By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

Betty Geary, 73, has been giving her whole life.

She gave birth to eight children. She gives a place to sleep and a warm meal to traveling missionaries. She bandages knees, gives hugs and bakes cookies for 15 grandchildren. She rolled up her sleeves to work alongside her husband of 45 years on their 140-acre farm, then helped care for him when he was dying four years ago.

Geary was giving on May 10, when a tornado destroyed her house and barns near Missouri Highway 43 and Iris Road in Newton County. She had gone to pick up one of her daughters from the Tulsa, Okla., airport; they were supposed to celebrate Mother’s Day together.

So when several hundred area construction workers offered to give back by building Geary a new house, she almost didn’t know what to do.

“Thank you,” Geary said to members of the Sherwood Forest Homes crew roofing her new house last week, her voice cracking with emotion. “I just couldn’t believe it. I’m a giver, and it’s hard for me take.”

Geary did not have insurance on her home or buildings, and she received only $28,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency money to replace all she lost.

Geary’s new 1,600-square-foot, one-story home will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms when it is complete. It is being built by members of the Home Builders Association of Southwest Missouri, with materials donated by 80 different companies. Construction started weeks ago, and Crystal Harrington, executive officer of the association, hopes it will be done by early September.

‘It’s her spirit’

The association has donated labor and materials for past charitable projects, including the Ronald McDonald House and Habitat for Humanity. The group decided to take on Geary’s project because Tom Mayberry, head of Mayberry Construction, lives nearby and goes to church with Geary. He brought her plight to the group, and Harrington said it took one meeting with Geary for the board to vote unanimously to take on the project.

“It’s her spirit and just the way she is,” Harrington said of Geary. “She’s just a wonderful person, well thought of by many people, involved in the community, and she needs us.”

Harrington said that although the project helps Geary, builders benefit as well. Competitors fighting over the tightening home-building market come together for one project and find out how much they have in common.

“I’ve been feeling like my membership is a little scattered right now with the building market being so tight,” Harrington said. “We come away stronger every time we walk away from a project like this.”

Tony Philpot, co-owner of Sherwood Forest Homes, which roofed Geary’s new house, said his company had not done a project like this in a while, but he wanted to help in the face of so much destruction.

“It’s hard to see people have to go through something like that, and there were a lot of people that it happened to,” Philpot said. “This is just our attempt to do a little to help.”

Harrington said the group cannot afford to donate the time and materials to rebuild the homes of everyone affected by the tornado, but it wanted Geary’s house to be a symbol of what is possible when everyone pitches together.

A team of Empire District Electric Co. employees installed windows and doors in Geary’s house. Harrington said people from Geary’s church stopped by to lend a hand.

“This is their way of overcoming what happened, and we want everyone to know life will get back to normal, and faster than they think,” Harrington said.

For Geary’s son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Sharon Geary, the help brings peace of mind. The couple live on the same property as Betty Geary, and they also lost their home in the May 10 tornado.

As much loss as the family has suffered already this year, Sharon Geary said just knowing that someone is helping care for her husband’s elderly mother is like having a huge weight lifted off their shoulders.

“We were relieved,” Sharon Geary said. “It is one thing off our plate. It may be like taking one straw off of the camel’s back, but at least it won’t break now.”





Grand reopening



Lant’s Feed Store and Lant’s Bridal Garden, across Missouri Highway 43 from the Geary property, also were destroyed by the May 10 tornado. Owner Bill Lant has rebuilt the feed store and plans a grand opening for Sept. 6. The Lants are not rebuilding the bridal shop.