Coroner rules Trotwood woman’s death caused in part by Memorial Day tornadoes

The coroner’s office said Lois Elmore, of Trotwood, died from multiple trauma after a tornado caused a home to collapse.  She also died as a result of heart disease and

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, the coroner’s office told News Center 7.

After an EF 4 tornado cut through Trotwood, Elmore’s son Edward Fritz said she and her neighbor were trapped in her bathroom for more than 45 minutes.

“Her body just gave out,” Fritz told News Center 7 last week. “She suffered quite a bit from the time of the tornado...She held on as long as she could.”

Elmore described his mother as a kind and outgoing person. She lived a “nice life” and “gave everything she could give to people,” Fritz said. She was active with the Ethan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church on Shiloh Springs Road in Clayton.

“My mother was a very giving person. She did a lot of things for a lot of people,” Fritz said. “She didn’t believe in strangers.”

Elmore's neighbor Arleen Long said Elmore broke her arm in the tornado and that her health had gone down-hill since then.

Long described Elmore as a friendly “beautiful person” who had an outgoing personality but was also soft-spoken. Long said she had known Elmore for a year or so before her death.

“She reminded me so much of my mom,” Long said. “So I just called her my second mom and we laughed.”

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Elmore becomes the second victim to die from the tornadoes more than three months ago.

Fifteen tornadoes wreaked havoc on Ohio the night of May 27. At least 59 homes were completely destroyed and 500 were damaged where Elmore lived in Trotwood.

Dale Hanna, 82, of Celina, was the only person believed to have been killed on the night an EF3 tore through the town.

Hanna worked for many years as a contractor and managed a building supply store, according to his obituary. He was a member of Abounding Grace Ministries in Celina, Gideons, MAPS and actively built churches and helped families with construction projects.

A Harrison Twp. woman with severe dementia may have also been a victim of the tornadoes.

Catherine “Cathy” Clayburn’s remains were found June 4 under stacked trees in a muddy creek near the Stillwater River, 75 to 85 feet below residences.

Clayburn, who was nonverbal and had no cell phone, was reported missing by family members about five hours before an EF 4 tornado shredded parts of the township May 27. Police were unable to determine whether Clayburn died as a direct result of the tornadoes.