Despite the scorching heat, more than 100 people came out to The Crossing church in Upper Makefield Monday evening to remember the seven victims who died in a torrential flood in the township exactly a year ago.
Pastor George Clash led the service, announcing that a community memorial garden will be established behind the church, which served as a command post during the first harrowing hours when rescue workers risked their own lives to help save some of the motorists trapped in the raging floodwaters that raced down Washington Crossing Road.
The Washington Crossing Post Office is expected to be named for Susan Barnhart, one of the flood victims, who worked at the post office, Clash said. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now before the U.S. Senate.
It wasn’t just the weather that had attendees eyes misting as they listened to family members of the victims describe how the flood changed their lives forever.
Zack DePiero, of Newtown Township, lost both his parents, Enzo and Linda DePiero, that day. He described how after attending graduate school he moved back to Bucks County from California because “home is home” and he wanted to be close to his mom and dad. He told his then girlfriend that and she agreed to move with him as his wife. The two couples would have date nights and play Monopoly together.
“We didn’t just love each other, we liked each other,” he said.
When he and his wife, Sabira, welcomed their daughter, Fifi, now 5, life was working out just like he hoped it would, until that fateful afternoon last summer.
“We had four awesome years,” he said. “I’m very grateful for that.”
Zack thanked all who helped with the flood rescues.
“My parents would be very proud of all of you,” he said.
Dave Love, who lost his wife, Yuko, recalled her cooking him Japanese meals and relegating him to cleanup duty.
“She did not let me cook, so I did the dishes,” he said.
“Yuko greatly enriched my life…Yuko, I love you…I miss you,” he said, both in English and Japanese.
Paul Sheils, of Newtown, is the grandfather of the youngest flood victims, Matilda “Mattie” Sheils, 2, and Conrad Sheils, nine months. His son, James, and grandson, Jack, 4, were rescued but the children’s mother, Katie Seley, died in the flood with her two youngest children after the family’s car became engulfed in the torrent. The young family from South Carolina was in Bucks County to visit relatives.
Paul Sheils thanked all the rescue personnel who used drones, sonar equipment and dogs in a tireless search for the bodies of the children still missing after the flood subsided. Mattie’s body was found in the Delaware River in Philadelphia a week later. Conrad’s body was never found.
Sheils also thanked all those who comforted his family, including members of The Crossing church and the men’s group at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, where he is a parishioner. The “remarkable outpouring has greatly helped our family bear this unbearable sorrow,” he said.
Jaime Sosonkin, of Washington Crossing, survived the flood suspended in a tree until she could be rescued. Following the ceremony, she thanked police and fire personnel who saved her life.
“It was very traumatic,” she said, noting that she still suffers chronic pain from her injuries. But, she said, “I’m very fortunate.”
Clash told those in attendance that “what is not good is not done,” and stressed that “God can take what is evil and turn it to good.”
He said he hoped the memorial garden, with an expected October opening, will be “a place of healing for all who come” as well as a place of memory.
The township also plans a butterfly garden in Brownsburg Park in honor of the victims. And two pieces of equipment Upper Makefield is acquiring for high-water rescues will be named for Mattie and Conrad.
Upper Makefield Supervisor Tom Cino, township Police Officer Harry Vitello and township Fire Battalion Chief Dave Wise accepted commendations for emergency services during the flood and subsequent recovery work.
Bucks County Commissioner Chairman Bob Harvie said the county planning commission is working on a stormwater management study to help alleviate future flooding.
Both Cino and Upper Makefield Supervisor Ben Weldon said the township supervisors plan to vote on bidding the clearing of two basins that contributed to the flooding, using American Rescue Plan funds for the work.
Neighboring Lower Makefield has been doing similar stormwater management work. The same storm also flooded the Maplevale neighborhood off Taylorsville Road.
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