Read The Storm of '62 in PDF - Coastal Point

Storm’62
of
The
Published by Coastal Point
Our area was rocked
by a nor'easter on
Ash Wednesday of
1962. Fifty years
later, a community
shares its story...
Storm of ’62 1

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The
of
Storm’62
is published by the same folks who bring
you the Coastal Point every Friday.
Visit us at coastalpoint.com
Susan Lyons, Publisher
Darin J. McCann, Editor
darin.mccann@coastalpoint.com
M. Patricia Titus, News Editor
Bob Bertram, Art Director
Shaun Lambert, Technical Director
Susan Mutz, Advertising Sales
Jane Meleady, Advertising Sales
Jane Johnson, Advertising Sales
Monica Scott, Reporter
Ryan Saxton, Reporter
Maria Counts, Reporter
Laura Walter, Reporter
R. Chris Clark, Photographer
Copyright 2012, Coastal Point, LLC
Advertisements created by Coastal Point
may not be reproduced without
permission.
111 Atlantic Ave., Suite 2
Ocean View, DE 19970
302.539.1788
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COVER: Many of us
were not here in March
of 1962 when the area
was struck by a horrible
nor’easter. For those
who were, destructive
images like this are still
fresh in their minds.
COURTESY LEROY ACHILLIES
A magazine by the people
On the surface, the task of putting
together a magazine focused on a
storm that took place 50 years
ago is not an easy one, particularly for a
publication that has only been in existence
for eight years. We have no vast archives of
old stories or photos from when the storm
of 1962 struck our little seaside community,
and our only staff member who was
actually here when the storm hit was too
young at the time to really remember much
of it.
It appeared a daunting task at first,
and we started compiling names of families
and individuals who we knew would have
clear memories of the nor’easter, hoping
against hope that we could get enough information
and photos from them to properly
tell the story of the storm.
Fingers were crossed, to say the
least.
But a funny thing happened.
Not only did those people have a
true wealth of knowledge concerning
the storm and the area, but they also
got us in touch with others who had
their own vivid memories of the
events surrounding the storm, and breathtaking
photos to illustrate both the damage
caused by a vengeful Mother Nature, and
the community effort in rebuilding.
As word started to circulate that we
were putting this together, we began receiving
unsolicited submissions from people
who weren’t even on our radar when we
began this journey. We were blown away
by the photographs and memories that
people were so willing to share in this publication.
Yes, we began this journey with the
idea of chronicling the storm of 1962 on its
50th anniversary, and we feel as if we’ve
done that. But this turned into something
much more.
It turned into your magazine — your
collection of memories and photos. This is
a tapestry woven by your neighbors, your
friends and your relatives. It is an inside
look into what life was like here before the
storm, during its wrath, the efforts to regain
normalcy and where we are today in
terms of storm preparation.
Thanks for the memories ...
— Darin J. McCann, Editor
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Storm of ’62 3

Coastal Delaware before the storm
COURTESY ROBERT LEWIS
“Life was
easygoing,
COURTESY LAURA HICKMAN
said Roger Knox. “Everything was laidback.”
It was early 1962. President John F. Kennedy
had just announced the U.S. embargo against
Cuba. John Glenn had orbited the earth, becoming
the first American to look down at clouds forming
below.
As the world spun outside, coastal Sussex
County was still a quiet place in March of 1962.
A gallon of gasoline averaged 30 cents per gallon,
while a first-class postage stamp cost 4 cents.
In Sussex County, civic leaders were meeting
about the dualization of Route 113, then only two
lanes. Route 1 — today, also known as Coastal
Highway — was known as Route 14, a two-lane
road that linked beach towns along the coast.
Those beach towns were comfortably settled,
A gallon of gasoline
averaged 30 cents
per gallon, while a
first-class postage
stamp cost 4 cents.
4 Storm of ’62
Jane Hickman Tribbitt
shares a ball with her cousins in 1958 Bethany
Beach. Above, the town as it appeared in 1955.
but they were not packed with today’s many
homes, businesses and vacationers. South Bethany
would not be incorporated for another seven years.
Sussex County’s population — measured at more
than 197,000 people in the 2010 Census — had

only been 73,195 in the 1960 Census. It would
grow slightly, to 80,356, by 1970.
Each town had its own school district, so children
received their entire undergraduate education
at one school. Local school boards and administrators
had just begun considering the consolidation
of Lord Baltimore, John M. Clayton, Roxana and
Selbyville schools into one district.
In March 1962, students were still huddled
over their classroom desks, many likely dreaming
of summer vacation, when they could flock to the
beach with other vacationers. Delaware had been
quietly established as a vacation destination —
something enhanced with the construction of the
single span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge a decade
prior. Until summer arrived, though, students quietly
tapped their pencils to the rhythm of “The
Twist,” which Chubby Checker was rocking on
nighttime radio.
In 1962, the beach dunes were wild and natural,
not yet manmade. The worst storm in recent
history was a hurricane — already distant in most
peoples’ memories, having happened back in 1933.
Part of the Bethany Beach boardwalk had been
destroyed in the storm.
Back then, the ocean was visible from the
boardwalk, and a person could stand fully under
When you went
to the beach,
you knew
everybody on
the beach. It
was local at its
best. What a
great place to
grow up!
Kenneth Evans
the boards. The beach was long and, during low
tide, Kenneth Evans recalled, people could walk far
out into the sea, and water would still only meet
their waists.
Everyone went to “Main Beach,” as locals
called the Bethany coast. The strong swimmers
would swim out a quarter-mile with a watermelon.
The winner was whoever got the watermelon back
to shore. There were no other rules to the competition,
and Evans said the watermelons rarely
reached shore in one piece.
“When you went to the beach, you knew
everybody on the beach,” Evans said. “It was local
at its best. What a great place to grow up!”
Claire Layton recalled spending all of her time
with friends at the beach, in school sports or at
church, where they sang in the youth choir.
Freddie Taylor remembered racing cars anywhere
the two state troopers assigned to the area
weren’t.
“That’s all we had,” Taylor said. “We raced.
And we had no drugs then. Beer was easy to get.
Life was kinda simple. Everybody knew everybody.”
People living or staying near the shore could
hang out at the Bethany Beach Bowling Alley, party
in Millsboro dance halls or drive to movie theaters
(302) 226-9800
www.CountyBankDel.com
Storm of ’62 5

“The devastation was unbelievable.
It looked like a monster had come
out of the ocean, kicked and
stomped everything in its path. It
was complete devastation. It was
incredible, the devastation.”
Freddie Taylor
in any of the surrounding towns.
During the first week in March, Debbie
Reynolds and Andy Griffith starred in “The Second
Time Around,” which was playing at the Capitol
Theatre in Ocean City, Md. Antics and hilarity
abounded for Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett
in “Everything’s Ducky,” which was playing at the
— now historical — Clayton Theatre in Dagsboro.
Glenn Ford turned Bette Davis into a New York socialite
in Frank Capra’s “Pocketful of Miracles” at
the Ball Theatre in Millsboro.
Basic groceries could be purchased at small
nearby shops, such as Jake’s (now G&E) in Ocean
View, or Jim’s Grocery and Tingle’s I.G.A. in Frankford.
Otherwise, almost everyone shopped in Selbyville
or Dagsboro where the only nearby banks
were located.
Tuesday, March 6,
began as a normal
rainy day. Known for
its unseasonable
springtime, Sussex
County was cold in
its last stretch of
winter, and the
weather forecast
called for
precipitation.
6 Storm of ’62
COURTESY ROBERT LEWIS
The lunch special at a Selbyville restaurant
cost 99 cents, and a loaf of bread might cost 28
cents. Post offices operated out of family homes or
general stores.
In a rural area where farming was the center
of life and the broiler industry was thriving,
Selbyville’s weekly newspaper, the Delmarva News,
had a section devoted entirely to chickens.
Tuesday, March 6, began as a normal rainy day.
Known for its unseasonable springtime, Sussex
County was cold in its last stretch of winter, and
the weather forecast called for precipitation. Thermometers
hovered at the freezing point, so rain
was expected on the coast, and a band of icy air
would bring snow just a few miles inland.
But warm air was rising from the south, conflicting
with the northern winter chill. The two
fronts would soon meet in the Mid-Atlantic to form
a 1,000-mile long northeasterly attack. The
nor’easter of 1962 had arrived. n
Story by Laura Walter

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COURTESY LEROY ACHILLES
northeaster |ˌnôrθˈēstər|
(also nor’easter |ˌnôrˈēstər|)
noun
• a strong storm from the northeast
‘A storm
like no other’
On March 5, 1962, a low-pressure system developed off
the shore of the Atlantic coast and moved north.
“You know, down here along the coastline, you’re always
getting notifications,” said Fenwick Island resident Bruce Scott,
who was 16 at the time of the storm. “When a nor’easter moves
in, you always know it’s going to be two or three days. That’s just
what happens every time.
“We just thought it was going to be a normal nor’easter,
where the water in the ocean comes up on the beach quite a
ways and after two or three days leaves. But, in this particular
case, the winds never backed off to allow the tides to go out.”
Bud and Nancy Palmatary, who at the time of the storm
lived in Bethany Beach with their two young children, said they
had no idea how bad the impending storm would be.
“There was no warning like they have today,” said Bud
Palmatary. “I left and went to work and had no idea.”
“I was home all day,” recalled Nancy Palmatary. “And it was
raining and blowing, but I didn’t think anything of it. My
brother lived next door, and he came and knocked on the door
8 Storm of ’62

and said, ‘We’ve got to
evacuate.’”
“It came so fast!
You could almost watch
it,” added Dee Bennett.
“One of my girlfriends
had water in their
house, and she said it
happened like almost 15
minutes and boom…
You just didn’t have any
time to get out and take
anything with you.”
Laura Hickman —
whose family lived in
Bethany Beach, at Fifth
Street and Atlantic Avenue, and who was in third grade
at the time — said that, even though she knew there was
a storm coming, she wasn’t afraid because her parents,
Ray and Sally, didn’t seem worried.
“I remember the day of the storm, for some reason
they let us out of school early because it was raining
really heavily… And I remember my mom picked me
up, and some neighbors from Fourth Street decided to
go down and look at the inlet… I just remember seeing
how rough the ocean was.”
Hickman said her family and neighbors had decided
to eat an early dinner but, before they could sit
Some people
lost so very, very
much. The houses
were turned
around backwards
and sideways.
Wanda Powell
down to eat, they
noticed water was
coming over the
large dune in front
of their house. At
that point, Hickman
said, she
began to worry,
because her parents
had called for
her grandparents
to pick her up,
along with her
sister.
“The foam in
the water was starting to come down the
dune and run down the street, and I remember having
these little rubber boots on that kids have, that you put
overtop of your shoes,” recalled Hickman. “I remember
going to their car, and it went overtop my boots and got
my legs all wet.
“That was really, really scary for me, knowing that
that’s how deep it was already and we were leaving my
parents. It was starting to get dark and I was thinking,
‘How are they going to get back to Ocean View when it
looks like water is coming down now?’”
“We stayed after my parents took the girls,” recalled
Sally Hickman. “I drove our car out and got stuck in the
COURTESY THE HICKMAN FAMILY
Ellen Rice moved to the Delaware coast at 13, two months
after the Storm of ’62. Beckoned to paint by “the energy,
force, sheer power”of the ocean and the beauty of her new
surroundings, within a decade she’d carved out a career
that was to eventually gain an international following.
“The Last Watch” depicts the last
commander of the Indian River Coast
Guard Station looking out to sea the
day the station was decommissioned
after the Storm of ’62. Read the story
at ellenrice.com/printsindex.php
New Exhibit March 3-31
“The Stormy Beauty of the Delaware Coast”
Ellen painted “Rehoboth” in 1962 at age 13.
Storm of ’62 9

A lot of people don’t realize, during
that storm, the little town of South
Bethany completely lost a whole row
of houses, and the street that’s there
now is the next street back from
where it used to be. All those houses
were completely lost, completely
gone. About the only thing you could
see left would maybe be a piling here
or there or a part of a piece
of chimney. That, to me,
is quite astounding.
Mark Bennett
COURTESY ROBERT LEWIS
10 Storm of ’62

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Storm of ’62 11

I’ve always had a great respect for the sea and what it can do. I’ve lived by the
sea all my life. I worked on the sea for several years in the Merchant Marines.
I’ve seen a lot of storms, and I’ve always known the fury it can have, but I also
knew that after the fury there would be peace again. I have a great deal of
respect… You can’t stop a 20-foot wall of water, I don’t care what you do.
Or a 10-foot wall of water, or a 6-foot wall of water.
When it comes, there’s nothing stopping it.
Mark Bennett
COURTESY THE HICKMAN FAMILY
Bethany Beach
underwater after
the storm.
water. I made a left onto Pennsylvania Avenue and the
current took me. And when I got out I was waist deep in
water... It was scary.”
Sally Hickman said she and Ray were able to get a
ride back to her parent’s house with nearby neighbors
who were also evacuating the town.
Laura Hickman said she and her grandparents
waited for her parents until they got worried enough
that her grandfather went back to Bethany Beach to
search for them. Her parents arrived at her grandparents’
home not long afterward.
“So then my grandfather was missing, looking for
them,” she recalled. “He had parked his car on the other
side of Route 1, which was still high ground, and he
waded down Pennsylvania Avenue and Fifth Street. But I
guess at that time it was waist deep at that point, and he
realized that he couldn’t go any farther and he went to
go back,” said Hickman.
“Hypothermia had almost set in,” she said of her
grandfather when he turned back. “The neighbors who
were going to have dinner with us happened to be driving
by one last time before they were leaving and happened
to see a glint of glass, and it was my grandfather’s
glasses. It was a miracle that they rescued him and
brought him back. He was just blue.”
Dee Bennett’s husband, Mark, then 21, experienced
the storm offshore, stationed on a supertanker off the
coast of North Carolina.
“I was working in the Merchant Marines at the time
during that particular storm … was it ever rough,” he recalled.
“It was a storm like no other.”
Roger Hitchens, who volunteered with the Millville
fire company, recalled fire company volunteers going
home to get their personal boats, so they could row out
to homes and help rescue people.
“We would pick people up by boat and bring them
back out. We would bring their animals and everything
else. We had to go by boat from that point there on, because
it had backed up through the canal. Then it
backed up feeding back toward the beach.”
Doris Collins, who was 26, was living with her husband,
Bill, and two children on Kent Avenue.
“We were not notified of any storm at all. It was a
surprise,” recalled Collins. “I had gotten up at 6 in the
12 Storm of ’62

morning, with my babies, and Mr. Dolby called me on
the phone and he said, ‘Doris, can you swim?’ I thought,
‘This man is crazy!’ I said, ‘Yeah, why?’ He said, ‘Well, get
out your water wings and look out the window.’
“From my kitchen window, we could look right
down Gibson Avenue, and you could see the water
coming from the canal. You could actually see it moving.”
Collins said that she and her children evacuated
their home soon after that, but her husband stayed behind
to check on their store, Bill’s Sportswear, which
was located on Pennsylvania Avenue, where Sedona
restaurant is now located.
“We had hip-boots on, it was so deep. It was up to
our waists, the water. And you were fighting the tides,”
said Bill Collins. “We went down there to check on our
merchandise, because we had just gotten new merchandise
for the store. And we got down there, got in the
store — the next thing we knew the water was coming
in all around the baseboards, like someone had turned
on a faucet.”
Collins said he and his friend quickly tried to move
the store merchandise as high off the ground as they
could before evacuating, but they later found out that
their efforts were for naught.
“Next time we got down to our store, we had to go
by boat, and the water inside of our store was right close
It was just wonderful
the way that the
community just
pitched in to help
those of us who
were in trouble.
Dorris Collins
to 6-foot deep. We had moved all the merchandise as
high as we would get — up on counters and tables. But
by the time it had got that deep, the cartons that had all
of our merchandise in them collapsed. We just had a
store full of wet, muddy, sandy — you name it — new
merchandise.”
Dee Bennett was driving to the beach on March 7
from Wilmington, to spend a weekend at her parents’
cottage on Pennsylvania Avenue in Bethany Beach.
“We were coming down through Dover, and we
couldn’t believe all the water we saw,” she recalled. “And
then we got a little farther down, and we were going to
come through Route 26 in Dagsboro, and we couldn’t
come through there because the area called Vines Creek
was entirely flooded. There was a Tastee Freez there,
and the water was all the way up to the middle way of
it.”
Dr. Kelvin Ramsey of the Delaware Geological Survey
said the reason the storm was so devastating was because
it was slow-moving.
“What happened in the March ’62 storm — I believe
there was a high-pressure system to the north that
slowed down the storm,” he explained. “So, rather than
a half a day — one tidal cycle — this storm actually affected
the coastline for five [cycles].
“For each tidal cycle, you have the normal tidal waters
that are building up,” Ramsey explained, “and they
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Storm of ’62 13

were not allowed their
normal course of flowing
back offshore.”
Ramsey said that
the combination of the
winds and building tidal
cycles created a “worstcase
scenario for the
Delaware coast.”
“In March ’62, you
had those five tidal cycles,
with waves and the wind,
so the entire Atlantic barrier
was knocked down. For a
period of time, it was a big
open body of water. So
everything along the coast
was pretty much destroyed. It was bad. We cannot even
fathom how bad it was.”
Most residents just waited out the storm in their
homes or relatives’ homes further inland, until they
could go check out the resulting damage.
“We just had to wait and wait and wait those days
of the storm out, not knowing what was happening,”
said Laura Hickman. “We had one man come up to the
house who said that he’d been close to the beach and
said that everything that was on the oceanfront was flat
as a pancake. Of course, that made everyone upset, because
that would’ve meant our house.”
Wanda Powell, who lived in Ocean View at the
time of the storm, said that water had come into the
back part of her family’s property.
“The water actually came up to the back of our
property… The ocean was as far up as the Assawoman
Canal bridge,” she recalled. “We lost our power, but we
had a fireplace, so we roasted hotdogs in the fireplace
and the kids had marshmallows, and so they had a
really good time.”
Many residents who lived inland went out to try to
survey how bad the storm was getting.
“We rode down to Quillen’s Point,” said Bill Cobb.
“We went up on the hill — before they had the VFW.
When you looked over at the beach road — those telephone
poles — the foam was blowing higher than those
A Chevy truck sits
halfway underwater
in downtown
Bethany Beach in
the aftermath of the
storm of ’62.
14 Storm of ’62
poles. The waves were
that tall. It was terriblelooking.”
Clarksville resident
Herman Koenig
said he and his wife,
Ruth, drove to the
beach and just sat in
their car to watch the
storm take its toll on
the empty houses.
“The ocean
waves were beating
up housing, and
you could see
houses fall,” he recalled. “There were about three rows
of houses in South Bethany just washed totally away,
property and all. The whole beach just moved in.”
“We were sitting where there used to be a Tastee
Freez into Bethany Beach. We sat there and watched
those houses fall into the ocean, just like they were little
toys — just crumbled right up and fell into the ocean.”
It wasn’t until days after the storm that the National
Guard, which had been enforcing martial law, allowed
beach-town residents to return to their properties to survey
the damage.
Mark Bennett, who returned home after the storm
hit, remembered helping his father, former Bethany
Beach Postmaster Sidney Bennett, coordinate the town’s
clean-up efforts.
“As far as Bethany, when the seas came over, they
busted through the boardwalk and busted through the
dune line, all that sand was pushed with the water and
the streets were probably a couple feet deep with sand
that had to be removed. Not to mention the destroyed
homes and debris. It was quite a mess. It was unreal. It
was really unreal.”
Doris Collins said that the storm had destroyed so
much that debris littered the streets.
“My father and mother lived in Fenwick in a trailer,
and my husband ran down to get them before it got too
bad. And the Holiday House was completely destroyed,
and one of their refrigerators was all the way up right by
our house. My father put on waders and walked out to
COURTESY JACK COOPER

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16 Storm of ’62

it, because he wanted to see if there was a beer in the refrigerator.”
The debris was not only tubs or coolers — but
whole houses that had been displaced in the storm.
Laura Hickman remembered visiting a friend’s house on
Campbell Place, where the storm had deposited an entire
cottage.
“A little cottage had actually floated into their back
yard and remained there for the summer… We used to
go in there and play and pretend that it was our house.
And all the pictures were still on the wall… Everything
was in the cabinets and the closets. It just got up off its
foundation and floated to another location.”
Hickman said she also remembered returning to
Bethany and seeing how the storm had changed the topography
of the beach town.
“I do recall coming back from the storm and just
noticing how flat everything was, from where the
houses stood and the wrecks of houses — just out to
the ocean was completely flat, as flat as can be.”
Dee Bennett said the storm had filled her parents’
apartment with mud, and they could see the high-water
marks on the walls of the house.
“When we got in there, in order to try to get rid of
the mud — there was about an inch and a half of mud
all over the floor — we actually took seawater that was
left outside, with buckets, and splashed it all over the
A little cottage
had actually
floated into their
back yard and
remained there
for the
summer…
We used to go
in there and play
and pretend that it
was our house.
And all the
pictures were
still on the
wall…
Everything was in
the cabinets and
the closets.
It just got up off
its foundation
and floated to
another location.
Laura Hickman
floor, trying to get rid of the mud, before we could try
and clean it up… It was a mess. … It was a mess!”
Art Achilles, who was 15 at the time, didn’t reside
in Bethany Beach, but he jumped at the chance to see
the town, post-storm, firsthand when his friend offered
him the opportunity.
“Hayes Grapperhaus — whose father owned the
old Delmarva News — saw Freddy Taylor and myself
and said, ‘Hey! You guys want to go down? I’m working
with my dad. We’re going to take some pictures and
notes for the Delmarva News.’ And, of course, we’re 15
years old — absolutely we wanted to go!” he recalled.
“We go down to the Assawoman Canal, and we
were able to get on a National Guard tank and we went
down to the beach. When you’re 15 years old, you don’t
realize that it is the storm of the century. The destruction
was just incredible.”
“The storm itself was horrible,” said Doris Collins,
“but after the storm, the way people in this community
just pitched in to help everybody was just unbelievable.
We had people come to our door and we did not know
who they were — they would take some of our ruined
clothes from the store and take it home and wash it and
bring it back.”
Many community members pitched in and helped
with the cleanup following the storm. The fire company
helped by using their pump engine to hose out the
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Storm of ’62 17

mud- and sand-filled homes.
“I was also a member of the fire company then,”
said Bill Collins. “We had an old fire engine and we
would go to houses — they were just completely nothing
but mud. We’d come in and we would take the fire
hose and wash the houses down inside to get the mud
out.”
“The fire company literally performed a service by
coming in and hosing your house out for you,” added
Bill Pusey, “because it had an inch of this nice river mud
in it. And it would cake up and be hard on the top, and
you would step on it and it would crack through and
you’d slip or fall.”
During the storm, sand was displaced throughout
the town, moved from the beach and deposited on
roads and in homes.
“We had so much sand in our house that I could
stand on the pile of sand and touch the ceiling,” recalled
Nancy Palmatary. “I had a sewing machine that was in a
case, and when we took it to Sears to get fixed, all this
mud and water washed out.”
“The first floor of our house was just filled with
sand, from the floor to the ceiling. They had to take a
conveyer belt and haul all of that sand out of there,”
added Laura Hickman.
Between the destruction of homes and the movement
of the sand, much of what residents might have
During the storm,
sand was
displaced
throughout
the town, moved
from the beach and
deposited on roads
and in homes.
We had so much
sand in our house
that I could stand
on the pile of
sand and touch
the ceiling.
Nancy Palmatary
once used as landmarks was gone.
“You would walk down to the beach and you
would actually get lost because all of the houses were
completely destroyed — I mean there was nothing left
of some of them. You lost your perspective. You didn’t
know where you were,” said Doris Collins.
In the weeks following the storm, bulldozers also
came into the area to help to move the sand off the
roads and back toward the beach.
“I remember walking from my house down to
Pennsylvania Avenue to catch the bus, and it seemed to
me they’d had bulldozers in there to move the sand. But
just like snow, there were piles of sand on either side of
the road that were way higher than I was, so it was like
walking through a tunnel,” said Laura Hickman.
Although the storm only lasted a few days, its
effects permanently changed the face of the Delaware
coast. And those who lived through it will surely never
forget the storm of the century.
“It was an interesting thing to live through,” said
Pusey. “And it’s one I hope I don’t have to live through
again.” n
Story by Maria Counts
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18 Storm of ’62

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Storm of ’62 19

Top left, Fourth Street in Bethany. Below left, one of
the many refrigerators left strewn about the area in
streets and yards after the storm. Bottom left, the
remains of the Bethany Beach boardwalk. Below,
some damaged homes in Fenwick Island. Bottom
right, Dee Bennett’s father, Myron Mezick, shows
the water mark on his family’s Bethany Beach apartment’s
outdoor shower.
The nor'easter that struck our community in 1962
left a lasting impact on all those who experienced its
power, as evidenced by the stories and photographs
that people have held on to tightly for 50 years.
We'd like to thank those who told their tales and
submitted their photos to us so they could be shared
with all of you.
At left, two Bethany Beach homes. Below left, Fenwick Island,
looking south. Bottom left, the Seaside Inn in Fenwick. Top
right, the Indian River inlet, looking toward the ocean. Bottom
right, Roland Scott, Bruce Scott’s grandfather, standing
by what was left of the family’s cottage.
COURTESY ROBERT LEWIS
COURTESY CLAIRE LAYTON
COURTESY JACK COOPER
COURTESY SCOTT MUMFORD
COURTESY HICKMAN FAMILY
COURTESY SCOTT MUMFORD
COURTESY DEE BENNETT
20 Storm of ’62
COURTESY DEE BENNETT
COURTESY BRUCE SCOTT
Storm of ’62 21
COURTESY JACK COOPER

“The water just kept
coming. The tide just
didn’t go out. Everybody
was kind of in a haze: ‘It
can’t get any higher than
this.’ Somebody tilted
the earth the right way”
Kenneth Evans
COURTESY JACK COOPER
COURTESY LAURA HICKMAN
Above, a conveyor helps remove sand from inside the
Hickman home. Top of page, the building next to the
Addy Sea. At right, an unidentified beach home.
22 Storm of ’62
COURTESY LEROY ACHILLES

Rescuing the rescuers
In March of 1962, Jack Cooper was a senior in
high school. He lived on Kent Avenue in
Bethany Beach with his family, who hosted
then-mayor Jimmy Poppin in their home during
the height of the nor’easter. He recalled his family
home being one of a few that didn’t have any water
in it after all was said and done. But, during the
storm, adventurous Cooper was out rescuing National
Guardsmen from their post in town.
He and fellow classmate Rupert Smith took a
boat down Kent Avenue and went by Sidney Bennett’s
house. Bennett was Bethany’s postmaster, and
his house doubled as the post office. Cooper recalls
being told by the chief of police that he shouldn’t
be out in his boat, but then he heard that there
were nine National Guardsmen stranded in their
truck in downtown Bethany Beach.
“Rupert and I thought it would be neat to go
by there and look at them,” he joked.
He said they went to the truck, which was at a
filling station, near where the present-day Yuppy
Puppy sits, and rescued two guards and two or
three dogs. They took them back to Bennett’s
house, and Bennett supplied them with dry
clothes.
“I went back down by myself and got four
more in my boat. And we got about 20 yards away,
...we saw an
ice house floating
by and got
up on that and
floated on over
to the dual
highway, where
we could touch.
Jack Cooper
The home of Sidney Bennett also was the
Bethany Beach Post Office. The home has since been
moved inland near Clarksville.
and a wave hit our boat and we flipped over. We
started swimming inland,” Cooper recalled, toward
the present-day Route 1, “but Jesse (one of the
guardsmen) couldn’t swim, so I got a hold of him.
He had boots on, and a big fur jacket, and the
water was about 7-feet deep. Then we saw an ice
house floating by and got up on that and floated on
over to the dual highway, where we could touch.”
Cooper said they, too, went into
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Storm of ’62 23

COURTESY JACK COOPER
Boat was a popular mode of transportation in the days
after the storm. Cooper and a friend floated to safety
with help from an icehouse like the one at left.
COURTESY DEE BENNETT
Bennett’s house, and he got dry clothes
for them, as well. He eventually was taken to the
Lord Baltimore School, although Cooper doesn’t remember
how he got there or when the normal
school year resumed after the building was no
longer needed as a shelter. His parents, Ruth and
Milton Cooper, didn’t know he had been out and
about until “a couple of weeks later.”
Cooper said, that they found his boat about
two weeks later, washed up behind the firehouse.
Mark Bennett, Sidney’s son, recalled helping
Cooper helped with
the cleanup, as well,
shoveling sand out
of houses for 25
cents an hour.
his dad — who was also the streets commissioner
— coordinate the sand cleanup, with bulldozers
and grazers and dump trucks and “whatever else
we can get a hold of.”
Cooper helped with the cleanup, as well, shoveling
sand out of houses for 25 cents an hour.
That summer, he said, things were “just like
nothing ever happened,” but he said he didn’t
think the “storm of the century” changed people’s
views on weather or storm warnings in general.
“I don’t remember it being a big deal (beforehand),
but it did get big.” n
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Storm of ’62 25

Recovering from rising waters and a sea of sand
It was a
different
time...
COURTESY JACK COOPER
John F. Kennedy was still president. Robert F.
Kennedy was alive and well, and the country
had yet to hear Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have
a Dream” speech. Wal-Mart had opened its first
store in 1962 — televisions cost $250 and sleeper
couches cost $39. Floor-length mirrors cost $4,
and five-piece dinette sets cost about $60.
And, needless to say, lots of changes have happened
in our neck of the woods since the March
1962 storm.
At the time, beachfront lots cost $11,000.
Condominiums now stand where a bowling alley
once stood and in place of the Seaside Hotel, which
was also destroyed in the storm.
The famous Holiday House, which was “a pile
of rubble” after the storm and was re-built in time
for the summer of 1962, is now Mango’s.
Justin’s Beach House now sits on the site of a
home on Route 26 that belonged to Donald Wilgus,
a prominent name in local real estate. Bethany
Beach now has sewer service. Nearby Assateague
Island is a national park. There are now high-rise
buildings in Ocean City, Md., and the former Route
14 is now Route 1.
But even aside from the aforementioned significant
changes that have happened since the “storm
Roger Hitchens, who
lived on Central
Avenue and was a
volunteer with the
Millville Volunteer
Fire Company and
a member of the
National Guard,
recalls rescuing
people by boat in the
midst of the storm.
26 Storm of ’62
of the century” 50 years ago this March, there was
the immediate aftermath Bethany Beach had to deal
with following the late-winter nor’easter.
Many of the people who lived year-round in
Bethany Beach — possibly 20 or so families, by
some estimates — stayed there for at least one day
of the storm before heeding evacuation orders.
Weather forecasts not being what they are
today, they knew some rain was coming and that
there was snow to the west, but there was no reason
to think the storm would be anything special.
But special it was.
Roger Hitchens, who lived on Central Avenue
and was a volunteer with the Millville Volunteer
Fire Company and a member of the National
Guard, recalls rescuing people by boat in the midst
of the storm.
In fact, he has memories of picking up people
from the second-story windows of homes in downtown
Bethany where the Blue Surf Motel, now condos
and shops, was later located. Although the
boats were not fire company-issued, many of the
men used their personal boats to help in the rescue
efforts.
Afterward, many of the local fire trucks were
used to wash out sand and muck from the homes

“The water was coming over
Route 14, and it was coming —
not from the ocean — but from
the bay, through the woods. And
every time I looked down, it
was getting closer to the door”
Marie Knox
COURTESY JACK COOPER
At left, looking across Route 14 (now Route 1) down
Garfield Parkway and out to the Atlantic. Above, looking
in the opposite direction — west down Route 26.
and hotels in town that had survived the storm.
Hitchens was then activated as a National Guardsman
and was stationed at Lord Baltimore School —
although, he said with a laugh, that that part
“wasn’t as exciting.”
Margaret Young, who has been a full-time
Bethany Beach resident for some years now, used to
come for summers in the 1960s and 1970s. She
was busy giving birth to her first child during the
storm, but her parents relayed to her that when
they came to Bethany to check on the family’s summer
cottage, they had to show their deed to the
National Guard to prove they were, in fact, the true
homeowners.
“The National Guard wouldn’t let people in
unless you were homeowners, for fear of looting,”
she explained. “We were very lucky. Our cottage
was in the 100 block of 2nd Street, between Atlantic
and Pennsylvania, so it was a little ways away
from ocean and the bay,” Young added, noting the
bay waters that to this day come into town via the
Loop Canal.
“It was in the best possible area it could have
Stories of
refrigerators
becoming torpedoes
were common
among the people
recalling the aftermath
of the Storm of
’62 and, in some
cases, they even
recalled other
houses floating by
that did damage as
they passed.
been on the ocean side,” she added. “Still, there
was 3 feet of water in the house. It was a basic
summer cottage — there was nothing of value in
the house, so we were very fortunate.”
One thing that stuck out for Young’s family
was how one of the porch posts was damaged.
“All the appliances from the houses got
washed farther into the streets, and it got hit by a
refrigerator,” she explained.
Besides that, the house was in good shape and
was cleaned out quickly once the waters receded.
Stories of refrigerators becoming torpedoes
were common among the people recalling the aftermath
of the Storm of ’62 and, in some cases, they
even recalled other houses floating by that did
damage as they passed.
In the case of Jack Cooper and some National
Guardsmen, an icehouse turned out to actually be
a lifesaver. (see page 23)
Lois Dolby — a local real estate agent who
lived at the corner of present-day Kent Avenue and
Route 26, in a house that was just recently torn
down, some 50 years later — said, when they returned
to their house a fridge had come through
their driveway and stood upright in their yard. Before
they left on Wednesday, she said, they could sit
Storm of ’62 27

COURTESY DEE BENNETT
Ella and Myron Mezick using dust pans
to clean the floor of their Bethany Beach apartment.
The water line is visible on the wall behind them.
in front of a small alcove in their house and see
waves crashing.
“My husband said, ‘Here comes a boat.’”
That night, she recalled, the water and the
wind outside made the house sound like a vacuum
cleaner, and they left early the next morning.
When they left, the wind was blowing so hard
they could hardly walk, and water inside the house
was just above the baseboard heater, or about 10
inches high.
Dolby’s husband had been moving the car out
of the water’s reach in steps, farther and farther
down Kent Avenue, so when they were ready to
One house
across the
street had
water threequarters
of the
way up the
refrigerator,
and one house
had nothing.
Lois Dolby
leave, they walked down the street to get in it.
Amazingly, she said, it seemed to be a matter of
chance as to how much water a house got inside.
“One house across the street had water threequarters
of the way up the refrigerator, and one
house had nothing,” she recalled.
Donald Wilgus himself recalled going back
down to the beach after staying at his grandmother’s
house near Lord Baltimore School, taking
the back way down Jefferson Bridge Road — by
boat.
“I saw that someone had launched a boat over
the dual highway, so the water was that deep. It
was a motor boat, not a row boat,” he emphasized.
Upon returning to their home, the Dolbys
cleaned up the mud that was left inside their
house, and Lois Dolby was quick to point out that,
even though it was like nothing they had ever seen
before, there was an air of gratitude.
“It could’ve been a lot worse,” she said.
The Dolbys housed a National Guardsman for
about six weeks, and bulldozers had to be used to
push the accumulated sand back.
Young also recalled stories that said that some
Amish and Mennonites came down to help with
the cleanup, and Maryland newspapers reported
that prisoners came to help with the cleanup of
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Storm of ’62 29

COURTESY JACK COOPER
Bethany Fire Company
sand and debris.
Dee Bennett, who was 21 at the time and
whose parents had a house at Fifth Street and
Pennsylvania Avenue, remembers the water even
came through Dover. Once they got to the Vines
Creek area, the Bennetts couldn’t even get by, because
of water there, and they couldn’t get by Selbyville
or Lord Baltimore in Ocean View, either,
because “water was all the way up in the yard of
the school.”
She said it wasn’t until that Friday that they
could get to their house and, when they did, all
they could see was sand.
“Oh, what a mess we saw… You couldn’t see
any road. I would say it had to be about 2 or 3 feet
of sand in the road.”
According to a University of Delaware report
from the 40th anniversary of the storm in 2002,
sand deposits from the storm averaged 3 to 4 feet
in depth, and “some deposits were as high as 6
feet.”
Dolby remembers it looked like snow.
Bennett recalled helping to feed the National
Guardsmen at the Lord Baltimore School cafeteria
in the aftermath of the storm.
“A lot of them were local guys,” she said. “It
was really funny — after we fed them, we would sit
around and play cards.”
The University of Delaware reported that
1,932 homes sustained damage from tidal flooding
in Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island
combined, and “wave action” destroyed 28 of
29 oceanfront homes in Bethany Beach, “as well as
Bennett
recalled helping
to feed the
National
Guardsmen
at the Lord
Baltimore
School cafeteria
in the aftermath
of the
storm.
A lot of them
were local
guys. It was
really funny
— after we
fed them, we
would sit
around and play
cards.
Dee Bennett
30 Storm of ’62
every oceanfront home in South Bethany.” The
storm had wiped the towns’ beaches all but clean.
Damage estimates, according to the UD report
(in 1962 dollars) included $50 million for public
and private property damage, $20 million to repair
beaches and dunes and $20 million in personal
property damage.
The nearby Wallops Island NASA launch facility
sustained one million dollars in damage, and
Chincoteague and Assateague were underwater,
leaving hundreds of thousands of dead chickens to
rot after the water receded, adding another poststorm
reason to evacuate.
Dolby said she went to work at Hickman Real
Estate in 1969. They had a building with three
apartments in it that she managed. Even seven
years later, she said, in the lower apartment — the
one that had filled up with sand in the storm of
1962 — sand would still trickle out of its knottypine
walls.
David Wilgus — whose family owned the
bowling alley on the boardwalk — said that, even
though there is a famous picture of several of his
family members and insurance agents from Pennsylvania
on the site of the bowling alley post-storm,
because of the lack of flood insurance, the bowling
alley was a total loss.
But, in retrospect, it was not a loss without a
silver lining, as the real estate and insurance part of
the business started to grow after the storm, as did
real estate and the area in general in the following
decades.
“It took a while for things to level off,” said
Donald Wilgus. “A lot of people sold things they
probably wish they hadn’t now. Our family bought
an oceanfront lot in what is now South Bethany for
$11,000 after the storm.”
And, not unlike after the storms of today, once
the sand was put back and the waters receded, the
people of the area cleaned up, re-built where
needed and got ready for the summer season.
Tourists and summer people soon arrived, and it
was back to business as usual. n
Story by Monica Scott

The Storm of ’62:
What we learned and
how we prepare now
The Storm of 1962 was a devastating nor’easter that
caught the Mid-Atlantic completely by surprise. While
the late-summer hurricane season had often been a
weary one for the country’s eastern seaboard, the characteristics,
behavior and potential threats of nor’easters were not welldocumented
or well-tracked prior to the March storm of ’62.
Unfortunately for those living and owning property in the
area, Delaware and surrounding Mid-Atlantic states learned of
the potential perils of these storms the hard way. But as time
has gone on, we’ve learned to take new precautions, in terms of
protecting ourselves from similar devastation.
“Fifty years ago,” said Glen Gillespie, deputy director of
DEMA (the Delaware Emergency Management Agency), “there
were significant differences in terms of profiling the coastline
and the Atlantic regions. Over the years, with different storms
that have impacted the Delaware shores and federal declarations
coming in, we’ve established a protocol and rules with
FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and developed
a process of reimbursement to eliminate costs for damages
that occur on the coastline.”
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Storm of ’62 31

It is a common belief that hurricanes pack more
of a punch than nor’easters and, typically, for the
Caribbean, up through Florida and toward the Outer
Banks of North Carolina, that is the case. But, because
of Delaware’s geographical location, set as it is along
the Delaware Bay, nor’easters can be just as devastating,
often bringing heavy precipitation, severe flooding,
coastal erosion and hurricane-force winds.
“When you look at the two systems — hurricanes
and nor’easters — they behave almost identically,”
said Edward Durst, DEMA operations officer.
“Both can bring a lot of damage along the coast of
Delaware as they move toward New England. The
same type of planning goes into each one, because the
aftermath — the corrosion, erosion and coastal damage
— is almost exactly the same, so the same preparations
are required.”
Because of the vast season during which nor’easters
strike — anytime from October through April,
when moisture and cold air are abundant — they can
often be accompanied by blizzard conditions, depending
on the time of year.
In fact, the snowstorms that Delaware received
during the 2009-2010 winter season — as foot upon
foot of snow fell faster than roads could be cleared —
were attributed to multiple nor’easters merging together
off the coastline.
As cold, dry Arctic air moves down from the
north, it converges with the warm, moist air being
moved up along the Gulf Stream. Nor’easters can
originate from storm surges in the Gulf of Mexico, but
as Gillespie explained, others follow paths similar to
some of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history.
“The biggest thing that helps us prepare for these
kinds of storms nowadays is technology,” he said.
“What we have now, in terms of pinpointing storms
and accurately forecasting a path and landfall, is lightyears
ahead of what we had then. Today’s technology
is even a lot more advanced than what we used 10
years ago, and it’s constantly improving.
“In 1962, we didn’t have the satellite capabilities
that we’re accustomed to now,” he pointed out.
“Today, we are able to carefully monitor any potentially
threatening storm system, whether it’s originating
in the Caribbean or off the coast of Africa.”
In addition to satellite photography and footage,
reports from ships, planes, buoys and aerial drones
We always had the
storms. There were
always threats of
hurricanes. We just
didn’t dwell on
being afraid.
Wanda Powell
32 Storm of ’62
can all help track a weather pattern as it develops.
Prior to and throughout hurricane season — particularly
between early June through late November —
tropical and subtropical conditions off the coast of
Africa are carefully monitored.
“Once a storm starts to form and move across the
Atlantic,” said Gillespie, “DEMA and FEMA carefully
examine information provided by the National Hurricane
Center, in terms of its location, size, intensity
and, in particular, the potential direction of the storm.
As it travels across the ocean, it may take an eastern
turn, back into the Atlantic, where it will likely head
north and break apart, or it may be projected to make
landfall on the coast.”
During the nor’easter season, similar conditions
can yield storms that traverse the Atlantic Ocean,
though the majority of these storms originate as lowpressure
systems in the Gulf of Mexico or the
Caribbean Sea.
Once the storm moves up the coast and is intercepted
by the cooler air from the north, it can churn
off the coastline for days, and sometimes weeks, at a
time. And the greater the temperature difference between
the two air masses, the more severe the storm
can become.
In some cases, several smaller, weaker storms can
move up the Mid-Atlantic seaboard at one time before
they are met by the Arctic air. Such storms can converge,
forming a larger storm, bringing dangerous
surges to the coastline, torrential rain or snow and
devastating winds.
Such was the case with the so-called “Perfect
Storm” of 1991, which began as a nor’easter before it
absorbed Hurricane Grace and another low-pressure
system off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia,
becoming an even larger hurricane. The impact of the
storm and its effect on the commercial fishing vessel
Andrea Gail were chronicled in the book “The Perfect
Storm,” which was later adapted into a feature film.
As information on impending storms is analyzed
by the National Hurricane Center and organizations
such as FEMA and DEMA, smaller subsidiaries and
agencies are notified and addressed.
“Once we have the information that we need
concerning the storm’s progress,” said Gillespie, “we
are able to coordinate appropriate disciplines. We can
accurately forecast a storm’s intensity and its potential

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Storm of ’62 33

34 Storm of ’62

arrival, but that’s just part of it. After that, it’s our duty
to get this information out to first-responders and,
from there, they implement their appropriate emergency
plans.”
The Red Cross, emergency medical services, lawenforcement
agencies, fire departments and municipal
officials are among those contacted first by DEMA
in preparation for an impending storm. Emergency
evacuation routes are planned, homeowners are notified
and evacuation shelters are established.
The trickle-down effect is put into motion, once
information about the incoming storm is known.
“DEMA will get us amped up once they know
what’s ahead,” said R.C. Evans, fire chief of the Millville
Volunteer Fire Company. “If a storm is set to hit
on a Friday or Saturday, we’re usually starting our
preparation by the beginning of that week, with
weather updates to the public. By Wednesday, we’re
working with other local fire and police departments
to have all the personnel we need on hand.”
At the local level, volunteers at fire companies
have their own responsibilities.
“We have to take everything into consideration
when we prepare,” said Evans, “the wind, rain, flooding.
We find out how many of our volunteers are
available, and we assemble stand-by crews. Any of
our active volunteers can help, as long as their families
are taken care of. Once we have an idea of our
manpower, we ready ourselves.”
It made you aware
of how powerful
Mother Nature is
as far as wind
and water. I mean,
the ocean can be
like a lake one day
and the next day
it can be so strong,
nothing can stop it.
It does what
it wants.
Laura Hickman
Stations are stocked with water and food, and gas
tanks are topped off, in preparation for the worst. If
stations can provide water-rescue services, necessary
apparatus is retrieved before the storm hits. But even
in the worst of storms, there’s sometimes little that can
be done outside of waiting it out.
“When a large storm hits our coast,” said Evans,
“unfortunately, there’s little we can do in the early
parts of the storm. For the safety of our crew and regulations,
we can’t put ourselves at risk out there if
winds are sustained at 70 or 80 miles an hour out
there. But after it dies down, we assess our priorities
as calls come in.”
“In most cases,” Gillespie added, “time is of the
essence. When the skies are overcast, it’s raining and
the winds are picking up, that’s not the time to start
taking action. In order to eliminate the threat of loss
of life and property damage, it’s our responsibility to
notify local agencies days in advance.”
Although the coastline can be an appealing,
breathtaking location for year-round residents and
seasonal visitors, the meteorological risks cannot be
taken lightly.
“By putting these two pieces together — tracking
the weather pattern and coordinating and notifying
the different organizations — that’s where our success
is measured,” said Gillespie. “When you build towns
along a coastline, you are vulnerable to the conditions.
You have to take as much precaution as possible.
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Storm of ’62 35

“Roadways, bridges and other structures can be
replaced. People cannot,” he emphasized. “Our highest
concern is public safety. Our knowledge and
tracking of the forecast and working with the right
agencies to have the right preparations in plan —
those are the components that we need to have in
place.”
As far as DEMA’s role during impending storms,
representatives and coordinators work closely with organizations
including FEMA, the National Hurricane
Center and the National Weather Service, a branch of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA).
“Under a state of emergency,” said Gillespie, “the
state is [DEMA’s] primary organization. There are four
jurisdictions that we help notify: the three counties —
New Castle, Kent and Sussex — and the City of
Wilmington, and each has their own emergency management
center. These local management agencies
have similar technology to track the risks that come
our way.”
DEMA’s headquarters, located in Smyrna, is positioned
centrally in the state, to offer the most convenient
position to coordinate aid, if required.
“We help facilitate our state’s assets until they are
completely exhausted,” said Gillespie. “If needed, we
then turn to the federal government for assistance. We
aid local organizations as much as we can in their efforts
to respond to and recover from the storm.”
It was farmers,
take-care-of-yourself
kind of people,
take-care-of-yourneighbors.
I don’t
remember anybody
waking up the next
day and asking
[what the government
would do].
They were used to
taking care of
themselves.
Kenneth Evans
The Storm of ’62 had a lasting impact on the Atlantic
shore. In all, 40 lives were lost, seven in
Delaware. Structures were flooded. First stories of
homes and businesses were littered with debris and
filled with feet of sand. Roadways resembled rivers as
buildings, cars and boats were swept away by the
floodwaters. Winds, waves and record-high tides forever
altered the shape of the coastline, prompting legislators
to take action through the form of beach
replenishment and construction of protective dunes
along the shore, with a goal of preventing another disaster
of the 1962 storm’s magnitude.
The damage left in its wake was so powerful that
the U.S. Weather Bureau coined it “The Great Atlantic
Storm.” Others remembered it as “Five High Storm,”
after research indicated that it lingered off the Atlantic
Coast for the duration of five high tides. The most
damage came on Wednesday, March 7, on Ash
Wednesday, which earned it another name — “The
Ash Wednesday Storm of ’62.”
But however it’s recalled, there’s no doubt that
the Storm of 1962 will forever be remembered as one
of the most devastating natural disasters that the state
of Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic seaboard experienced
in the last century. But, as new innovations and
technology arise, the objective on everyone’s mind is
to avoid the same fate that the region saw 50 years
ago. n
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DNREC workshop to mark
50th anniversary of Storm of ’62
DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship
will sponsor a workshop on Wednesday,
March 7, commemorating the Storm of ’62
on the 50th anniversary of the event that wreaked
havoc along the state’s coast and rated as one of the
most destructive storms in Delaware’s recorded history.
“Delaware Coastal Vulnerability and Sustainability
— 1962 to 2062” will take place at the Rehoboth
Beach Convention Center, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Lectures pertaining to the storm and its aftermath —
including how it influences many of
today’s environmental
and economic
decisions —
will be presented
throughout the day,
and “The Storm of
’62 — Delaware’s
Shared Response,” a
55-minute film produced
by DNREC,
will be screened. Cosponsoring
the workshop
with DNREC are
the Delaware Sea Grant
Program and the City of Rehoboth Beach.
COURTESY SCOTT MUMFORD
Warren’s Station is pictured, top left corner,
among the devastation in Fenwick Island.
Lecture topics include coastal vulnerability,
coastal development and economy, meteorological
predictions (including sea-level rise), flooding and
inundation, and coastal sustainability entailing
beach management and flood-resistant development
practices, the latter presented by Tony Pratt, administrator
of DNREC’s Shoreline & Waterway Management
Section, and Michael Powell, also of the
section.
Exhibits featuring 1960s photographs and
memorabilia from the storm from coastal communities
and historical societies also will be on display
throughout the day. Hazard mitigation and
storm preparedness information will be available
from DEMA, FEMA and other preparedness and
response organizations.
All workshop activities are free, but seating
is limited and reservations are required. To register,
compete and submit the online registration
form at http://goo.gl/GZaxQ or contact
Michelle Scorziello at (302) 645‐4346. Attendees
are asked to provide their own lunch if
they plan to stay for the “Storm of ’62” film,
which will be shown at 2:30 p.m.
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67 years~
working for you.
The growth story of Wilgus Associates can be traced back to its
origins as a staff of one in a one-room insurance office
located on the boardwalk in the Bethany Beach Bowling Alley.
William F. Wilgus Jr., once a state senator, started the Wilgus
Insurance Agency in 1945. He worked as a bookkeeper for a poultry and
insurance firm doing business as Truitt & Steelman, located in Dagsboro.
Wilgus purchased the insurance portion of the business from Truitt
& Steelman for $1,000. This young insurance company prospered
and in 1956, Gerald W. Wilgus joined his father’s business.
Gerald Wilgus’ business career began in 1943 when, at the age of 7,
he began setting up pins in the family-owned and operated Bethany
Beach Bowling Alley, which was built by his grandfather, T.G. Walston,
in 1930. Gerald continued as the manager of the bowling alley until it
was destroyed during the storm in March of 1962.
To fill the void left by the bowling alley’s destruction, Gerald and his
older brother Donald expanded the family insurance business to include
real estate sales in 1965. Three years later, the business was
reorganized and became Wilgus Associates, Inc.
It was during the 1980s that Gerald’s three children each graduated
from the University of Delaware and joined the company to become the
third generation to work at the family business. Michael initially joined
the company as a clerk in the Summer Rental Department, advanced
on as a rental agent, sales agent and eventually, real estate broker.
David began his career at Wilgus in the Insurance Department as an
agent and progressed to become the company's insurance broker.
Melanie headed the Appraisal Division for a number of years.
January of 2002 brought about many corporate changes at Wilgus
Associates. Gerald officially retired from the business. Michael became
president while David continued as Wilgus’ secretary~treasurer.
Tim Hill, who had originally joined Wilgus Associates in 1985 as a
Rental Agent, took over the reigns of the young Property Management
Department in 1988. Under Tim’s guidance, Wilgus’ Property Management
Department is the area’s leader in Year Round Rentals, Property
Maintenance and virtually all levels of HOA services. In July, 2006, Tim
Hill became vice president of Wilgus Associates.
The first representative of the fourth generation in
the Wilgus family began at the family business in
June of 2006. Kylie Wilgus Givens, a graduate of
Goldey Beacom College, continues to work in
many areas of the company.
Without the dedicated staff and the loyal
customers over the past 67 years, Wilgus
Associates would not have prospered
and realized the success that is enjoyed
today.
Honesty, professionalism, and
integrity continue to be the basis on
which this company conducts business.
To each of you that has done business
with us, whether many years ago or just
last week, we thank you.
At left, a drawing of the bowling alley by Ann Wilgus.
Below, a young Gerald Wilgus working in the bowling alley
kitchen. Above, William F. Wilgus reviewing the storm’s
aftermath. At right, David and Michael Wilgus.
Bethany Beach • Lewes • Georgetown
302.539.7511 • 800.441.8118 • wilgusassociates.com
Real Estate Sales • Rentals
Property Management • Insurance