MAYFIELD, Ky. — The memorial at the Mayfield courthouse depicts lives lost in the deadly tornado that ripped through Mayfield a week ago.
Rain or shine it continues to be a place of solemnness and a place for people of the community and volunteers to pay their respects. The Riemer family who is originally from Rochester, Minnesota spent five days volunteering with Samaritan's Purse and paid their respects at the courthouse memorial in Mayfield before heading home.
The memorial at the Mayfield courthouse is for each of the 77 lives claimed from the deadly tornadoes that swept through the state of Kentucky. The Riemer family paid their respects after volunteering with Samaritan's Purse for five days. Anna Reimer, the daughter of Jeff, Melisa Reimer took the moment in silence and carefully fixed fallen flowers on the fence.
“Each of these are someone who is affected and it’s all of these individuals and it’s so vast,” said Reimer.
The Reimer family spent their days helping families sort through items, find missing items, even repair and tarp homes.
“And as we were digging through the rubble we found shirts, or shoes, or money, or memories and photos. It was so delightful to see them perk up and start smiling because of the little things we could do by looking through that” said Reimer.
Jeff Reimer has instilled into his daughter a heart that gives back, even to a community they've never been to. For him, seeing the pictures and faces of people that lost their lives makes the trip even more emotional.
“You know we’ve seen people who’ve ridden through it as we’ve worked in people’s homes but now to come down here and see pictures of people, it’s heart wrenching,” said Jeff Reimer.
Each face on this memorial will not to be forgotten. The creator of the memorial is Leo Soto who is a Surfside Miami condo survivor. Soto helped build a similar memorial in Miami and came to Mayfield to create an atmosphere of never forgetting the names and faces of those who passed away.
“It’s devastating to those who knew them because they don’t know that secureness of where they were going maybe. And so that’s another reason we came is to give those people hope that didn’t die that might not see hope to have them be able to have that hope of eternal life with Christ in heaven,” said Reimer.
Many families know the courthouse memorial as a sign of healing but for others a constant sign of grief.
“I want for all of these families of those who died that they can find hope in the midst of this disaster and this devastation of this loss for the community and for the whole state,” said Reimer.
The Reimer family is going back to Rochester, Minnesota with this memorial is etched into their minds forever.