Morning Sun - May 5, 2004
How fragile, how strong
Franklin observes anniversary of tornado

By NIKKI PATRICK  
Lifestyle Editor                                                                                     

Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun During a memorial service Tuesday, Franklin community members, friends and families observe a moment of silence at 5:11 p.m., exactly one year after a an F4 tornado swept through the town, killing one and destroying 85 percent of the town's houses. A program for the memorial service shows photos of the tornado funnel and the devastation that followed in its wake.

FRANKLIN - The old Franklin Community Center was the location for many gatherings and celebrations. It was destroyed by the May 4 tornado, but Franklin residents chose to gather at its site Tuesday for a remembrance ceremony.

Craig Stokes, president of the Franklin Community Council, served as master of ceremonies. He told of the community's past, when it was a station on the Joplin and Pittsburg electric railroad and a trading center for its section of Crawford County.

When the mining industry waned, many residents left and the community dwindled in size. "However, the spirit and closeness of the community remains to this day," Stokes said.

Remarks were made by several members of the clergy, including Fr. Donald Thissen, Fr. Bob McElwee, Ted Wynn, Rudy Widmar and the Rev. Steve Cole.

Fr. Thissen told of young Jesus helping Joseph in his carpenter's shop.

"One day Jesus asked Joseph what they were building, and Joseph said that it was going to be a big table where friends would gather for a meal," he said. "The next day, Jesus asked again what was being built, but this time Joseph said that it was a cross where a man would suffer and die. That table was the table for the Last Supper, and the cross was the cross where Jesus was crucified. We are called by God to be with our people and share our losses. We are called to live today, because today is where we build tomorrows."

"Your ancestors would be proud of what you've done," Fr. McElwee said. "They would be proud of people who didn't surrender. We are on this earth to build the kingdom of God. The irony of what happened a year ago is that it shows how fragile we are, and how strong we are. We can build in this world with confidence, even knowing that it will pass away, because we know that what we build for God will last for eternity."

Ted Wynn noted the many references in the Bible to tornados or whirlwinds. "A whirlwind took Elijah to heaven, spoke to Job out of a whirlwind. Has He spoken to us? Did we listen?"

Rudy Widmar was born and raised in Franklin, and was at work when he heard that a tornado was approaching.

"It was just a big old black-greenish wall, and it gave me the sickest feeling to see that ugly cloud, but what can you do?" Widmar said. "I talked with my loving savior and said, 'We need a little help here'."

His home was gone, but his family was fine. "And people started coming, with food, with chainsaws, wanting to do anything they could to help," Widmar said. "I was totally awestruck by the help we got. You're a good bunch of people, and I'm proud to be part of you. I thank God for you."

Rev. Steve Cole spoke of Josephine Maghe, Franklin's only fatality in the storm. Now at Girard, he was pastor of the Arma United Methodist Church when the tornado struck.

"About a month before the tornado, a woman started coming to church and she asked to be baptized," Rev. Cole said. "I was happy we were able to do that for her. That woman was Josephine Maghe."

He read from scriptures, including the 23rd Psalm.

Joseph Maghe, son of the late Josephine Maghe, spoke briefly. A Franklin native, he lived there for his first 24 years.

"It continues to be my home, even though the houses I knew are gone," Maghe said. "We had vacation Bible school in the old community center. While I was tending bar at a wedding reception at the center, I met the woman who became my wife. Three years later we had our wedding reception there."

On April 30 he returned to Franklin to help plant trees along Broadway. One of the sites where he planted was the lot where his mother's home had stood.

A moment of silence was held in his mother's memory at 5:11 p.m., the time the tornado struck the community.

Stokes introduced two early residents of Franklin, Mary Podpechan Straus and Rose Ann Podpechan, who have lived in the Chicago area since the early 1930s.

"They traveled from Illinois to share this day with us, and we are most grateful that they are able to be here," Stokes said.

The ceremony ended with a release of 217 balloons, representing the 217 families who lived in Franklin at the time the tornado hit.

"We can only imagine what Franklin will look like in a decade and the challenges the community will face," Stokes said. "However, the future appears bright and there is satisfaction in knowing this day of remembrance and reflection was a fitting tribute to Josephine Maghe and all those who suffered such tremendous losses. It has been said that what is good endures, and Franklin will endure."

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