Kay (Kilcher) Frevert (right) of West Union survived the Oelwein/Maynard tornado by bracing herself inside a pedestrian viaduct near Central Grade School in Oelwein. During the terrifying event, Frevert recalled thinking about how she was going to get married in six weeks to her late husband, Tom Frevert (left), as she recited The Lord’s Prayer. submitted photo
Frevert remembers her bout with Mother Nature
By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com
For former West Union resident Kay (Kilcher) Frevert, Wednesday, May 15, 1968, started out like any other school day.
She was student teaching at Central Grade School in Oelwein and was just a couple weeks from graduating at Upper Iowa University. More importantly, she was six weeks from marrying her late husband, Tom Frevert.
The school day went well, but Frevert stayed behind to work on some lesson plans for the coming days. She distinctly remembered how the weather turned that very humid afternoon, raining hard, as she was one of only a few employees left at the school.
With no money to buy food downtown and very little food at home, Frevert decided to leave school and head to a friend’s house for a bite to eat. As she walked north from the school, she noticed the hail on the ground as it started to rain again.
“I remember that I was singing, ‘Singing in the Rain’ as I was walking along,” Frevert recalled. “There was a loud roar, but because I was right by a railroad track, I thought it was a train. I turned around and didn’t see a train. I remember that the sky was just black from side to side. I thought, uh oh, this sounds like a tornado.”
