Henryville parish remembers 2012 tornado victims
The 15th Station announces the Resurrection of Jesus. A black granite monument donated by the parish bears an inscription commemorating the 35 lives lost because of the tornadoes, and the many people who helped rebuild the southern Indiana community. A bench placed there invites contemplation. (Photo by Patricia Happel Cornwell)
By Patricia Happel Cornwell (Special to The Criterion)
HENRYVILLE—On March 2, 2012, a southern Indiana community came together after tornadoes ravaged the area and tragically led to the loss of 35 lives in Indiana and Kentucky.
Two years later, threatening weather again bore down on Henryville as St. Francis Xavier parishioners dedicated an outdoor memorial to those who died as a result of the 2012 storms.
Freezing rain pelted the parish grounds on March 2 where 15 new Stations of the Cross stood, covered in icicles. Inside, after a morning Mass, Father Steve Schaftlein, the parish’s pastor, said, “We’ll have the blessing indoors. It looks like God’s taking care of the holy water.”
Parishioner Ann Harbeson read the names of those people who died in the tornadoes—14 in southern Indiana, 21 in Kentucky. The Indiana victims were residents of New Pekin in Washington County, Nabb in Scott County, Henryville in Clark County, Paynesville in southeast Jefferson County, and Holton in Ripley County. Those killed ranged from age 2 months to 72.
Father Schaftlein read a passage from the Gospel of Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you made me welcome, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me” (Mt 25:35-36).
“If we all want to remember and continue to honor those who suffered and died,” he said, “we need to do what we did in those first months—feed the hungry, clothe the naked. By doing that, we keep not only their memory alive, but their spirit alive. We walk the Way of the Cross to carry the burdens of others. We bless these Stations of the Cross, that they may affirm and inspire us.”
Construction of the stations was organized by Alex Grove as his Eagle Scout project. The son of Tim and Mindy Grove, he is a senior at Our Lady of Providence Jr./Sr. High School in Clarksville and a member of Most Sacred Heart Parish in Jeffersonville. He is a member of Boy Scout Troop 89, chartered at Sacred Heart Parish, and has been a Scout since second grade.
Alex decided to create the project in Henryville instead of at his home parish after viewing the tornado destruction with his godmother, Vicki Horine, a member of St. Francis Xavier Parish, who lived through the tragedy.
Seeing the devastation, he said, “made me want to reach out to the community in some way. I called everyone I knew, and met with these people to schedule and plan each phase of the project.”
Alex had seen a similar project completed by another Eagle Scout. “I liked how unique and ambitious it was,” he said.
Most of the installation was done by his Providence cross-country teammates, who helped him dig holes, set and level the posts, and secure the posts with concrete.
The stations are comprised of clay tiles—handmade by artist John McCarthy, a member of Sacred Heart Parish—and mounted on posts. The image on each earthtone tile depicts one of the events on the Way of the Cross.
Bill Scott, another member of Sacred Heart Parish, gave the young men access to his wood shop to build posts and frames. Scout leader Andy Bremmer solved a fitting problem by carving the frames to accommodate the tiles. Alex and his classmates also began laying bricks around the stations, and a visiting youth volunteer group finished that task.
“Working with Father Steve was great,” Alex said, “because he was so cooperative … while also giving me help when I needed it.”
The project took a year to complete. Alex obtained donations for materials from friends and family and the Jeffersonville Evening Optimist Club.
The new stations loop around the church, ending behind the building at the 15th station representing the Resurrection of Jesus. There, a black granite monument commemorates those who died in the tornadoes, as well as the thousands who helped rebuild the community. A wooden bench placed there invites a moment of contemplation.
A pin oak tree was planted prior to the ceremony as part of the commemoration, to serve, in Father Schaftlein’s words, “as a symbol of our commitment to preparedness.”
Horine, Alex Grove’s godmother, is a special needs preschool teacher at Henryville Elementary School. She survived the tornadoes in a closet at the school with her daughter, Emily, then a high school senior, and several preschool students.
“Most of the students had been put on buses already. We shudder to think what we’d have seen if they had all still been here,” Horine said. “My daughter got her rosary and I got the holy water, and we went in the closet. I told the children, ‘This is Jesus water. He loves us and protects us. You might hear some loud noises, but you’re going to be all right.’ ”
The school was demolished around them, but the closet they hid in was untouched by the tornadoes. Horine, her daughter and the preschoolers climbed out through cafeteria windows devoid of glass, and stepped onto ground littered with “hail the size of golf balls.” The school was in shambles around them, and the roof of the church had been seriously damaged.
“Did it affect us? Totally. Did it change us? Totally,” Horine said. “But it’s been all for the good” because of the outpouring of Christian compassion within and outside the community.
(Patricia Happel Cornwell is a freelance writer and a member of St. Joseph Parish in Corydon.) †
