My Childhood Memory of the 1953 Waco Tornado


My grandfather, John William (Billy) Head, retired in 1957 as Assistant Superintendent of Cameron Park in Waco, Texas. Billy and his family had lived beside Cameron Park since 1921, near the corner of North Fourth Street and Herring Avenue, the entrance to the park.

In 1948, my daddy, Ralston Cecil Head (nicknamed Goober), built a small frame house at 2220 North Fourth Street ---for his own family--- right next to the old post-Civil War-era frame house at 2224 North Fourth Street--the house that so many of the Heads had lived in.

After his return from World War II, Daddy became a carpenter and was an excellent builder. In 1953, Daddy was Head Carpenter for W. B. Lenamon Construction Company. I was six almost seven years old on May 11th, 1953. My little sister, Sue Ellen Head, was almost five years old, and my little brother, Charles Lee Head, was not born until 1958.

On that muggy day--May 11th, 1953--due to expected bad weather--Daddy had come home from work early.

I remember about 4:30pm of that day walking with my mother, Marie Ellison Head, the short distance from our house to the corner of Herring Avenue and North Fourth Street. Daddy had driven downtown to get his brother, my Uncle Odie Head, who had a garage at Second and Washington--not far from the McLennan County Courthouse-- and Mama wanted to see if we could see them coming. We stared down Fourth Street, amazed at the reports of developing weather we had heard on our radio.

As I was just a young child at the time, it was many years later that I realized the immense concern Mama had of the danger Daddy and others could be in by being in downtown Waco at that exact moment in time.

As we waited, the weather conditions became terrifying. The sky filled with low-hanging, dark-green, threatening clouds. The air was so heavy Mama and I could scarcely breathe. The hair stood up on the backs of our necks. I remember how scared I was.

Mama and I had just gotten in the door of our little house when the storm hit. A few minutes later, Daddy and Uncle Odie drove down the alley and into the driveway behind our house, luckily safe and sound.

Later, all the Head men went downtown to see what they could do to help. Daddy said the destruction was almost complete and reminded him of scenes from World War II.

One hundred and fourteen people died, hundreds were injured, and millions of dollars in property were destroyed as a result of the 250-mile-an-hour winds of the savage F-5 tornado.

The 1953 Waco Tornado is one of those life-changing events---like the 1962 assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy---that will remain with you forever, wherein you will always remember where you were and what you were doing when it occurred.

Today, May 11th, 2009, is the Fifty-Sixth Anniversary of the unforgettable 1953 Waco Tornado.