THE TORNADO - FLINT'S FAMOUS DISASTER

THE TORNADO – FLINT, MICHIGAN, JUNE, 1953

Two memorable events in Flint, Michigan, in June of 1953 – my first birthday and the tornado struck in the north Flint / Beecher area. Well, okay, one memorable event – the tornado. NOAA’s link commemorating the 50th anniversary of THE tornado.

The Flint Journal’s 50th Anniversary edition of THE Tornado
[Note: you may have to give them your zip code, etc., before accessing the link]

A TORNADO VICTIM

Carl Lavern Brink. 23. Services 2 p.m. Saturday from Groves and company. Burial in Flint Memorial Park cemetery. Surviving are; wife, Mona; sons, Carl Jr., David, Richard; mother; Mrs. Zena Brink; sister, Florence Morrison; brothers, Donald and Jim Brink. [The Flint News-Advertiser, June 9, 1953]

Actually I was looking for a spot to post an obituary for Mrs. Zena Brink and a “Google” search produced the tornado article and the above excerpt.

OBITUARY – MRS. ZENA BRINK - The Flint Journal, November 14, 1968, edition:

BRINK, Zena B.—1216 Magazine St., New Orleans, age 73, died Wednesday, November 13, 1968, at Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana. Funeral services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, at Reigle Funeral Home, Sunset Chapel, 4305 Clio Rd. Burial in Upton Cemetery. Mrs. Brink will lie in state at the funeral home, after 7 p.m. this evening. She was born in Michigan, September 18, 1895, and was a former resident of Flint, moving to New Orleans 2 years ago. Surviving are daughter, Mrs. Florence Cummins of Flint; 2 sons, Donald and James both of Flint; 14 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren; brother, Charles Holbeck of Flint.

In the census taken in 1920 (Genesee Co., Michigan), 25 year old Zena (Holbeck) Brink was living with her widowed mother, Mary Holbeck, age 60, who was the head of the household. Also in the household were Arthur Brink, Zena’s husband, age 29, Harvey Hurd, age 66, a boarder, Mary’s son, Charles Holbeck, and his wife, Elizabeth, plus Mary Holbeck’s grandchildren, Frank, Evelyn and Genevieve Holbeck.

The Flint News-Advertiser – online at the Flint Public Library