GN tornado section - page 21

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Palm Sunday Tornadoes | 50th Anniversary The Goshen News Saturday, April 11, 2015 | 21
God provides peace as
tornado passes above
By PEGGY BOWERS
April 11, 1965 is a date
that I’ll never forget. It was
the date of one of the worst
tornados to ever hit northern
Indiana.
It was a warm Sunday
afternoon and we were going
to the home of friends for
supper and then to the Palm
Sunday evening services at
the Elkhart Valley Church of
the Brethren.
We had supper at the
home of Bob and Gail Rogers
on C.R. 24 and as we were
doing up the supper dishes,
the electricity went off. The
sky was dark and had a
funny feel to it and suddenly
there were sirens with fire
engines and police cars
passing the house. We went
to the door and looked out,
commenting that something
must have happened and that
we would need to go and see
after church. This was the
tornado that hit the trailer
park on U.S. 33.
My husband, John, went
out to the car and got our
coats because we thought
it might rain. Suddenly Bob
said that he thought the sky
had a funny look to it and
maybe we should go down
to the basement. They had
a home that was a split level
and we first went down to the
bottom level, but he thought
we should go on down to the
basement itself.
I could not see the funnel
that they thought was a
tornado. It was so large that
it was dragging its tail on the
ground and did not look like
a tornado.
Bob thought that we
should go to the southwest
corner of the basement. We
waited there for a minute or
so and he and his wife, Gail,
ran up to see how close it
was, leaving their two sons
with us in the basement.
They came flying down the
stairs and said it was upon us.
We heard some noise and
thought that perhaps the roof
had been blown off. John and
Bob started praying for our
safety and suddenly there
was such a pressure that
you felt that you could not
breathe. I remember that my
hair was standing on end and
my dress flew up over my
head. I remember thinking
that this is what it was like to
die and that when we opened
our eyes we would be in
heaven with Jesus.
Little did we know that the
storm had literally picked
up their home and blown it
apart above us. We had shut
all the windows thinking it
might rain. When the storm
passed we were all alive and
there was nothing above us
but the stormy sky.
The only place in the
basement that we could have
survived was the southwest
corner that we were in. The
bottom floor where we had
been was swept clean and
the rest of the basement was
full of debris from the rest of
the house. We looked around
trying to figure out how to
get out and piled up some
things to climb out of the
basement. We were being
careful of the power lines not
knowing if they were live or
not.
We knelt on the road and
Bob gave thanks for our lives
even though their home
was completely destroyed.
The only thing we could see
standing was the Elkhart Val-
ley Church of the Brethren
approximately one half mile
away and we started to walk
that way. On the way my
husband was picking chunks
of plaster out of the back of
my dress. ...
A car came along with a
young couple trying to get
through to her home but
roads were blocked with
downed trees and power
lines. They gave us a ride
down to the church. I’ve
often wondered what hap-
pened to their families and
whether they got home OK
that evening.
We got out and ran for
the church just as the skies
opened up and doused us.
Bob had a cut on his head
but otherwise we were
unharmed. A couple from
Wakarusa saw us run for the
church and came back to see
if we needed a ride home,
figuring that we had been
caught in the storm.
I’ll never forget the ride
home (to Bob’s parents
home on C.R. 1). Trees were
down, houses and build-
ing damaged, power lines
were down so that we had
to detour several times. I’ve
never been where there
was a bomb dropped, but it
certainly looked like pictures
I’ve seen over the years. ...
Every Palm Sunday I think
of that day and all it meant.
So many suffered so much
that day, but the people
pulled together to help one
another in a very special way.
People walked the fields to
pick up debris so that the
farmers could get in their
fields to plant. Many fixed
meals and offered shelter
and help to those in need.
I’ve thanked God many
times for the fact that He
chose to spare our lives that
day. I know that the storm
took away any fear that I
felt of dying. The peace that
descended on me during
that stormmade me know
that God is always with us
and watching over us. If He
had chosen to take us home
that day I know that we
would have been with Him
in heaven. That is what we
long for as Christians and we
know that day will come for
all of us.
Peggy Bowers lives in
Wakarusa.
Storm really changed outlook
By MARILYN RAPPATTA
On Sunday, April 11, 1965, about mid
afternoon, I remember being outside just la-
zily swinging and enjoying the warm spring
day. But I do remember thinking the air and
the sky color were just a little different than
normal.
I really had no thoughts about severe
weather since I had never experienced any-
thing like what was to come later that day.
Sure I’d heard of tornadoes and even heard
my parents mention one they experienced
in the Parkside area of Goshen in the late
30s before I was born. But at age 24 I was
oblivious to the fact that another one was
even possible.
That evening my father and I were get-
ting ready to go to communion at Goshen
City Church of the Brethren. While in the
basement of fellowship hall of the church
and during the communion service, we
heard a few sirens. That seemed fairly
normal. But soon a couple nurses started
leaving the service. Even then I didn’t real-
ize the enormity of what had happened.
I don’t remember anyone announc-
ing what was happening. Later I was told
that one tornado had gone right over the
hospital at the time I was upstairs getting
dressed. We lived in front of the hospital on
Main Street.
Monday morning at Mennonite Mutual
Aid where I worked and that was located by
the hospital at that time, we sat around talk-
ing about the happenings of the day before
and what each of us experienced. One lady
mentioned being at a scene where she saw
someone with a missing limb. The sky
and weather on Monday didn’t seem very
settled yet, but rather eerie and subdued.
In 1967 I met my husband-to-be who
told me about his experiences in helping
after the first tornado and later. He was in
civil defense, so he was called out after the
first tornado struck. While heading to the
Midway Trailer Court area, he witnessed
the second tornado but was not harmed.
He continued on to the trailer park and
was able to help look for people. He helped
with cleanup for many days following. A
co-worker of his in civil defense was killed
in the Sunnyside area tornado.
I am thankful that my experience during
this time was not as devastating as so many
others went through. It definitely changes
one’s outlook on life anyway.
Marilyn Rappatta lives in Goshen.