CELINA — It’s been almost five years since 15 tornadoes tore through the Miami Valley and News Center 7 tracked those twisters on Memorial Day 2019 – a day that changed many lives.
That was especially true for the Hannah family in Celina. A tornado killed Dale Hannah. He was 82.
News Center 7′s Gabrielle Enright recently sat down and talked with his family 5 years later.
Ruth Hannah said, “He was a man of God. He served Jesus.” Ruth talked about her husband’s uncle. Dale lived a few houses down from her and her husband and when Dale’s wife died, Ruth became his confidant.
“He was missing her a lot and would say he just wanted to be with Dot,” Ruth said.
With Dale’s two daughters living out of state, Ruth also became Dale’s caregiver.
“He needed someone to help him with his medication. To get him to appointments. I did that. I’m a retired nurse,” Ruth said.
On Memorial Day 2019, life changed for the Hannah’s. Ruth was getting ready for bed and got a text from her daughter, warning her of nearby tornadoes.
News Center 7 was tracking that tornado when it hit Celina.
“I stood up and that soon, I heard the tornado coming and it’s like they say a freight train and that rumble,” Ruth said.
Ruth and her husband took cover from the twister in their basement. “We had a lot of damage here, but it didn’t take our house,” Ruth said.
Dale’s house took a direct hit. “He was in bed asleep. He had his hearing aids out, so I doubt he heard nothing,” Ruth said.
Dale was killed by a car while he was asleep. “The tornado picked it up and slammed it into his house and into his bedroom. It took him instantly,” Ruth said.
She was the one who told his two daughters. “I had to make the call. That was hard,” she said. “I told them we had a tornado hit and their dad didn’t survive.”
Somehow Dale’s Boston Terrier, Missy, survived the storm. “He said there was a dog sitting in what would have been a living room,” Ruth said.
Dales’ Bible was also intact. “He always had it on the dining table. He did a lot of Bible reading and studying,” Ruth said. “It was still sitting on the table where he left it open.”
Ruth showed Enright the Bible and the vest Dale wore while working building churches on mission trips.
“He served Him faithfully. He knew when he passed, he would go to heaven,” Ruth said.
According to Ruth, the entire Hannah family was built on faith. “You can’t replace a person. You can’t replace a human life.”
But Ruth said he you can find comfort.
“I miss him, but I’m not overly sad. That might sound bad, but he got to be where he wanted to be,” Ruth said. “He had lived his life. He was ready to move on so he could be with Dot.”
News Center 7 talked with one of Dale’s daughters who said in addition to taking her dad, the storm that night also destroyed a lot of family heirlooms – that reminder of her mother, who died five years earlier.
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