On the 36TH ANNIVERSARY Remembering the Marion tornado of 1982
After several generations of life in one place with no serious damage from tornadoes, I guess it's human nature to feel like you're "charmed" somehow. The myth I heard constantly growing up in Marion was that because we sat in a depression that we were somehow impervious to tornadoes. The depression that Marion lies in certainly explains our flooding issues, but as history has proved, doesn't give us a free pass on tornadic events.
A tornado grazed the county in April, 1912 and caused major wind damage in Marion. The Tri-State tornado of March, 1925, the most devastating tornado in U.S. history that killed 695 people and ravaged parts of Murphysboro, DeSoto and West Frankfort on its way through Southern Illinois, were both close calls. It's easy to be lulled into a sense of false security when nothing in our collective memory recalls disaster.
That all changed on the afternoon of Saturday, May 29, 1982. What started out as a fairly nice Saturday quickly changed in the early afternoon with the arrival of a storm front.
At around 3 p.m., an F4 tornado formed at the west edge of Carterville, where it damaged some buildings and touched down in Crainville as it began to parallel Illinois new Route 13.
At the intersection of Routes 13 and 148, it demolished the airport racquetball club and damaged other buildings in the area before moving to the south side of the highway, striking the Do-It-Yourself Home Center that used to sit at the corner of North Pentecost Drive.
It then traveled due east and demolished The Marion Truck Plaza, Marion Ford dealership, Marion Plaza, Town and Country Village Shopping Center, Westmore Plaza, Shawnee Village Apartments, homes and businesses along North Court Street, Stockton Street, Boulevard Street, North Market Street, and damaged homes on Route 166 east of Marion before it finally lifted off the ground.
The tally of damage left behind amounted to 10 dead, 136 injured, 1,000 left homeless, 161 homes destroyed, 175 apartments destroyed and 56 businesses damaged or destroyed.
The Shawnee Village Apartments on North Russell Street were completely destroyed and seven of the victims died there. Among them were James Gulledge, 17 and Lynn Moore, 18, who were visiting friends; Fern Kobler, 67; Pauline Pearson, 63; Mae E. Rader, 79; Helen White, 62; and her mother, Leona White, 96, died in their apartments.
James Bryan Simmons, 11, died while shopping with his mother at the P.N. Hirsch store, and Effie Jane Wilson, 59, working in the P.N. Hirsch store when she was killed. The P.N. Hirsch store was then located in the Town and Country Shopping Center. Zelma Latham, 79, died in her home at 905 E. Boulevard.
The town was placed on temporary lockdown by the state police and access to areas of town were closed for days as Marion struggled to come to grips with the massive amounts of damage and personal loss. The National Guard was called in to watch over property and enforce curfews. Gov. Jim Edgar visited the area the following day and declared Marion a state disaster area with damage estimated at between $80-100 million.
One year after the tornado, the city held a Miracle of Marion Pride Days Celebration and a memorial marker was place on Tower Square to commemorate those lost.
Most of the businesses damaged during the tornado either rebuilt or found new locations and new stores had moved into their old locations. Almost all of the destroyed homes and apartments had been rebuilt in the year since the tornado and Marion had shown a real sense of pulling it together to restore the city in the aftermath of disaster. The loss of life, however, can obviously never be restored and is a condition that many still remember and grieve over today.
Editor's Note: Sam Lattuca is a local historian who has served for years as a volunteer worker at the Williamson County Historical Society. Sadly, this marks his last column for us. The Looking Back column was well read and a welcome addition to our publication. Sam will now have more time to enjoy the fruits of his retirement. We wish him the best!