Deaths of beloved doctors, violent tornadoes among most visited Turner Report/Inside Joplin posts for the week

During a week when Inside Joplin Obituaries posted its 9,000th obituary since launching in November 2013, the traffic to the blog was heavier than usual and that can be attributed to the passing of two people who devoted their lives to helping others.

Dr. Donald Patterson was a fixture in the Joplin medical community for six decades, but his service extended far beyond that.

Even before he began practicing medicine, Dr. Patterson was making a difference- as a highly decorated airman in the U. S. Army Air Force during World War II. He later served his country once again, as a flight doctor in the U. S. Air Force during World War II.

Dr. Patterson's 91 years were filled with accomplishments and have had a lasting impact on this area.







The same can be said for Dr. Timothy Sprenkle, whose skills as an emergency room physician were responsible for saving countless lives before his untimely passing this week at age 56 as a result of a system weakened by a series of bites from a brown recluse spider.

I cannot even imagine the pressures of being an emergency room physician, but it was something that Dr. Sprenkle handled skillfully for nearly 30 years.

Both men left behind a legacy of service and will be missed.

Tornadoes strike again

While the deaths of Dr. Sprenkle and Dr; Patterson were the most visited posts on Inside Joplin Obituaries, the violent tornadoes that ripped through this area of the state and Jefferson City naturally received the most interest on the Turner Report and Inside Joplin.

Each year since the Joplin Tornado, I have revisited some of the posts I wrote eight years ago, but not this year.

The tornadoes hitting on the anniversary of the Joplin Tornado were the only ones I was going to mention on that day. Any retrospectives can wait until a May 22 when the sun is shining brightly or the stars are blanketing the sky.

I was more than mildly irritated by the national media's constant mentions of the Joplin Tornado when talking about the storm that killed three Golden City residents.

While the anniversary made it a natural news hook, Golden City is more than a half hour away from Joplin.

I had the honor of being the final editor of Golden City's last newspaper and it is Golden City that is suffering through this tragedy and not Joplin, though we, of course, can certainly understand what the residents are going through.

Golden City is a great community, now as it was when I was there in 1979 with the Lockwood Luminary-Golden City Herald.

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The Top 10 most visited posts on the Turner Report, Inside Joplin and Inside Joplin Obituaries and links to each of those posts are featured below:

The Turner Report

1. Video: Massive tornado hits Jefferson City

2. This is insane: Devastation of Jefferson City tornado shown in local resident's Facebook video

3. Missouri Legislature passes laws eliminating helmet requirements for motorcycle riders, cutting vehicle inspections

4. Funeral services scheduled for Golden City couple killed in tornado

5. Department of Public Safety: Nine hospitalized in Jefferson City due to tornado, not the 100 that had been reported

6. Carthage R-9 Board hires nine teachers, accepts three resignations

7. CNN coverage of Missouri tornadoes- eight years to the day after Joplin Tornado

8. Parson to meet with Briarbrook residents this afternoon, spoke to family members of those who were killed in Golden City

9. Golden City couple killed in tornado described as "hard-working, selfless"

10. Former Jasper fireman/child molester's wife pleads guilty to felony charge

Inside Joplin

1, Elderly Golden City couple killed in tornado, another woman killed, her husband seriously injured

2. Carthage man seriously injured in accident on Chestnut Road

3. Carl Junction Police Department reports people trying to charge to do repairs in tornado-damaged Briarbrook area

4. Tornado confirmed near Seneca moving northeast

5. Significant hail, lightning possible today, tonight for Joplin area, tornado risk decreasing

6. Storm damage closes Fir Road entrance to Carl Junction

7. Joplin Police Department Arrests May 22-23

8. Jasper County Dissolution of Marriage Petitions

9. Highway Patrol Arrests May 24-25

10. Neosho man taken to Mercy Springfield after being seriously injured in fiery accident

Inside Joplin Obituaries

1, Timothy Sprenkle

2. Donald Patterson

3. Tara Miksell

4. Kenneth Bentlage

5. Richard Packer

6. Connie Riddle

7. Dianne Jones

8. Maria Martinez

9. Robert Wallace

10. Tom Elliott