MDS founder vividly recalls 1990 tornado
Ninety-four-year-old Marcella Diller vividly remembers when, some 40 years after she helped create MDS, a dev- astating tornado tore through Hesston, Kansas. The date was March 13, 1990 — the very date this year, 30 years later, when MDS projects were temporarily closed due to COVID-19. MDS volunteers rebuilt Marcella’s home, where she and her late husband, Bob, had brought up five children. “I remember, after the tornado, we went to my son’s place to stay. When we went back to the house the next day, the MDS people were there already. I couldn’t believe it!” Marcella said. As Marcella was surprised by the compassion that volunteers showed that day, so was her grandson, Mark Diller, who was 11 years old at the time. As Mark remem- bers today: “That was a pivotal, developmentally important event in my life. Seeing people come to volunteer really was impressionable for me.”
Marcella Diller, one of the original founders of MDS, celebrates her 94th birthday with her great-grandsons, Kyle and Ryan.
Mark has gone on to volunteer many times with MDS, most recently with his wife and their two boys, ages 16 and 14, in Eureka, Kansas, to help repair a flood-damaged home.
And his grandmother is still regularly delighted by news about MDS. “I follow the newspapers and read about MDS all the time,” she said, “and even what they are doing during this virus—it’s so helpful.” Marcella still remembers the church picnic she attended back in 1950, at which the very first conversations about MDS began over (of course) delicious food.
We went up the stairs, opened the door – and there was no roof. Our house was gone!” –Bob Diller
Marcella and Bob Diller’s house
1990
“We had fried chicken and potato salad and baked beans, and oh, everybody brought something,” she said, “and every dish was special.” Diller currently lives at Schowalter Villa in Hesston, Kansas, where her normal visits from family members and friends have been taking place over the phone due to COVID-19. Marcella said that those early conver- sations that formed MDS felt like a natural extension of everyday life in Hesston: “Those were the kinds of people who lived around here. They helped each other.”
HESSTON TORNADO
March 13, 1990 – The Hesston tornado, which destroyed or damaged 226 homes, was rated an F5 and cut a 48-mile swath through Kansas. The winds were so severe that checks from a local plumbing supply store were found 85 miles away. At least 10,000 volunteers were involved in the first week of massive cleanup.
Replacing roofs to prevent further damage was an immediate priority. Volunteers and contractors were extremely busy during the next weeks.
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behind the hammer
behind the hammer
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