Dexter welcomes special guest as a result of floods

DEXTER, Mo. -- Many stories will be told over the years of the Great Flood of 2008. One of them belongs to Nora White.

White, 97, had always lived independently until a recent accident in which she suffered a broken left leg left her dependent upon someone else's care.

"I've always taken care of myself," she said. "Lived by myself for years and took care of my own needs."

Family members thought it best for her to recuperate in a nursing care facility, and in early January, she took up residence at an Americare facility in Chaffee.

All went well as White spent time mending at the Chaffee home, until last week when the rains came. And they came and they came, until the high waters that had escaped the Diversion Channel threatened the Chaffee Nursing Center and a decision was made to move patients to other centers.

Dexter's Cypress Point was fortunate enough to take in White and two others from the Chaffee center.

Nora was delivered to the Dexter center and introduced to another patient, Ruby Miller, who quickly showed her the ropes and introduced her to other residents.

By March 20, Nora had become somewhat of a celebrity around the center.

"She is just one of the most spry and sharp-witted ladies I've had the pleasure of meeting," said Cypress Point's activities director Sue Long. "We wish we could keep her."

White spent most of her life in the Campbell area. She married young, and she and her first husband, Frank Dunlap, had two daughters, Mildred and Maxine. Life as she knew it, however, was forever changed in 1939 when her husband drowned in the high waters of the Mississippi after the barge he was on tipped in floodwaters and tossed him to his death.

"So, you see," Nora said, "I get really scared when the waters come up. My daughters and I always had a difficult time after we lost their dad even if it flooded a little."

When she witnessed the waters rising around the Chaffee facility March 19, she grew concerned.

"I could see out the window, and I could see that the water was getting closer, but I really didn't know that we were in danger of it entering the building until we were told we were going to be taken to Dexter."

Chaffee's loss was clearly Dexter's gain, if even just for an overnight stay. After a day full of fun at Cypress Point, including an Easter parade and a new permanent for her hair, the spry little lady from Campbell was whisked off once again, returning to her temporary Chaffee home. Cypress Point employees and residents, however, will long remember the diminutive charmer from Campbell who graced their halls for just a day.