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This was sent to me today from anonymous. Memories of when he was 10 years old.
"On this date 50 years ago in Paradise, Kansas most everyone is
getting up for a routine day. November 1st is a Friday that year.
As news begins hitting the street, things change.
There had been a bad car accident in the early morning. Three young men from Paradise had been killed. These young men were Ronnie Thompson, Randall Houser and Marvin Dwinelle. Gail Houser survived and walked to Bealby's to get help.
Everyone knew the 3 young men very well. I had ridden with Ronnie to his parents' house to deliver some stuff. I also found some tools that belong to him.
Last I had talked to Randall was on main street in front of some of the stores. Randall and Gene Eulert were talking about a girl going to college in Hays. The girl's name was Twila.
The last time I saw Marvin was at a fishing pond south of Paradise. We went out as a family and Marvin just happened to be there.
That evening John Harrell's Mother, Catherine Harrell, died. She had been in Ellsworth Hospital for 2 years.
We went to the funeral home to see John's Mother that very day. Then afterward my parents decided that we would go look at the car the 3 were killed in. I remember the roof being folded up and back. Ronnie had just gotten a new car that they were in. I remember that the roof was torn off and folded back and it is still a vivid memory to me.
The 3 boys in the accident had their funeral at the Paradise Gymnasium. I didn't attend that funeral but I remember all the cars lined up and down the street.
The next week was Catherine Harrell's funeral at the Paradise Methodist Church. Millard sang "How Great Thou Art". I don't like that song even today. It takes me back to a time that I didn't like.
At this point I didn't know what to think or feel. Whatever I was feeling I did not like. I didn't talk to anyone for 2 weeks. I guess people were getting concerned but I had to process through it as best I could.
Then on November 14th we had a call that Mark Harrell had not come home. They later found Mark and he was dead. In a small town like Paradise, everyone works together.
My mom sat us down and said "I don't want to scare you, but they found Mark dead." As soon as she had us sit down I knew it was not going to be good. When she got to the scare statement I knew it was going to be bad and it was. I used to ride with Mark in his truck. I also rode in the school bus with him taking the kids back to Fairport.
So in a matter of 3 weeks 5 people that I knew died and I had attended 2 funerals.
At this point, this 10 year old boy didn't know what to think. He didn't like what was going on and felt very helpless. I went back into shut down mode.
Then it was November 22nd. I was standing at the door of the Gym and some one came in and said the President has been shot.
Now this 10 year old boy really had no idea what to think. I got home from school and all that was on the news was about the President's shooting and death. Of course this affects everyone. All I knew was, I had known 6 people that had died and I had attended 2 funerals in less than a month.
All I can tell you is November 1963 was a bad year in Paradise. It was very hard on this 10 year old boy who was having a hard time understanding and processing what was going on. Everyone in Paradise was touched by some part of the events. It just seemed to me that I was touched by all of it.
Being 50 years since all this took place has made it resurface.
I don't know why I burdened you folks with this. It was just on my mind today.
Thanks for listening.
As news begins hitting the street, things change.
There had been a bad car accident in the early morning. Three young men from Paradise had been killed. These young men were Ronnie Thompson, Randall Houser and Marvin Dwinelle. Gail Houser survived and walked to Bealby's to get help.
Everyone knew the 3 young men very well. I had ridden with Ronnie to his parents' house to deliver some stuff. I also found some tools that belong to him.
Last I had talked to Randall was on main street in front of some of the stores. Randall and Gene Eulert were talking about a girl going to college in Hays. The girl's name was Twila.
The last time I saw Marvin was at a fishing pond south of Paradise. We went out as a family and Marvin just happened to be there.
That evening John Harrell's Mother, Catherine Harrell, died. She had been in Ellsworth Hospital for 2 years.
We went to the funeral home to see John's Mother that very day. Then afterward my parents decided that we would go look at the car the 3 were killed in. I remember the roof being folded up and back. Ronnie had just gotten a new car that they were in. I remember that the roof was torn off and folded back and it is still a vivid memory to me.
The 3 boys in the accident had their funeral at the Paradise Gymnasium. I didn't attend that funeral but I remember all the cars lined up and down the street.
The next week was Catherine Harrell's funeral at the Paradise Methodist Church. Millard sang "How Great Thou Art". I don't like that song even today. It takes me back to a time that I didn't like.
At this point I didn't know what to think or feel. Whatever I was feeling I did not like. I didn't talk to anyone for 2 weeks. I guess people were getting concerned but I had to process through it as best I could.
Then on November 14th we had a call that Mark Harrell had not come home. They later found Mark and he was dead. In a small town like Paradise, everyone works together.
My mom sat us down and said "I don't want to scare you, but they found Mark dead." As soon as she had us sit down I knew it was not going to be good. When she got to the scare statement I knew it was going to be bad and it was. I used to ride with Mark in his truck. I also rode in the school bus with him taking the kids back to Fairport.
So in a matter of 3 weeks 5 people that I knew died and I had attended 2 funerals.
At this point, this 10 year old boy didn't know what to think. He didn't like what was going on and felt very helpless. I went back into shut down mode.
Then it was November 22nd. I was standing at the door of the Gym and some one came in and said the President has been shot.
Now this 10 year old boy really had no idea what to think. I got home from school and all that was on the news was about the President's shooting and death. Of course this affects everyone. All I knew was, I had known 6 people that had died and I had attended 2 funerals in less than a month.
All I can tell you is November 1963 was a bad year in Paradise. It was very hard on this 10 year old boy who was having a hard time understanding and processing what was going on. Everyone in Paradise was touched by some part of the events. It just seemed to me that I was touched by all of it.
Being 50 years since all this took place has made it resurface.
I don't know why I burdened you folks with this. It was just on my mind today.
Thanks for listening.
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