Monday, March 01, 1999

Victim: If anything happens, don't cry

---

Death is topic hours before crash kills 3

BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tammy Shannon

Rodney Shannon

Christopher Shannon

        Tammy Shannon wanted stories, not tears, if she were to die. Happy stories.

        Mrs. Shannon sat up until 2 a.m. Friday talking with her Bible-study partner and best friend, Tina Harman, about their kids, the Lord, life, death and the time in between.

        “If anything ever happens to me,” the 31-year-old Mrs. Shannon told her neighbor through tears, “tell stories at the wake. Don't cry.”

        Tammy, Mrs. Harman recalled Sunday, wanted to make sure she was on the right path with God. Later Friday, shortly before 8 p.m. on a winding road near New Richmond, Mrs. Shannon was in the wrong path of a suspected drunken driver with four previous DUI convictions.

        Mrs. Shannon, her husband, Rodney, 32, and their middle son, Christopher, 11, all were killed in a head-on crash on Ohio 132 about a mile from their home. The Shannons have two other children who are staying with relatives.

Charles A. Gumbert

        The suspect, Charles Gumbert, 38, of New Richmond, faces arraignment today in Clermont County Municipal Court, charged with aggravated vehicular homicide.

        “She told me, "Don't cry,'” Mrs. Harman said of that fateful conversation. “She was reaching a maturity level. They were good, decent people.”

       

        Mrs. Harman's voice wavered as she lifted a Winston cigarette and lit it, setting the pack on a table, atop a copy of Coping With Death, a book her daughter checked out of the library before Friday's tragedy.

        News coverage of the triple fatality has focused on the suspect, Mr. Gumbert, whose driver's license had been suspended five times, most recently last year. Police say additional charges are expected at today's arraignment. He is being held at Clermont County Jail after treatment for minor injuries at Clermont Mercy Hospital.

        This story isn't about the deaths of the victims; it's about their lives.

        Rodney and Tammy Shannon overcame continuing struggles with poverty and the Flood of 1997, which forced them from their New Richmond home, friends recalled. The Shannons, Clermont natives who met in high school, eventually settled in the Hilltop Estates mobile home park, just north of New Richmond.

        There, they met Jim and Tina Harman, who shared with the Shannons a deep religious belief. They studied together at the Church of God, though the Shannons were raised Catholic. Rodney, a mechanic at Beechmont Towing in Pierce Township, helped Jim with his car, often doing the work himself — for free — because it was quicker than trying to explain how to fix it.

        “If you showed up at their door hungry, they'd give ya the food off their table,” Jim Harman said Sunday.

        Rodney often worked two jobs. Tammy, once a waitress at LaRosa's in New Richmond, was the eternal optimist, occasionally teased for her “rose-colored” glasses, friends said Sunday. Christopher loved football.

        Earlier last week, Mrs. Shannon was reduced to tears as she and Mrs. Harman watched the movie City of Angels, about an angel who becomes fascinated by life in the course of bringing people peacefully into death. It struck a chord with Tammy.

        And it resonated in others. The Shannons' next-door neighbor, Julie Hodapp, on Sunday pointed to a shelf in her living room, to an 18-inch statue of the Virgin Mary.

        “She gave that to me Wednesday because the boys roughhoused and she wanted it safe,” said Ms. Hodapp, herself a Catholic. “Her mother gave that to her. ... I just never thought she'd die.”

        Friday night, the family had a plan, and as usual, it involved helping others.

        A little after 7:30 p.m., Rodney and Tammy and Chris got into their pickup and headed south on 132, toward the Rivertown market on U.S. 52. There they planned to buy groceries for Rodney's mother, Norma Shannon of Amelia. Chris would help with the groceries, then stay with his grandmother while Rodney and Tammy went to visit his nephew in St. Bernard.

        Several months ago, the nephew was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, and Shannon wanted to offer their support.

        They never got there.

        Three flower-graced crosses put up by friends at the site of the crash glistened under a steady rain Sunday afternoon.

        Each white cross has a name on the front of it.

        Each name has a story behind it.

       

---

Bad guy puts cops on the spot
A bicentennial honor for 'Little Gib'
State scouts bicentennial barns
Slain girl's gifts continue 5 years after death
E-check to be a bit kinder on cars today
March brings a weather roller coaster
Westons' gift makes new CAC a reality
Cincinnati's Century of Change
Victim: If anything happens, don't cry
Bureaucracy delays WWII medal
In yoga's embrace
Warren Co. church lost to fire, but congregation didn't lose God
Remember to watch 'Any Day Now'
'A Mighty Spirit' fills theater with joy
Argument leaves 1 man shot
Curriculum review under way
Defendant calls off mail fraud plea deal
Lottery hopes daytime drawings will spark interest
Police chief job won't be filled soon
Ross going to 4-period school days
Students help break ground
TRISTATE DIGEST
Warren has annexation forum
Woodlawn recruits residents for crime watch