Saturday, April 23, 2011
Oak Lawn Patch reprises its story of a little known recording of the actual 1967 Oak Lawn Tornado.
Sunday marks the 46th anniversary of the 1967 Oak Lawn Tornado. Patch reprises one of its most popular stories 'Voice of a Tornado.' Readers' comments, many recounting their own experiences of survival and loss, are left intact as additional documentation of a day that will live in infamy in Oak Lawn's history. Please add your own memories and thoughts. On April 21, 1967, Robert Kehe, manager of the Coral Theater in Oak Lawn and the father of six children, stepped outside onto 95th Street and Cicero Avenue to record the start of a thunderstorm on his reel-to-reel tape recorder. Read more 1967 tornado stories on Oak Lawn Patch. Instead he captured the sound of the worst tornado ever to hit the immediate Chicago area, which many believed …
41.72008
-87.74081
W 95th St & S Cicero Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
/articles/voice-of-a-tornado
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Oak Lawn remembers 37 of it's own, 45 years ago today.
- OPINION
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Among the Oak Lawn Tornado victims, 18 were killed in the one-square-block area of 95th Street and Southwest Highway, including three at the Fairway Super Mart, one at the Sherwood Restaurant, three at Shoot's Lynwood Tavern, two at the Suburban Bus terminal garage; and nine in cars waiting at a red light at 95th Street and Southwest Highway. Elsewhere in Oak Lawn, two were killed at the Airway Trailer Park, four at the Oak Lawn Roller Rink; and 12 more occupants of cars. As of Sunday April 23, 1967, three unidentified bodies remained at the temporary morgue at the Johnson-Phelps VFW Hall, still decorated with pink streamers from a dance that was to have occured the evening before: two women and one man. Robert Kehe, manager of the Coral …
Oak Lawn’s residents face torrential rain, stinging hail, and blistering winds in one of the worst weather systems to hit Illinois.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Adam Bednar
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
They lay huddled in basements and broom closets across town as the fury of Mother Nature tore through the community. On the other side of the town at Village Hall, they manned switchboards as hundreds of calls flooded in; demanding to know the whereabouts of loved ones. And in the immediate aftermath of the storm, they wielded everything from shovels to their bare hands to help neighbors, friends and complete strangers. Although the destruction caused by the Oak Lawn Tornado of 1967 was truly awe-inspiring, the experiences of those residents that were trapped in their homes and cars reminds us of not only the sheer terror, but also the miracles that allowed so many to make it through that fateful April afternoon. As part of our coverage of…
Ron Stufflebeam
4:43 pm on Saturday, April 27, 2013
Yep, thanks Tom! Hey Jean, let Fred know that Terry & Gary Burks live in Phoenix when he gets ready to retire which must be coming soon. I retired last Aug & am enjoying it. Terry has lived there for 20 years or so & loves it, he is in the banking business & living in the Scottsdale area. Should you or Fred talk to Jim, Rich or Manny tell them hello & good luck on your move out west. more ›