Fri, Nov 20 2009
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Published May 10, 2009 11:10 pm - SENECA, Mo. — For Kyle Hinz and his family, Sunday was part of the healing process. A year has passed since Hinz’s stepson and fellow firefighter Tyler Casey died of injuries he suffered May 10, 2008. Hundreds gather to pay tribute to tornado victims, emergency workers By Derek Spellman dspellman@joplinglobe.com SENECA, Mo. — For Kyle Hinz and his family, Sunday was part of the healing process. A year has passed since Hinz’s stepson and fellow firefighter Tyler Casey died of injuries he suffered May 10, 2008. Casey, a volunteer firefighter with the Seneca Area Fire Protection District and a storm spotter, was fatally injured while warning motorists to seek shelter from last year’s tornado. After a memorial service Sunday, Hinz said his wife, Rayma Hinz, got to meet two of the people her 21-year-old son saved. Fourteen people in Newton County died in the storm, all of them within a couple of miles of the Highway 43 and Iris Road intersection. Kyle Hinz said it has been difficult for his wife to even drive by that intersection, which is now home to a memorial honoring her son and the other 13 victims. “It gives a little closure,” Kyle Hinz said. “This is the first time she has been here.” ‘God bless you all’ Sunday’s service, doubling as a remembrance of the victims and a gesture of thanks to first responders, drew hundreds to the memorial site, located right next to Lant’s Feed Store at the Iris Road-Highway 43 intersection. The store, which was shattered by last year’s storm and rebuilt on the original site, emerged as a symbol of recovery. So did its owners, Bill Lant and Jane Lant. Bill Lant spearheaded the creation of the memorial, which features a flag, some landscaping and a memorial stone bearing the 14 names of the dead. Bill Lant said Sunday was about thanking people, many of them strangers, for their aid in the storm’s wake. “What can I say to these first responders and these firefighters?” Lant told the crowd Sunday, beginning a litany of people including unknown volunteers and unknown motorists who honked their horns as the couple rebuilt their store over the summer. “God bless you all,” Lant concluded. Sunday’s service included speeches from state Sen. Gary Nodler, state House Speaker Ron Richard, and state Reps. Kevin Wilson and Marilyn Ruestman. Afterward, representatives of the various emergency services placed wreaths on the memorial. They were followed by family and friends of most of the 14 survivors who took turns placing flowers on the memorial. 
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More from the Nature's Fury: May 10, 2008 section
Hundreds gather to pay tribute to tornado victims, emergency workers Memorial service marks deadly day Memories, scars remain from tornado |
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