Twister victims remembered for family devotion

Two area residents died from injuries related to the March 23, 2007, tornado:

Heleneta Blevins, 90, died March 27 at her son’s home after being released from a Clovis hospital so she could be near family in her last moments.

Blevins lived behind her son’s home in a trailer home. When the tornado hit, her son, Jim Blevins, took shelter with her in a closet.

The tornado demolished the trailer and threw both into an adjacent field. The elder Blevins suffered brain hemorrhaging.

Born Dec. 7, 1916, in Eureka, Kan., she was a cook for the New Mexico Boys Ranch and babysat more than 100 children in her lifetime. She moved to Clovis in 1975.

Jim Blevins said his mother was an excellent cook and baker, and no hunting trip was complete without one of her pineapple upside-down cakes.



Walter Cravy, 90, died April 12, at Lubbock Covenant Hospital, nearly three weeks after he was injured when the tornado tore through a home he shared with friend Shirley Boothe.

Born Sept. 11, 1916, in Roswell, Cravy, nicknamed “Snap” as a baby, lived in Clovis for 88 years.

He was a retired agent for the Santa Fe Railroad and served in the Merchant Marines in World War II.

He was a member of Clovis Masonic Lodge No. 40 AF&AM where he was a 32nd Degree Mason, and was also a member of the Clovis Shrine Club and Central Baptist Church.

Daughter-in-law Marie Cravy described him as a doting grandfather of 12, great-grandfather of 17 and great-great-grandfather of one, who always had a dollar for each grandchild.

Sources: Family
members,
published obituaries.