Friends Remember Man Killed By Tornado
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Friends and family of Floyd Whitfield were very emotional Monday night.
Whitfield wasn't far from his north Minneapolis home when a tree fell on his vehicle Sunday afternoon, striking and killing the 59-year-old father and grandfather.
Monday night, WCCO-TV's John Lauritsen caught up with the 10-year-old passenger who was in Whitfield's vehicle when the tree came crashing down.
The last thing Jeremiah Anderson remembers from his ride home with Floyd Whitfield is what ultimately led to Whitfield's death.
Every Sunday, Whitfield would give Anderson and his brother a ride to church and back home. Anderson's brother had already been dropped off, and Jeremiah was just a couple blocks away from his house when high winds caused a tree to fall in Whitfield's van.
The force of the tree killed Whitfield instantly and cut Jeremiah's right hand.
"I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think it could happen that fast. It happened so fast that I couldn't believe it," said Josie Washington, Jeremiah's mother.
Whitfield was studying to become a deacon at New Resurrection Missionary Baptist Church. Friends said he was a kind and spiritual man.
"That was my heart. That was my lovely," said Leverne Dorsey, Whitfield's roommate.
Dorsey lived with Whitfield and said the two planned to get married after he completed his religious studies.
"I can tell you one thing. I know he's on his way to heaven because he died doing the Lord's work," Dorsey said. "He was a very good person and I am going to miss him dearly. I really am."
Jeremiah's mother, Josie, said Floyd would was at her son's birthday party just last week. Jeremiah had surgery on his hand North Memorial and will be released on Tuesday, ready to do what 10-year-olds do.
"Play basketball, play football and play games," Jeremiah said.
"God was with him, he just left church. He just left church. God was with my baby, it could have been him, you know?" said Washington.
