Blachly Family Memorial Cache Traditional Cache
Blachly Family Memorial Cache
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Blachly Family Memorial Cache
We placed this cache in honor of the 4 members of the Blachly Family buried nearby. They were killed in an explosion on November 12, 1970 while driving on Rt 91 past the Hudson Fuel Gas Corp. in their Volkswagen beetle.
I had Mr. Blachly for science class as a junior at Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1964. He was a good teacher and a very nice and likeable guy. I was extremely sad to have learned about the death of he and his family in 1970. It has stuck with me ever since.
This is a brief history of what happened.
Robert Lee Blachly, 31, Cuyahoga Falls High School Science teacher, Bonnie Pauline Blachly, 30, and their two children Audra Lee, 3 years, and Paula Rae, 1 year, were driving on Rt 91, Thursday November 12, 1970. Bonnie and the girls were dropping Robert off at school and going to visit family.
A witness at a neighborhood furniture store said “there was a hissing noise at the plant, and that a fog was enveloping the whole area. When Blachly’s Volkswagen drove in, the whole fog ignited.” Hudson firemen said the explosion was touched off by a spark, possibly from their vehicle as they were driving through the ‘gas’ cloud.
Bonnie and the two children, Audra Lee and Paula Rae, were killed immediately and Robert died the following day. Police said they believed propane gas leaked from a broken line on a truck that had just been filled with gas.
After the explosion, Robert was found sitting nearby on some batteries, bent over with no clothes on and not saying anything.
O.C. Williams, 46, Service Manager of Fuelgas was also killed during the explosion and his son, Donald Williams, 24, died from burns 3 days later in a local hospital.
Together in death, as they were in life, Bonnie and the two children left this world for the life beyond on the twelfth of November, 1970 and Robert joined them on the thirteenth.
[I recently (1/8/13) learned from a family member that the reason they were all going out on a Thursday - Bonnie and the girls were supposed to leave on Friday morning - but it would be Friday the 13th. Bonnie was very superstitious, so they left on Thursday morning the 12th. What a twist of fate - Can the story get any sadder ?]
This was a horrible accident that took the lives of a young family and two others. Say a prayer for them, I remember I did then…..and still do.
If you wish to visit the graves they are about 64 feet northwest of the cache…. N41 15.026 W81 26.599
More information regarding the obituaries can be obtained at: Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, Ohio, dated, November 13, 1970 or by Googling 'Robert Blachly family killed in explosion'. An obituary and several articles in local newspapers are listed.
In Memory of The Blachly Family......Robert Lee and Bonnie Pauline Eshleman Blachly and their two children, Audre Lee and Paula Rae.
(Please remember - this is a cemetery, be respectful and cache during posted hours only.)
Congrats to the Dashers for the FTF !!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vs gur jvaq vf oybjvat - YVFGRA !!!