That was proven wrong on Saturday, May 29, 1982, at 3:15 p.m. A devastating tornado hit the west side and plowed a path across the width of the town leaving in its wake 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 hit hard and seven of the victims died there. James Gulledge, 17 and Lynn Moore, 18 were visiting friends, and Fern Kobler, 67; Pauline Pearson, 63; Mae E. Rader, 79; Helen White, 62; and her mother Leonna 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. Zelma Latham, 79 died in her home at 905 East Boulevard.
The tornado formed at the west edge of Carterville, Illinois, where it damaged some buildings. It then touched down in Crainville and begun 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 New Route 13 and hitting the Do-It-Yourself Home Center. Then in a line from west to east it demolished The Marion Truck Plaza, Marion Ford, Marion Plaza, Town and Country Village Shopping Center, Westmore Plaza, Shawnee Village Apartments, homes and businesses along Stockton Street, North Court Street, Boulevard Street, North Market Street, and damaged homes on Route 166 east of Marion before it finally lifted off the ground.
Mayor Robert Butler was among the injured with cuts on his right arm and head. He was driving his car through the Town and Country Village parking lot when the twister hurled his car against a pole and piled another auto on top of his. After the storm passed, he climbed out of the window of his car, sought medical help, and then began to help co-ordinate clean-up and rescue operations.
Volunteers began arriving from all over Southern Illinois to work with the Williamson County and State of Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agencies. Central Illinois Public Service crews began the clean-up of downed power lines and poles. The Salvation Army and Red Cross workers came to help and the National Guard arrived to keep order.
On a part of a wall left standing at Jake’s Tires on North Court Street was the sign “Gone East with the Wind” showing that some humor had survived the devastation. The Mennonite Church Disaster Service volunteers soon arrived to help rebuild the home of an elderly, uninsured lady. Insurance company representatives wrote out checks on the spot, and State of Illinois and Federal assistance began flowing in.
In May of 1983, one year after the tornado, the city held a Miracle of Marion Pride Days Celebration. Mayor Butler said that most of the businesses from the Town and Country Village had found other locations, but 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.
A disaster like the tornado could have killed a town like Marion, but the people brought it back better than ever. Now, over ten years later, except for the lack of large shade trees along some city streets, one would never suspect that a devastating storm had hit on a day in May of 1982.” —-1989 Sesquicentennial History, written by Connie Hudson Cram
(Photos from Marion Daily Republican and Southern Illinoisan, Richard Darby, one photo and article extracted from the Sesquicentennial History Book, WCHS)