Glen Allen tornado victims remembered by family

GLEN ALLEN, Mo. — They may have had different names — Burcks, Sullivan, Skaggs, Koenig and McCoy — but they were one family that lived, loved and laughed together.

While a tornado April 5 in Glen Allen may have stolen their lives and erased their home, the memories of these individuals are permanently imprinted on the hearts and minds of those who loved them.

Susan Sullivan

Susan Sullivan

Jessica Pack said her aunt, Susan Sullivan, 57, loved her dog, Baby, and coloring books and playing games on her tablet. Sullivan would often buy gifts for friends and family and collected miniatures of things such as soda bottles and decks of cards.

"She was more than just an aunt, and more like another mom to me," Pack said.

James Skaggs

James Skaggs

Pack remembered her cousin James "Jimmy" Skaggs, 37, as shy and quiet but also very funny. She said he loved "The Golden Girls" and "SpongeBob SquarePants", and that he could often be heard singing songs from the show.

"God, where do I start with Jimmy? He cracked me up all the time," Pack said. "If you were ever down in the dumps, you were smiling before you left, that's for sure. You were laughing. I need him right now."

Glenn Burcks

Glenn Burcks

Glenn Burcks, 62, Sullivan's ex-husband, Skaggs' uncle, and grandfather to another tornado victim, Destinee Koenig, 16, was remembered as very religious and an antiques collector.

Destinee Koenig

Destinee Koenig

"He made sure my sister (Amanda Shipley Koenig) and Destinee were taken care of. He loved Destinee. She was his whole world," Hollie Shipley-Welter said.

In remembering Koenig, Shipley-Welter said she loved "Squishmallows", a brand of stuffed animals.

"Anytime you said anything to Destinee, she would light up with the brightest smile, and you couldn't help but smile, too," Shipley-Welter said. "No matter what, she started giggling and it was so contagious."

Micheal McCoy Jr.

Micheal McCoy Jr.

Stormie Mayberry remembered her son, Micheal McCoy Jr., 18, as a "very sweet boy," and a good brother.

"He was very funny and he had the biggest heart. He would do anything for anybody," Mayberry said. "He was way too close to his parents. More than most teenagers, you know. He absolutely loved his father and me."

Mayberry said her son loved the St. Louis Cardinals and Spider-Man. She said he usually wore a hoodie, pajama pants and socks with sandals.

"I would always be like, 'Child, you look homeless. You've got to wear something else,' but that's just who he was," Mayberry said.

His father, Micheal McCoy Sr. dressed the same way and worked with his son calling their business, "Sandals and Son", said Dee Dee McCoy, McCoy Sr.'s wife. She said her husband and stepson worked together putting skirting on mobile homes. She described McCoy Jr. as a hopeless romantic.

Pack recalled it was at a birthday party for her son where the spark first ignited between Koenig and McCoy Jr. Mayberry said their first date was on Valentine's Day. Dee Dee McCoy said no one in the family was surprised when McCoy and Koenig got engaged almost a year later.

Mayberry said her son and Koenig didn't have time to set a date for the wedding or make too many concrete plans for the future. She said she just feels the loss of what might have been.

"I miss him so much. I don't know what I'm gonna do without him," Mayberry said.

Pack said losing so many family members all at once opened her eyes.

"You realize, anything can happen," Pack said. "You think it won't happen to you, but it can, and it can happen in the blink of an eye. So always have your loved ones close. Say you love them, because you never know when that last time is going to be."