Dexter Adams III, held by a family friend in the Adams' Paddock Hills home, lost his father in the crash. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer

In cities like Detroit and small towns like McComb, Miss., Friday, families began coping with grief.

Kitchens filled with casseroles. Living rooms filled with friends. Horror turned to numbness as the cost of Thursday's crash of Comair Flight 3272 came into focus: A Fort Thomas family that lost its only child, a flight attendant. A baseball team in Helena, Mont., that lost its coach. A Spanish class in Englewood, Colo., that lost its teacher.

In Golf Manor, Minnie Holt baked bread too long and shivered until she realized she turned the air conditioning on instead of the heat.

D. Adams

''I'm all turned around today,'' said the 67-year-old friend of Dexter Curtis ''D.C.'' Adams, of Paddock Hills, one of 29 people killed Thursday when a commuter plane plunged into a snow-covered Michigan field.

A few miles away, in Mr. Adams' Paddock Hills home, music from a children's TV show filled the background as consoled their children - one old enough to miss her daddy, the other too young to ever remember him.

A.Sharangpani

A steady stream of community activists and big-name entrepreneurs stopped by Roy and Verna Marie Raymond's car dealership in Twin Falls, Idaho, to remember a couple described as generous.

Candles and flowers piled outside Arati Sharangpani's dorm room at the University of Michigan, as friends of the vivacious 21-year-old senior grieved.

Theater lovers and academics throughout the East and Midwest spent Friday remembering a woman known for her passion for tragic plays and African-American theater. Betty Jean Jones had acted and taught in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan and was returning from a convention.

G. Douchard

At the southern Mississippi home of crash victim Greg Douchard, a cattle farmer and union representative for Delphi Packard Electric, his aunt Edwina Allen answered the phone in a low voice. But with a house full of friends and family, it quickly rose to a normal level.

''There's no one thing you can point to,'' she said, trying in vain to describe the things that made Mr. Douchard special. ''He was a great family man. That was the most important thing.''

It was the same at the nearby home of victim Charles Jones, who was on business with Mr. Douchard. ''He left at 9 yesterday morning,'' said Angia, his wife and mother of his three kids, ages 18, 14 and 11. ''The everyday things. I said 'I love you' and he said the same. The boys were off to school. It was just a typical morning.''

C. Brownlee

In Jefferson City, Mont., a mining company manager studied Christine Brownlee's desk for the first time. He noticed the crayoned drawings she'd posted next to school pictures of her two boys - boys who lost both parents and wanted to celebrate their dad's 35th birthday on Monday.

For many of those left behind, tragedy came in one all-consuming blow. For others, it gave life a bit of a deeper meaning.

On his answering machine in Bloomfield Hills outside Detroit, a Geoffrey Davis who had been mistaken for one of the crash victims left callers a new recording:

''Hi, this is Geoff Davis. It is Friday morning Jan. 10 and I am not the Geoffrey Davis who died in the plane crash in Ida,'' he said, his voice mixed with exhilaration and the exhaustion of a frequently interrupted night's sleep. ''I'm alive, and I appreciate the call, but I've had quite a few. Thank you. BEEP.''

Kym Liebler, Dana DiFilippo, Tom O'Neill and Kathleen Hillenmeyer contributed to this story.

CRASH
CREW
MINISTER
SCENE
INVESTIGATION
TRAVELERS
COPING
INVESTORS
TODAY'S SUMMARY

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FIRST-DAY COVERAGE Jan. 10, 1997

Victims

First Officer
Kenneth Reece

Flight Attendant
Darinda Ogden

PASSENGERS
Adams, Dexter
Cincinnati

Barrow, Gregory
Detroit

Bransford, Roger
Atlanta

Brice, Arthur
Brookhaven, Miss.

Brownlee, Christine
Helena, Mont.

Brownlee, Scott
Helena, Mont.

Davis, Geoffrey
Detroit.

DeMarco, Maureen
Englewood, Colo.

Douchard, Greg
Brookhaven, Miss.

Felteau, Leo
Atlanta

Herman, Mark
Detroit

Jones, Betty Jean
Detroit

Jones, Charles
McComb, Miss.

McClain, Steven
Detroit

Muskovitz, Teri
Detroit

Passariello, Kim
Detroit

Raymond, Roy
Twin Falls, Id.

Raymond, Vernamarie
Twin Falls, Id.

Rosiak, Jennifer
Pensacola, Fla.

Rosiak, Nicholas
Pensacola, Fla.

Sharangpani, Arati
Colts Neck, N.J.

Stearn, Richard
Detroit

Takenami, Keita
Lexington, Ky.

Thomas, Douglas
Detroit.

Wansedel, Charles
Detroit

Zagar, Darlene
Danville, Ky.