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TOP STORY OF THE DAY, brought to you free by WICU: Brazil veteran thankful for roof project efforts
Like pretty much everyone, the year 2020 was not a good one for Brazil resident Terry Batchelor.
He had gall bladder surgery, then a week later he suffered a stroke. Along the way, the roof of his home on North Meridian Street developed some holes that allowed rainwater to leak down into the house.
An array of plastic totes and buckets helped to keep the water from the floor, but made for a less-than-desirable living environment.
Then, the Mary T. Klinker Veterans Center of Lafayette came to the rescue.
The center raised money for the materials to put a roof on the home of Batchelor, one of eight siblings in his family to serve his country in the military.
Honest Abe Roofing of Terre Haute donated the labor, while Wallace Brothers of Clay County provided a dumpster for waste removal. Brazil American Legion Post 2, A&M Real Estate of Brazil and Builders First Source of Terre Builders also donated to the project — as well as individuals both local and from as far away as Georgia.
Honest Abe worked with the Klinker facility — which also donated money for the project — to purchase materials at cost.
Construction started Monday on a cold, windy morning and was expected to take two days.
With the season’s lowest temperatures coming up this weekend, the timing was perfect.
Batchelor is still in awe of the response to the project from so many people he doesn’t even know.
“It’s hard to believe that so many people came together to do this,” Batchelor said in his kitchen on Monday morning. “I’m just so happy to get it done. There is a lot of bad in the world, so it’s good to see something good happen.”
Batchelor, whose family members initiated the project with the Klinker center, served for 18 months in the warehouse department at Fort Campbell, Ky.
“I was supposed to go to Germany, but my wife got sick and I had to stay here,” he said. “Mainly we shipped out parts to the guys overseas.”
Jeremy Nees of Honest Abe Roofing said his company was glad to help.
“We appreciate another organization coming in to help, and we want to make sure no veterans are left behind,” Nees said. “You have to stand behind your fellow man. Any time we get an opportunity to do something like this, we are glad to do it. It’s not about us.
“It’s about helping someone else.”
Nees acknowledged the roof was in bad shape, and needed a total replacement with four layers of roofing shingles and the original cedar shakes having decayed over the years.
“With everything, we’re looking at close to 2,500 feet of roof,” he said. “The exact value of the roof replacement is hard to calculate, but it would have been thousands of dollars.”
Nees noted the timing of the project fit his team’s schedule well, with winter not being the peak of the roofing season.
“We’re not trying to get 15 roofs done per week right now,” he said.
Nees pointed out how he could see through the roof to the trees on the opposite side of Meridian Street.
With the extent of the replacement, he hoped to be able to complete the project in two days.
“We have a lot of people here, so it’s going pretty fast,” he said. “I’m just glad it’s not raining or snowing like [Sunday]. We got lucky with the weather [Monday].”
Christina Howard of the Klinker center was thrilled with the response of the community, and was glad her organization could help.
“The cost of lumber has gone up 300 percent in the past year, so we had to raise more money than we thought when we started,” she said. “Randy Kaelber [Clay County Veterans Service Officer] has also been very helpful in getting this project to happen. He went to speak at the American Legion to encourage them to donate.
“Thanks to the help from Honest Abe in getting the lumber at reduced costs, we will be able to come in under budget.”
Once the roof is completed, Batchelor still has some work to do. He plans to do some work on water damage in his laundry room, caused by the leaky roof.
Actually, the money raised for the project exceeded the anticipated cost once the discount materials were available — so Batchelor will receive that money in a gift card to help with the other repairs.
“I’m just so thankful to everyone, and I greatly appreciate it,” Batchelor said.
Mary T. Klinker
Captain Mary T. Klinker of Lafayette was 27 years old when she died. She was the last nurse and the only member of the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps to be killed in Vietnam in a transport crash flight.