For years, Patsy Fortner has dreaded the month of April.
Her husband, Danny, died 10 years ago on April 27, and this year that date marks the first anniversary of a deadly tornado that destroyed their home — a home he built — on Fortner Road in Mayflower.
“I didn’t salvage anything — absolutely nothing,” Fortner said. She’s lived there 30 years. “My husband bought that property in there and started building homes in there — he built three homes, and then he got sick and couldn’t go any further, so that’s why it’s named after us.”
Her husband died of emphysema. Fortner, 74, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October after going to the doctor for unexplained weight loss and trouble eating. “It was a complete surprise,” she said. Fortner underwent chemotherapy treatments, and in January, she had surgery, “but it wasn’t successful,” she said.
She also worked at the Vilonia Senior Citizens Center, and Fortner said she started talking to Sandy Towles, case coordinator for the Vilonia Disaster Recovery Alliance, about a Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County home. Fortner said she also talked with Shenel Sandidge, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County.
“When I discovered what was wrong with me, I called the lady I’d been talking to and told her I was going to have a lot of hospital bills, and I really couldn’t afford a mortgage. I didn’t hear anything for a long time; then [Sandidge] called me and said, ‘Don’t worry about it; it’s fully funded,’” Fortner said as she started to cry.
A week ago, a new home was dedicated for Fortner, as well as other Mayflower and Vilonia residents affected by the tornado that killed 16 people in the state, including 12 in Faulkner County.
People who qualify for Habitat for Humanity homes provide sweat equity and pay for the home based on need, income and living conditions, Sandidge said.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief got a donor to pay for Fortner’s home, Sandidge said. Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County’s partners provided appliances for the home.
Three of the Fortners’ five grown children lived on Fortner Road, including one daughter, Danica Fortner, who was living with Patsy when the tornado hit on April 27 a year ago. Patsy said she was at a friend’s house in Conway, and they rode out the tornado in a storm shelter.
“My daughter called, … and she told me that we lost everything; there wasn’t anything left but her and the dog. She didn’t get hurt seriously,” Fortner said. “I didn’t handle it well — not well at all.
“Pictures — that’s something you can’t replace — of my children when they were growing up, and my family; I can’t replace any of those.” Also gone were “clothes, my furniture, pictures, my Bible, everything I owned.”
Her son’s home on Fortner Road was damaged, but he was able to rebuild, she said. Fortner’s other daughter, whose home was next door to Fortner’s son, was destroyed. She has applied for a Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County home but has not yet been approved.
Five homes in Mayflower, including four on Fortner Road, were dedicated, and seven in Vilonia in the first phase of Rebuild Faulkner County.
Sandidge said Habitat for Humanity will hold the mortgage on 11 of the 12 homes built. The goal is to build 25 homes by July and another 25 starting with Phase 2 in September. Volunteers with Christian Aid Ministries built the Mayflower homes with donations from businesses and in-kind gifts from Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County, which served as construction coordinator for the 12-home build in Vilonia and Mayflower.
Fortner doesn’t know if her cancer is terminal. “That’s up to God,” she said. Fortner has weathered other storms, and she plans to weather the one being waged on her body.
“I’m just not taking any more chemo right now. I feel fairly well for the time being. I haven’t been too bad, yet. I’m trying to stay positive about everything as long as I can.”
Fortner said she hadn’t seen her home completed until the dedication a week ago.
“Oh, I love it,” she said. The home is beautiful. It’s the same thing I had before — not the same house plan — but three bedrooms and two baths,” she said. Fortner said she got to choose from among three house plans and has made the trip from Conway, where she’s living temporarily, to Mayflower to check on the home.
“I’m going to have to get some more things before I think about moving in,” she said. “I’m just thrilled that I have a home now, and I’m going to live there the best I can and kind of see what happens.”
April is coming, but this time she’s ready.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.