This year, grim memories of the Xenia tornado turn 50. To mark the occasion, the News talked to several dozen current and former local residents who shared their stories of that fateful and fearful day, what came after and how they were and continue to be affected.
Blontas was her given first name. But Springfielders of every strata knew her as Winkie Mitchell. She was 70 when she died September 1, two days after a brain aneurism. In interviews with WYSO Clark County reporter Tom Stafford, Mitchell’s friends described a life lived in love, advocacy, sacrifice and the belief that all of us can learn to be a little more human.