JOPLIN, Mo. —
Several dignitaries spoke Tuesday morning at the ceremony marking the reopening of Mercy Village, but it was an 83-year-old woman who earned the only standing ovation.
Bonnie Betz, who survived the 2003 Carl Junction tornado, lost her husband to complications related to Alzheimer’s on May 22, 2007.
A year later, she moved to Mercy Village on West 28th Street, where her doctor had told her she could live an independent life, and find friendship, comfort and safety.
On May 22, 2011, Betz assumed she’d lost all of those things after an EF-5 twister bore down on Mercy Village, leaving her injured and confused in a pile of debris.
She described those harrowing moments in detail during a ceremony held under bright blue skies and in mild weather in a white tent on the parking lot in front of Mercy Village.
Many in attendance fought back tears and dabbed at their eyes with tissues as Betz told of windows being blown out and the wind pushing her down a stairwell, her arthritic hands hanging on for dear life and the sound of her voice praying drowned out by the roar of the wind.
Midway through Betz’s talk, a friend, Margaret Hanschu, came to stand at her side and offer a supportive arm and squeeze of the shoulders.
Betz said that while she is “doing better,” for a long time she worried that she was a burden to her family, including two children and a sister who offered her shelter in the months following the tornado.
“My daughter turned into the mother, and I was the child.”
“I’m not a public speaker,” said Betz through tears. But she struck a chord nonetheless with the crowd, which rose and applauded as she concluded, and with U.S. Rep. Billy Long, of Springfield, who spoke after Betz.
“When I agreed to do this, I didn’t know I’d have to follow you,” Long told her as he stepped to the microphone.
Long said Betz, representative of the 60 senior residents displaced by the tornado, was included in the Congressional Record that recognized Tuesday’s event, as was Sister Lillian Murphy, CEO of Mercy Housing Inc., who stood by Betz’s side throughout her speech.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Related Photos
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Mercy Village Bonnie Betz, with Sister Lillian, chief executive officer of Mercy Housing Inc., at her side, recalls the horrific experience created when the May 22 tornado hit her apartment complex. The occasion of her talk was a Tuesday ceremony in connection with the reopening of the Mercy Village in Joplin. GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN
Discussion
83-year-old receives standing ovation after recalling storm, aftermath
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