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Xenia tornado stories offer glimpse into tragic day

Xenia residents make their way to shelter with the few belongings they have left after a tornado ripped through town on April 3, 1974.

Staff file photo Xenia residents make their way to shelter with the few belongings they have left after a tornado ripped through town on April 3, 1974.

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Photos: Anniversary: 1974 Xenia tornado

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By Dale Huffman, Staff Writer Updated 3:00 PM Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It happened 35 years ago this month, and some say that this is the first time they have been able to share publicly the horror of that terrible day when 33 died and hundreds were injured in Xenia during the tornado on April 3, 1974.

I asked you to share your thoughts and memories of that fateful day in Xenia, and there was an amazing response.

Paul Chambers was manager of the business office for Greene Memorial Hospital on that day. He said he debated whether he should share this story, and finally decided that now is the time to talk about it.

He said he was warned that day over the hospital’s radio system that a tornado was headed toward Xenia.

“I called my wife, Gloria, who was with our stepson, William Armstrong, at my home in the Arrowhead subdivision,” Chambers said. “She told me Billy was playing outside and she would go find him.”

There were a number of phone calls, but Chambers was unable to reach his wife again. Later, while helping with patients at the hospital, he learned Arrowhead was hit hard.

The following day, Chambers learned of his stepson’s death.

“No one knew what happened to Gloria. I had access to the list of names of patients taken to area hospitals, but she was not on any lists. I also knew the location of the temporary shelters set up and checked them repeatedly.”

Finally, he said he heard an unidentified female had been taken to Miami Valley Hospital.

“I immediately went there and was put in touch with the hospital chaplain,” Chambers said. “He was a very kind man. He did some checking for me and said he found that the body had been taken to the Montgomery County Morgue. He offered to take me there and it was there I found and identified my wife. By this time it was nearly 48 hours since the tornado hit, clearly the worst 48 hours of my life.”

Chambers said, ironically, his Xenia house was not severely damaged, but houses on both sides were gone. He never found out the circumstances of his wife and stepson’s deaths.

In 1976, he sold his Xenia home and moved to Buford, Ga. where he now lives with his wife of nearly 30 years, and three grandchildren.

“Even though it has been 35 years, I still get a queasy feeling in my stomach whenever there is a tornado watch,” Chambers said.

Mike DeWine, a former United States Senator, was in his 20s and a young assistant prosecutor in Greene County on the day of the tornado in 1974.

“I walked outside our court building and could see this funnel coming straight for us,” DeWine said. “I was with Tom Rose, who now is a federal district judge, and we decided to take cover. We went into the basement of the building on Whitman Street which was destroyed by the tornado. I actually thought we were going to die.”

“When we climbed out of the basement I was shocked to see the devastation,” DeWine said, “I frantically tried to get to Cedarville (his home) to see how my wife, Fran, and our kids were. I walked to the edge of Xenia, you certainly could not drive. I then borrowed a friend’s car and drove east on U.S. 42. Trees were down and buildings damaged. I was never happier to find my wife and kids were not injured.”

“The next few days we spent helping others, and being thankful we were alive,” he said.

Richard J. Steiner said his Xenia tornado story concerns his wife, “the sweetest woman ever born.”

“This story is simple, but words do not do it justice,” Steiner said. “My wife was then five years old and was at the A&W Root beer Stand in downtown Xenia eating with her mother and infant sister when the tornado struck.

“Along with a few other patrons, the cook and a waitress, they huddled under several dining tables. The tornado flattened the building. My wife, her mother and her infant sister survived.

“The waitress that used her body to help cover and protect my wife, did not.”

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I was about five years old, and my brother was probably three. We lived on Cottage Grove Drive. We were playing outside, and the sky turned a weird greenish color, then we started getting hit by the hail. We ran inside, and I remember my Mom putting us under the table.... then in the closet....then in the tub. It sounded like a loud train outside. Nothing really happened to our place (a duplex from what I remember), but at some point afterwards we went out and everything was literally gone.

Jamie Muse
12:40 AM, 6/7/2009

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I was a young teenager and my Father was chief of staff at Miami Valley Hospital in 1974 when the tornado struck. I recall being at home alone and the sky turned yellow and the birds disappeared. I knew that was not a good sign. To this day when it gets eerily quiet in the spring my radar goes up for tornadoes. May the Dayton area never experience such a force again.

Mary Ames
10:33 PM, 4/9/2009

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I was 30 yrs old and will remember that day for the rest of my life. My family is from Xenia and my husband and I were living in Vandalia.. It took us about 3 days to find everyone. We only lost one person. I have the book about the Xenia tornado and will pass it on down to my family. We are now living in Texas and recently went thru hurricane Ike and Rita..

Sandy
9:38 PM, 4/9/2009

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I was working in the restaurant of the York Motor Lodge in Fairborn when the tornado of '74 hit Xenia.Other than having to lock the outside door so it wouldn't break from being pulle opened then slammed by the force of the storm, I really didn't think of severity until I saw the devestation on the news and the heartbreak on the faces of the families staying at the Lodge because they had lost their homes and even loved ones. IT IS REALLY HARD TO JUST "GET OVER IT'.

Belinda Morrison
9:34 PM, 4/9/2009

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I was a year old when the tornado came through Xenia. My grandma called my mom that day and asked to take me shopping for shoes. After shopping we went back to my grandma's house where we watched the tornado go by. My house was destroyed and a wall was laying on top of my crib. If we had been home I'm not sure I would be here today.

Leann
5:12 PM, 4/9/2009

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