Tri-County tragedies

A barrage of tragedies have affected the Tri-County area in the past month, from numerous traffic accidents to fire deaths and homicides, including the shooting deaths of two Seminole County sheriff’s deputies. It was a particularly deadly month, with at least 19 lives lost.
Many News-Star readers seeking information about these events have commented online about the many tragedies this area has seen lately, some sharing thoughts of both disbelief of recent events as well as compassion for those affected.
At the beginning of the month, the News-Star reported several stories about Shawnee resident Greg A. Barker, 32, who drowned while saving the life of his fiancée’s child. He was described as a hero for making the ultimate sacrifice to a save another.
Right before the July 4 holiday, two Piedmont residents were killed as a result of a single vehicle accident along Interstate 40 and a third victim, an Oklahoma City man, died days later.
On July 11, Christopher R. Heathcott, 32, an off-duty Seminole police officer, was killed in a traffic accident as he and his family travelled along SH 3. He died at the scene; his wife and toddler, along with an unborn baby who was delivered shortly after the accident, survived.
On July 15, a Konawa man, Jeff Rutherford, 34, was shot and killed during an altercation near Sacred Heart church; a suspect has since been charged with first-degree murder in the case. The same day, Rondale Hudson, a 73-year-old Chandler man, died when his vehicle was struck by a car passing on a hill along Route 66.
A Shawnee woman, Thelma Elizabeth Stepich, 50, died July 21, two days after her car collided with another vehicle at SH 9 and Bethel Road.
On July 22, a two-car collision on U.S. 177 took four lives. In the accident, Tecumseh residents Bobby Wakolee, 34, Teresa Wakolee, 39, and granddaughter Summer Dawn Etchieson, 8 months, died, along with an Ada woman.
A day later, Kerry Dillon, 48, Shawnee, died in an overnight fire at his Shawnee apartment. Another traffic accident claimed the life of a Meeker man on July 25. Otis Laverne Dawson died when his pickup collided with another vehicle at U.S. 177 and Westech Road.
Two Seminole County sheriff’s deputies were gunned down by a suspect as they tried to serve an arrest warrant at a home in Seminole on July 26. Deputies Chase Whitebird, 23, and Marvin Williams, 43, died at the scene.
A neighbor standing nearby also was injured by gunfire.
On July 28, Shawnee resident Ardie Lewis, 50, died after being struck by a car along SH 3, where he was riding a bicycle.
In the latest incident Friday, a south Pottawatomie County couple died in an overnight fire at their home in Saint Louis.
Bob Gregg, 66, and his wife, Linda, 62, owned and operated the store in Saint Louis since the 1970s.
Through all of the reports on these stories, many readers have left comments online at www.news-star.com. In one, a reader wrote, “Pray for the families of these people if you have time on your hands today.”
Relating to the story about the deputies, another wrote, “May God bless the families of these officers and their family at the Sheriff’s office. Our prayers are with them all.
Let’s all say a prayer for all officers that have to go out and risk their lives daily to help protect those that need them.”
Another reader commented about the U.S. 177 accident that killed four by saying: “I did not know anyone involved in the wreck, but I would like to say that my heart goes out to all involved. My thoughts and prayers will be with each family to find some peace. So sorry for all that was lost.”
Dr. Frank Ochberg of Michigan, a renowned psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry and the founder of the DART Center for Journalism and Trauma, said there is something in human nature that attracts people to seek information when tragedies occur.
“We as a species need to know what is going on,” he said. “It’s something that just draws us,” he said, unless the report is about “people we love.”
This area’s recent rash of events in such a short time span are coincidental and can happen, he said. Nonetheless, when there is so much, he said readers can develop “compassion fatigue” for those affected by such tragedies.
If and when information about tragic news becomes too much, just as a doctor would say “Watch your diet,” Ochberg’s advice is to take a break by doing something else, such as going to a movie or doing something fun.
Still, many readers find recent events difficult to understand, but one contributor’s online comment may help.
“Naturally all families are devastated by this tragedy as well as the communities familiar with their friend or friends,” one reader wrote about the quadruple fatality accident. “I think the following prose describes the feeling that hopefully we will all come to share for our loved ones once the grieving is diminished.” That writer included the following by David Harkins (British Poet and Painter b.1958):
“You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left.
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her, or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she’d want:  smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”
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Reporter Johnna Ray contributed to this report.
Kim Morava may be reached at 214-3962.