A judge. [1]A school board member. A deputy directing inmates to safety. Toddlers. Infants.
A system of tornadoes[2] claimed at least 75 lives when it tore through Western Kentucky over the weekend, leaving destruction, despair and grief in its wake. Friends, family and strangers alike are organizing relief funds and memorials to honor those lost.
Officials are sharing the names of those killed in the storms that began Friday night and stretched into Saturday morning. The full depth of the impact of the tornadoes is expected to come into focus as search and rescue efforts continued in different parts of the state.
Here's what we know about who died in the storms.
Jenny Bruce
65, of Dawson Springs, Kentucky
Jenny Bruce served the kids of Dawson Springs for four decades, even after her retirement.
Bruce, 65, sat on the school board for Dawson Springs Independent, a small school district with around 500 students in Hopkins County.
She was the finance director for many of her years in the district, a post from the Kentucky School Boards Association said.
Sarah Kaegi, the finance officer for Murray Independent, said Bruce was “sweet, kind & always ready to help.”
Bruce "always talked about her husband, her children, her grandchildren & of course, her dog," Kaegi said.
"She always had a smile on her face. I would like her family to know her kindness and her leadership stretched far outside the boundaries of Dawson Springs and she will never be forgotten."
Citizens Bank of London, where Bruce’s step-daughter works, started a fund to help the Dawson Springs community in her honor.
“There are really no words to describe how much she meant to me,” Brandy Wiser, Bruce’s step-daughter, wrote on Facebook. “While not my mother by birth, she was truly like a mother to me for more than half of my life. Her heart was unlike any I've ever known. She would truly do anything for anyone at anytime without hesitation.”
- Olivia Krauth
More from the USA TODAY Network:
Larry Burdon
73, of Caldwell County
Larry Burdon died on his farm in Caldwell County when the two-story home built with his own hands was leveled by a tornado.
A retired pharmacist, Burdon spent most of his life in Lexington, but moved to Madisonville as he neared retirement. He and his wife lived in a trailer on the property while he built the house entirely on his own at his leisure, his brother Tim Burdon told The Courier Journal.
Tim said his brother was always focused on his health — he ate right, walked 10 miles a day and lifted weights regularly. Burdon was an avid outdoorsmen who was planning to finish hiking the second half of the Appalachian Trail this spring.
"He used to joke that he would live to be 120," Tim Burdon said. "He became kind of a farm boy after living in the city. He just did what he wanted to in his retirement."
Larry was quiet, highly intelligent and loved the Lord. He loved his chickens, and often left eggs for his neighbors. Tim said his brother was full of ingenuity — even as a child. He built a radio as a young kid and communicated with people from Japan.
When he mowed the lawn, he drove a stake into the ground and connected it to a self-propelled mower in a way that it would mow a large circle evenly. Sometimes he'd watch and laugh from the house as passersby in their cars slowed to watch, confused about what was happening.
"He was a good brother and a good man," Tim said. "If he set his mind to do something, he would do it."
Burdon, his wife, his daughter and their grandson were thrown from the home when the tornado hit.
His wife, who is alert but critical at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was buried under debris. Neighbors rushed over to help, covering them with blankets and doing what they could, but it took more than three hours for authorities to cut through mangled trees so ATVs could take them out on stretchers.
"The devastation is unimaginable," said Tim, who has been at his brother's home with heavy equipment like bulldozers and backhoes for days trying to move debris. Teams of people have come out to help the family. Larry's wife is facing months of recovery; his daughter and grandson had only minor injuries.
- Kala Kachmar
Richard Carlisle
67, of Dawson Springs
Rick Carlisle enjoyed traveling to car shows and building custom show cars, according to his obituary[3]. Among the honorary pallbearers at his funeral will be “friends he made showing cars.”
Carlisle, who grew up in multiple states and Japan, retired from Trane in 2014 after nearly four decades of service, his obituary says.
Outside of show cars, he enjoyed riding horses and doing mechanic work for those around him.
In lieu of flowers, his family is asking for donations to be made to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.
- Olivia Krauth
Brian Crick
43, of Bremen, Kentucky
Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.
Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins.
Many of the defendants who came before him weren’t represented by attorneys, and Crick “was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected,” Wiggins said. “He had a very common sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.”
Wiggins was killed when the storm hit his family’s home in Muhlenberg County. He is survived by a wife and three children, all of whom made it through the storm without major injuries, Wiggins said. “He was just a consummate family man ... very engaged with his children and his wife. They were number one to him.”
- Associated Press
Robert Daniel
47, of Mayfield, Kentucky
Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel was supervising inmate workers at a candle factory in Mayfield when the tornado struck.
Graves County Jailer George Workman said Monday that Daniel had been focused on the prisoners in his care when he was killed as the twister wrecked the plant.
The seven inmates Daniel, 47, was overseeing at the factory Friday night were part of a brand-new work program and had just begun their jobs three days earlier.
After the storm hit, the inmates told Workman’s deputies that it was Daniel who literally had pushed them all to safety, guiding them through a doorway and against a wall in an interior part of the plant. Workman said the last inmate through the door told deputies that Daniel was behind him one moment, and suddenly he was gone.
“It takes a tremendous person to be able to lay their own life down for somebody else. But he did and he was doing it for the right reasons,” said Workman.
All seven inmates in Daniel’s care survived, Workman said. Two suffered broken legs.
A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area that was devastated by the storm.
“He loved his community,” Saxton said. “He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. He’s the type of person you want to be associated with.”
- Associated Press
Jha'lil Dunbar
3, of Mayfield, Kentucky
Jha'lil, who was excited to start preschool after his fourth birthday next month, loved Paw Patrol, playing with Nerf guns, doing flips and watching videos on his tablet, according to his aunt, Destiny Lashea Jackson.
He loved playing with his older siblings Damarion and Javion Noonan, Khaliyah Garnett and his one-year-old brother, Julius Dunbar. Jackson said her nephew was loving, friendly and was always excited to go to daycare. He loved his mom and dad, William Dunbar and Huda Alubahi.
Jackson said every time he ate, he said it was "bussin', bussin'," which is a popular TikTok phrase that means something is delicious.
Alisha Weatherbee, Jha’lil's second cousin, said he and Julius were at home with Alubahi when the storm approached. The three couldn't get to the basement so they took shelter in the first-floor bathroom. Alubahi's brother was in the living room at the time.
When the tornado hit, it pushed the two-story home off the foundation and into the house next door. The second floor fell into the first.
Weatherbee said Alubahi’s brother escaped the wreckage and was able to locate Alubahi and her children because he could hear Julius' cries. She said it appeared the mother and two sons had been trapped by the second-floor bathroom when the house collapsed.
- Joe Gerth and Kala Kachmar
Jeff Eckert and Jennifer 'Lulu' Nelson Eckert
70 and 69, of Dawson Springs, Kentucky
Jeff Eckert and his wife Jennifer “Lulu” Nelson Eckert died in Dawson Springs during the tornadoes over the weekend, according to the Hopkins County Coroner.
Jeff founded a book publishing company in Nokomis, Florida in 1988, according to his obituary. He enjoyed playing in several different bands from the 1970s to the 2000s.
“Lulu” was “Nonna” to her grandchildren, according to her obituary. She worked for an optometrist for 15 years and loved to travel and plan events or cookouts.
- Brittany Carloni
Matthew Ferguson
50, of Bremen, Kentucky
Matthew Ferguson lost his life, his home and his two dogs, Leo and Chunk, in this weekend's tornadoes. Ferguson was kind, caring, reserved, down-to-earth and could connect with anyone, his cousin Jenny Prewitt and her husband Matthew Prewitt told The Courier Journal.
"He was the type of person who would do anything in the world for anybody," Matthew Prewitt said. "From the day I met him he always treated me just like a member of the family... It leaves a pretty big void."
Ferguson was passionate about horror movies. He was an amateur writer and director, visited film conventions and hosted Halloween parties. He was planning to remake a low-budget horror movie, "The Devil's Playground," that he filmed in their grandmother's home in 2010, Matthew said.
Ferguson was a driver for Carhartt in Madisonville and worked on cars in his spare time. Jenny said since she lost her own father, she planned to ask her cousin to "carry on the tradition" and teach her son about cars, but she never got the chance. Ferguson loved his family dearly, she said.
Ferguson is the only boy of four, and the only one born in Kentucky. As a child, his sisters used to tease him about "sending him back" when they drove by the Greenville hospital he was born in. A few years ago at a relative's funeral, Matthew and their family laughed about a photo of Ferguson and his older sisters from the 1970s during his "Davy Jones phase," Matthew said. He had a good sense of humor.
-Kala Kachmar
Scottie and Meagan Flener
Both 34, of Central City, Kentucky
Scottie Lee Flener and his wife, Meagan Brea Wilson Flener, both 34, were killed in their Central City home during the tornado outbreak this weekend. They left behind three children, Landon, Alizabeth and Kenni Lynn Lafollette, as well as many siblings and family members, according to their obituaries.
Their three-year-old daughter, Thea Flener, died in 2020. Scottie was a self-employed roofer and Meagan a homemaker.
"Scottie and Meagan Flener were two of the best people I've ever met," relative Sandi Flener wrote in a GoFundMe[4] started to cover expenses. "They were my family and they will be forever missed."
- Kala Kachmar
Oaklynn Koon
Infant, of Dawson Springs, Kentucky
Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-law’s bathroom in Dawson Springs as the storms approached.
The couple put their infant daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK on Saturday.
But by Sunday, the baby was having seizures, and doctors noticed a brain bleed after she was taken to the hospital. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook post.
Early Monday morning, the family posted that the infant had died.
In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling “to process everything that I’m going through.”
A family member has set up a GoFundMe account for Koon’s family and his mother-in-law, Sheila Rose, who lost her home.
- Associated Press
Wade Lihl
57, of Cayce
Wade Lihl died at his house in Cayce, Fulton County. He was a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to his obituary at Hornbeak Funeral Chapel in Fulton[5].
Lihl was a member of the Pentecostal church, and his wife of 20 years, Holly Watson Lihl, said he endeavored to be a good Christian man.
He worked as a laser operator at MTD Products, an outdoor power equipment parts maker, in Martin, Tennessee.
In addition to Holly, Wade leaves behind a sister and several nieces and nephews.
"He was a wonderful compassionate man and a hard worker who never missed a day," Holly said. "He was always taking care of me. Life will be hard without him."
- Ray Couture
Say Meh
42, of Bowling Green, Kentucky
Say Meh was one of 15 people who died from storm-related injuries in Warren County over the weekend. Meh, 42, died at the Medical Center at Bowling Green, according to the Warren County coroner.
Meh, a refugee form Burma, was in the process of studying to become a U.S. citizen, according to a GoFundMe page to support her family[6].
“Say Meh loved life and never met a stranger,” the GoFundMe page said. “Her tireless spirit and her charming smile will be missed.”
- Brittany Carloni
Billy and Judy Miller
73 and 72, of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky
Gov. Andy Beshear said his uncle, Ed Miller, of Versailles, had lost two cousins in Muhlenberg County during the tornado.
Miller, who visited Muhlenberg County with Beshear Tuesday, said his relatives who died were his first cousin, Billy Miller and his wife, Judy Miller. They were farmers who lived in the Millport community.
“They were very close to me, from the standpoint when I come back into the area, all my brothers and sisters take and spend a weekend with me when I come down here. Everybody comes in to have a meal together, to socialize, cousins come around, I go back to the church I was raised in and everybody’s there,” Ed Miller said.
Billy Miller, 73, and his wife, 72, had been married for 56 years, granddaughter Haley Burton told the Washington Post[7]. She said they were found side-by-side on their property near Bremen, a town of about 300 people that was heavily damaged by the tornado.
- Debby Yetter
Jill Monroe
52, of Mayfield, Kentucky
In Jill Monroe’s final moments, she was working to keep others safe.
When it became clear that a tornado was headed for the Mayfield candle factory where she worked, coworkers told her family, she helped direct folks to an interior bathroom where they could take shelter.
During that same time, her sister Heather McGuffin says, she was texting family back in Oldham County to make sure they were keeping an eye on the storms moving through Kentucky.
“That’s who she was .. She would have run out in front of the tornado to help save somebody else,” her son, Chris Chism, said Tuesday afternoon.
Chism and his wife, Paige Tingle, were the ones who drove to Mayfield in the wake of the storm to try to find out what happened to his mother and “best friend.” They ultimately found out from the Graves County coroner that she didn’t survive the storm.
Monroe is one of eight candle factory employees who is confirmed to have died[8] in Friday’s tornado, which decimated the town of Mayfield. The company that owns the factory, Mayfield Consumer Products, has said the other 102 people who were in the factory that night have been found alive[9], but state officials have not confirmed that information.
Monroe had only been at the facility for three or four months, her family said. She moved to Mayfield for a “fresh start,” according to Chism, and a chance to connect with her birth family’s community – she was adopted at a young age and found her biological family a few years ago.
While in Mayfield, Chism and Tingle were able to collect some of the Christmas presents she had already bought for her family. They’ll be under the tree Christmas morning, especially the ones marked “from Mimi” for the couple’s three children.
“That’s what she’d want,” Chism said. “Christmas was all about watching her babies open their presents.”
The biggest holiday surprise Monroe had planned for her family won’t happen, though.
She was, her coworkers told Chism, to move back to Oldham County in time for Christmas Eve.
- Mary Ramsey
Chase Oglesby
Five months, of Bremen, Kentucky
Andrew and Charity Oglesby lost everything when a tornado hit Bremen — most importantly, their only child, 5-month-old Chase.
“No person should ever go through the pain of this much loss in one night,” a GoFundMe[10] organized by Zach Negulis, Andrew sister’s fiance.
Andrew and Charity are both in the hospital from injuries suffered during the storm, the GoFundMe says.
“They are two of the most giving and loving people on this earth and would do anything for anyone,” Negulis wrote. “They and all of us are completely broken by this night as they lost the most important thing in this world to them.”
- Olivia Krauth
Evelyn Ratay
98, of Eddyville
Evelyn Ratay loved square dancing, bowling and quilt-making. She would craft quilts for family members and donate extras to local hospitals and people in need, according to her obituary[11].
Rattay worked as a seamstress for dress factories earlier in her life.
She died Saturday from the impacts of the tornadoes in western Kentucky, the Lyon County Coroner confirmed.
“Her family loved being with her and enjoyed her happy attitude,” according to her obituary.
- Brittany Carloni
Cory Scott
27, of Bowling Green, Kentucky
Cory Scott loved basketball and woodworking. He enjoyed shooting guns, listening to loud music and working on trucks.
The 27-year-old from Bowling Green died Saturday, according to a Facebook obituary[12]. Scott was one of 15 people who died from storm-related deaths in Warren County as of Monday.
Scott worked as a contractor for Bluegrass Craftsmen in Rockfield, Kentucky.
Family and friends meant everything to Scott, according to a Facebook obituary. A verified GoFundMe page has been set up to support Scott's family.
“He was the life of the party and loved getting his friends together more than anything,” the obituary said.
- Brittany Carloni
Cheryl Snodgrass
52, of Muhlenberg County
Cheryl Snodgrass will be remembered for her kindness. If anyone stepped foot inside her home, she would greet them with open arms, her son Ian Snodgrass told the Courier-Journal.
“If she was here today, if you said hi to her or you were having a bad day, I guarantee you she would try to brighten your day,” Ian Snodgrass said.
Cheryl Snodgrass died in Muhlenberg County during the storms that hit western Kentucky over the weekend, according to the Muhlenberg Coroner.
She enjoyed reading and restoring destroyed items, like furniture, her son said.
A long conversation with his mom in their first home is one of his favorite memories with her, Ian Snodgrass said.
“She was a special woman,” he said.
- Brittany Carloni
Diane Varney
62, of Moorman, Kentucky
Diane Varney, known to many as Ms. Di, died in her daughter's home in Moorman over the weekend. She was a team leader and 15-year-veteran at the Burger King in Central City, where she was loved by managers, employees and customers alike, her son Ricky Beckman told The Courier Journal.
"My mom was adored by everybody that knew her," he said. "I didn't realize how much the community loved her until the funeral yesterday."
Beckman said his mother had a heart of gold and though she didn't have much, she'd give her last penny or the shirt off her back to help someone in need. Varney moved her two children, Beckman and Jenny Shemwell, to Muhlenberg County from Chicago in 1998 to get them away from the city. She lived for her grandchildren, Ava, 11, Asher, 8, and four-year-old Abram Shemwell, Beckman said.
"Her hobbies were being a couch potato — as long as she had her Sonomas (cigarettes), Monster drinks and her grandbabies," he said.
Beckman, who has been in recovery since March, said he's going to stay sober to honor his mother.
"She just wanted me to do right," he said. "Just because something bad happens doesn't mean you have to go back to that lifestyle. She wouldn't want me to go back to the way I was."
Varney's family has set up a GoFundMe[13] page to pay for her funeral expenses.
- Kala Kachmar
Do you know someone who died in the tornadoes in Kentucky? Please reach out to reporters Olivia Krauth and Kala Kachmar at okrauth@gannett.com and kkachmar@gannett.com.
References
- ^ A judge. (www.courier-journal.com)
- ^ system of tornadoes (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ according to his obituary (https://ift.tt/2Wy3ZL3)
- ^ GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com)
- ^ at Hornbeak Funeral Chapel in Fulton (https://ift.tt/3m5jLas)
- ^ according to a GoFundMe page to support her family (www.gofundme.com)
- ^ the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ who is confirmed to have died (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ the other 102 people who were in the factory that night have been found alive (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com)
- ^ according to her obituary (obits.herrfuneral.com)
- ^ according to a Facebook obituary (www.facebook.com)
- ^ GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com)
from GANNETT Syndication Service https://ift.tt/3EUY9Vv
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