don Yoder of
South Eighth Street, on Palm
Sunday.
• Harry Carlson and daugh-
ters Sandra and Marcia of
Lafayette were Sunday dinner
guests of Mr. and Mrs. Earle
Thomas on Gra-Roy Drive.
• Monday Night Television:
Leave It to Beaver, To Tell The
Truth, Voyage To The Bottom
Of The Sea, I’ve Got a Secret,
Andy Grif fith, Lucy Show,
Andy Williams, Bing Crosby,
Man From UNCLE, Ben Casey,
Alfred Hitchcock.
• There were no Goshen
General Hospital births during
the tornadoes, but one just
before and one soon after. A
daughter was born to Mr. and
Mrs. Delbert Stidams at 5:57
p.m. and a son to Mr. and Mrs.
James Huff, 117 West Garfield,
at 8:49. The first tornado hit
Midway at 6:18 and the second
Sunnyside at 7:15.
— Compiled by Stu Swartz
WHAT ELSE WAS HAPPENING?
