Services are set for April 20 in West Palm Beach for Vernon A. "Vernie" Boots, whose harrowing ordeal as a 14-year-old in the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane was one of the most compelling stories of America's second-deadliest natural disaster.
Mr. Boots died Thursday at a Tampa nursing home where he'd lived for several years.
Mr. Boots lost his parents and a brother on Sept. 16, 1928, when the storm washed a wall of water over what was then a 6-foot muck dike, killing perhaps as many as 3,000.
In 2003, for the storm's 75th anniversary, the official death toll was changed from 1,833 to 2,500, making it second only to the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane, which killed 6,000 to 10,000.
In a May 17, 1988, feature story on the storm's 60th anniversary, Mr. Boots was asked why he'd survived when so many had drowned.
"You just have to accept things," he said. "It's just good not to question the Lord."
Mr. Boots was born in December 1913 in Pearce, Ariz.; his parents moved to Lake Okeechobee three years later.
The Bootses' farmed in an area called Sebring Farms, in Lake Harbor, at the south end of the lake. Freezes drove the family back to Arizona, but they returned to the Glades in 1925. The Bootses grew potatoes, tomatoes, peas and beans. Their home was 300 feet from the lake shore.
During the storm, about 60 people, including the Boots family, took refuge at the home of a neighbor. As water rose through the floorboards, the people inside moved to the attic, but the water followed. They finally chopped a hole in the roof to escape drowning, but that only exposed them to the winds.
The home lifted off its foundations and floated 100 yards, then struck the raised roadbed of the unfinished U.S. 27. It struck two more times, then came apart. Mr. Boots grabbed a piece of ceiling and floated in waves as high as 4 feet. Winds drowned out his screams.
In 1988, speaking to students at Palm Beach Community College's Belle Glade campus, Mr. Boots recalled the moment six decades earlier when he'd awakened before dawn, still floating, and shouted for his three brothers.
As he described finding two of them, he choked with emotion and needed several minutes to continue.
"Of course, it was joyful," he croaked to the students.
The three would find high ground and eventually reunite with a half brother. Boots' father and a third brother were later found dead. His mother was never found. The three brothers later moved in with their half brother and his family.
Vernon Boots married in 1940. He farmed and designed farm equipment and worked on the giant Herbert Hoover Dike, built to keep the lake's waters from bringing death as they had in 1928.
Mr. Boots is survived by his sons Stewart, of Apollo Beach, near Tampa; and Craig, of Madisonville, La.; as well as four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
Services are set for April 20 at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach.
Life Story • Guest Book
Boots, Vernie A.*
Family-Placed Funeral Notice
VERNIE A. BOOTS Vernie A. Boots, 93, of John Knox Village passed away April 5, 2007. He was preceded in death by his sweetheart wife Nancy and son Adrian. He is survived by his sons, Stewart and wife Sandy of Apollo Beach, and Craig and wife Miriam of Madisonville, LA; grandchildren Brian of Orlando, Kevin and wife Denise of Sachse, TX, Kimberly Brand and husband Christopher of Winston-Salem, NC; great-granddaughters Josephine and Eliza; as well as several sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. Born in Pearce, AZ, his family moved to Lake Harbor, FL in the early 1920's. As a teenager, Vernie survived the flooding on the south shore of Lake Okeechobee from the killer hurricane of 1928, which took the lives of his parents and a brother. He was of an inventive and mechanical mind and went on to design and build custom agricultural machinery including the first mobile packing shed for field packing of celery, known as a "mule train" and many different types of vegetable harvesting and planting equipment. Vernie was a strong and faithful member of the Community United Methodist Church in Belle Glade and a member of the Gideons. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CUMC children's programs or to the Methodist Children's Home. Graveside service and internment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach on April 20, 2007. To express condolences and/or make donations Visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries
Section 3 Lot 51 Sp/Sw 1/6
Mr. Boots died Thursday at a Tampa nursing home where he'd lived for several years.
Mr. Boots lost his parents and a brother on Sept. 16, 1928, when the storm washed a wall of water over what was then a 6-foot muck dike, killing perhaps as many as 3,000.
In 2003, for the storm's 75th anniversary, the official death toll was changed from 1,833 to 2,500, making it second only to the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane, which killed 6,000 to 10,000.
In a May 17, 1988, feature story on the storm's 60th anniversary, Mr. Boots was asked why he'd survived when so many had drowned.
"You just have to accept things," he said. "It's just good not to question the Lord."
Mr. Boots was born in December 1913 in Pearce, Ariz.; his parents moved to Lake Okeechobee three years later.
The Bootses' farmed in an area called Sebring Farms, in Lake Harbor, at the south end of the lake. Freezes drove the family back to Arizona, but they returned to the Glades in 1925. The Bootses grew potatoes, tomatoes, peas and beans. Their home was 300 feet from the lake shore.
During the storm, about 60 people, including the Boots family, took refuge at the home of a neighbor. As water rose through the floorboards, the people inside moved to the attic, but the water followed. They finally chopped a hole in the roof to escape drowning, but that only exposed them to the winds.
The home lifted off its foundations and floated 100 yards, then struck the raised roadbed of the unfinished U.S. 27. It struck two more times, then came apart. Mr. Boots grabbed a piece of ceiling and floated in waves as high as 4 feet. Winds drowned out his screams.
In 1988, speaking to students at Palm Beach Community College's Belle Glade campus, Mr. Boots recalled the moment six decades earlier when he'd awakened before dawn, still floating, and shouted for his three brothers.
As he described finding two of them, he choked with emotion and needed several minutes to continue.
"Of course, it was joyful," he croaked to the students.
The three would find high ground and eventually reunite with a half brother. Boots' father and a third brother were later found dead. His mother was never found. The three brothers later moved in with their half brother and his family.
Vernon Boots married in 1940. He farmed and designed farm equipment and worked on the giant Herbert Hoover Dike, built to keep the lake's waters from bringing death as they had in 1928.
Mr. Boots is survived by his sons Stewart, of Apollo Beach, near Tampa; and Craig, of Madisonville, La.; as well as four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
Services are set for April 20 at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach.
Life Story • Guest Book
Boots, Vernie A.*
Family-Placed Funeral Notice
VERNIE A. BOOTS Vernie A. Boots, 93, of John Knox Village passed away April 5, 2007. He was preceded in death by his sweetheart wife Nancy and son Adrian. He is survived by his sons, Stewart and wife Sandy of Apollo Beach, and Craig and wife Miriam of Madisonville, LA; grandchildren Brian of Orlando, Kevin and wife Denise of Sachse, TX, Kimberly Brand and husband Christopher of Winston-Salem, NC; great-granddaughters Josephine and Eliza; as well as several sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. Born in Pearce, AZ, his family moved to Lake Harbor, FL in the early 1920's. As a teenager, Vernie survived the flooding on the south shore of Lake Okeechobee from the killer hurricane of 1928, which took the lives of his parents and a brother. He was of an inventive and mechanical mind and went on to design and build custom agricultural machinery including the first mobile packing shed for field packing of celery, known as a "mule train" and many different types of vegetable harvesting and planting equipment. Vernie was a strong and faithful member of the Community United Methodist Church in Belle Glade and a member of the Gideons. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CUMC children's programs or to the Methodist Children's Home. Graveside service and internment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach on April 20, 2007. To express condolences and/or make donations Visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries
Section 3 Lot 51 Sp/Sw 1/6
Services are set for April 20 in West Palm Beach for Vernon A. "Vernie" Boots, whose harrowing ordeal as a 14-year-old in the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane was one of the most compelling stories of America's second-deadliest natural disaster.
Mr. Boots died Thursday at a Tampa nursing home where he'd lived for several years.
Mr. Boots lost his parents and a brother on Sept. 16, 1928, when the storm washed a wall of water over what was then a 6-foot muck dike, killing perhaps as many as 3,000.
In 2003, for the storm's 75th anniversary, the official death toll was changed from 1,833 to 2,500, making it second only to the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane, which killed 6,000 to 10,000.
In a May 17, 1988, feature story on the storm's 60th anniversary, Mr. Boots was asked why he'd survived when so many had drowned.
"You just have to accept things," he said. "It's just good not to question the Lord."
Mr. Boots was born in December 1913 in Pearce, Ariz.; his parents moved to Lake Okeechobee three years later.
The Bootses' farmed in an area called Sebring Farms, in Lake Harbor, at the south end of the lake. Freezes drove the family back to Arizona, but they returned to the Glades in 1925. The Bootses grew potatoes, tomatoes, peas and beans. Their home was 300 feet from the lake shore.
During the storm, about 60 people, including the Boots family, took refuge at the home of a neighbor. As water rose through the floorboards, the people inside moved to the attic, but the water followed. They finally chopped a hole in the roof to escape drowning, but that only exposed them to the winds.
The home lifted off its foundations and floated 100 yards, then struck the raised roadbed of the unfinished U.S. 27. It struck two more times, then came apart. Mr. Boots grabbed a piece of ceiling and floated in waves as high as 4 feet. Winds drowned out his screams.
In 1988, speaking to students at Palm Beach Community College's Belle Glade campus, Mr. Boots recalled the moment six decades earlier when he'd awakened before dawn, still floating, and shouted for his three brothers.
As he described finding two of them, he choked with emotion and needed several minutes to continue.
"Of course, it was joyful," he croaked to the students.
The three would find high ground and eventually reunite with a half brother. Boots' father and a third brother were later found dead. His mother was never found. The three brothers later moved in with their half brother and his family.
Vernon Boots married in 1940. He farmed and designed farm equipment and worked on the giant Herbert Hoover Dike, built to keep the lake's waters from bringing death as they had in 1928.
Mr. Boots is survived by his sons Stewart, of Apollo Beach, near Tampa; and Craig, of Madisonville, La.; as well as four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
Services are set for April 20 at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach.
Life Story • Guest Book
Boots, Vernie A.*
Family-Placed Funeral Notice
VERNIE A. BOOTS Vernie A. Boots, 93, of John Knox Village passed away April 5, 2007. He was preceded in death by his sweetheart wife Nancy and son Adrian. He is survived by his sons, Stewart and wife Sandy of Apollo Beach, and Craig and wife Miriam of Madisonville, LA; grandchildren Brian of Orlando, Kevin and wife Denise of Sachse, TX, Kimberly Brand and husband Christopher of Winston-Salem, NC; great-granddaughters Josephine and Eliza; as well as several sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. Born in Pearce, AZ, his family moved to Lake Harbor, FL in the early 1920's. As a teenager, Vernie survived the flooding on the south shore of Lake Okeechobee from the killer hurricane of 1928, which took the lives of his parents and a brother. He was of an inventive and mechanical mind and went on to design and build custom agricultural machinery including the first mobile packing shed for field packing of celery, known as a "mule train" and many different types of vegetable harvesting and planting equipment. Vernie was a strong and faithful member of the Community United Methodist Church in Belle Glade and a member of the Gideons. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CUMC children's programs or to the Methodist Children's Home. Graveside service and internment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach on April 20, 2007. To express condolences and/or make donations Visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries
Section 3 Lot 51 Sp/Sw 1/6
Mr. Boots died Thursday at a Tampa nursing home where he'd lived for several years.
Mr. Boots lost his parents and a brother on Sept. 16, 1928, when the storm washed a wall of water over what was then a 6-foot muck dike, killing perhaps as many as 3,000.
In 2003, for the storm's 75th anniversary, the official death toll was changed from 1,833 to 2,500, making it second only to the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane, which killed 6,000 to 10,000.
In a May 17, 1988, feature story on the storm's 60th anniversary, Mr. Boots was asked why he'd survived when so many had drowned.
"You just have to accept things," he said. "It's just good not to question the Lord."
Mr. Boots was born in December 1913 in Pearce, Ariz.; his parents moved to Lake Okeechobee three years later.
The Bootses' farmed in an area called Sebring Farms, in Lake Harbor, at the south end of the lake. Freezes drove the family back to Arizona, but they returned to the Glades in 1925. The Bootses grew potatoes, tomatoes, peas and beans. Their home was 300 feet from the lake shore.
During the storm, about 60 people, including the Boots family, took refuge at the home of a neighbor. As water rose through the floorboards, the people inside moved to the attic, but the water followed. They finally chopped a hole in the roof to escape drowning, but that only exposed them to the winds.
The home lifted off its foundations and floated 100 yards, then struck the raised roadbed of the unfinished U.S. 27. It struck two more times, then came apart. Mr. Boots grabbed a piece of ceiling and floated in waves as high as 4 feet. Winds drowned out his screams.
In 1988, speaking to students at Palm Beach Community College's Belle Glade campus, Mr. Boots recalled the moment six decades earlier when he'd awakened before dawn, still floating, and shouted for his three brothers.
As he described finding two of them, he choked with emotion and needed several minutes to continue.
"Of course, it was joyful," he croaked to the students.
The three would find high ground and eventually reunite with a half brother. Boots' father and a third brother were later found dead. His mother was never found. The three brothers later moved in with their half brother and his family.
Vernon Boots married in 1940. He farmed and designed farm equipment and worked on the giant Herbert Hoover Dike, built to keep the lake's waters from bringing death as they had in 1928.
Mr. Boots is survived by his sons Stewart, of Apollo Beach, near Tampa; and Craig, of Madisonville, La.; as well as four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
Services are set for April 20 at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach.
Life Story • Guest Book
Boots, Vernie A.*
Family-Placed Funeral Notice
VERNIE A. BOOTS Vernie A. Boots, 93, of John Knox Village passed away April 5, 2007. He was preceded in death by his sweetheart wife Nancy and son Adrian. He is survived by his sons, Stewart and wife Sandy of Apollo Beach, and Craig and wife Miriam of Madisonville, LA; grandchildren Brian of Orlando, Kevin and wife Denise of Sachse, TX, Kimberly Brand and husband Christopher of Winston-Salem, NC; great-granddaughters Josephine and Eliza; as well as several sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. Born in Pearce, AZ, his family moved to Lake Harbor, FL in the early 1920's. As a teenager, Vernie survived the flooding on the south shore of Lake Okeechobee from the killer hurricane of 1928, which took the lives of his parents and a brother. He was of an inventive and mechanical mind and went on to design and build custom agricultural machinery including the first mobile packing shed for field packing of celery, known as a "mule train" and many different types of vegetable harvesting and planting equipment. Vernie was a strong and faithful member of the Community United Methodist Church in Belle Glade and a member of the Gideons. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CUMC children's programs or to the Methodist Children's Home. Graveside service and internment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in West Palm Beach on April 20, 2007. To express condolences and/or make donations Visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries
Section 3 Lot 51 Sp/Sw 1/6
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