Remembering Marshall Lynn Grimes and Sheila Creech, victims of 2019 Beauregard tornado
They were each other’s ex-spouse — and they were engaged again. After divorcing and getting back together, Marshall “Lynn” Grimes and Sheila Creech died together.
On March 3, 2019, they were two of the 23 victims of the tornado that devastated the town of Beauregard in Lee County, Alabama.
A year later, one of Lynn’s sons put the loss in perspective.
“They seemed to love each other, and that’s all that mattered to me,” Christopher Grimes of Clinton, South Carolina, told the Ledger-Enquirer in a Facebook message. “She was kind to my family, and my father was a great man who cast no judgment on anyone and could get along with anyone.”
Both were 59.
The L-E didn’t reach any of Sheila’s relatives for this story. Her obituary states she was born in LaGrange.
According to a March 5, 2019, article in the Montgomery Advertiser, she was a survivor of Hurricane Michael in Panama City.
One of Sheila’s granddaughters, Desteni Clifton, told the Advertiser, “My grandma has helped me out a lot, and we were very close. I always told everyone that she would live forever because she’s a strong woman.”
Sheila reconnected with Marshall through Facebook, Clifton said, and they had planned to remarry in January.
“We were just looking at wedding invitations the other day,” she told the newspaper. “I had just seen her. She was planning on moving up here by the fall.”
Christopher described his father as caring.
“He loved his family whole heartedly,” Christopher said. “He was the best man I know. … He was my counselor, my hero and my father.”
Marshall and Sheila enjoyed riding motorcycles together. He was president of the local Christian Motorcyclists Association chapter.
“When he wasn’t riding his motorcycle, he was spreading the word of God from his bike,” Brooke Waldrop told the L-E last March.
