Ron Thompson (right) embraces his wife, Gail Thompson, as she reaches out to touch a replica of their mailbox, part of a new sculpture, during the Oso slide remembrance ceremony on Friday near Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Ron Thompson (right) embraces his wife, Gail Thompson, as she reaches out to touch a replica of their mailbox, part of a new sculpture, during the Oso slide remembrance ceremony on Friday near Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Memorial restores a piece of home 5 years after Oso slide

A Friday ceremony honored those who died and unveiled plans for a 4-acre park at the disaster site.

OSO — Gail and Ron Thompson each held onto the ivory canvas as it fluttered in the wind.

Together, they pulled the sheet back to reveal a bronze sculpture of the mailboxes that were there five years ago, at the entrance to the Steelhead Haven neighborhood near Oso.

The crowd cheered as Gail Thompson walked down the line, touching her fingers to her lips and then brushing each one. She and her husband embraced, their former address on Steelhead Drive printed on the back of his shirt.

Their home was once to the left of the mailboxes. Now, in its place are brown, brush-covered dunes.

Families whose loved ones died, along with survivors and first responders, gather each year to remember the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014.

Amanda Suddarth used to live in the neighborhood there. She and her son, Duke, were seriously injured.

She cried as she shared memories of those who were killed.

“To me, the mailboxes were a sign that I was home,” she said. “The slide took away any resemblance of home for all of us, so knowing we have our mailboxes back is comforting. Knowing there is something to show people that we were here. To remind us in this unrecognizable landscape that we all have memories here.”

Gail Thompson hadn’t seen the bronze sculpture before the unveiling.

“It took my breath away,” she said.

The originals were a bit more beat-up, but otherwise looked the same, she said.

She recalled times she would run into neighbors while they were getting the mail. They would make plans to meet around backyard fire pits during the weekend.

Under the mailboxes, on the right side, a wooden sign used to read “Steelhead Drive.”

Diane MaKaeli (left) embraces Brian McMahan during a mudslide remembrance ceremony on Friday near Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Diane MaKaeli (left) embraces Brian McMahan during a mudslide remembrance ceremony on Friday near Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

The day after the slide, Dayn Brunner and his sons were in the mud, searching as part of the recovery effort. He found part of the placard about a quarter-mile from where it’d been.

“All three of us just started bawling,” he said.

A year later, he and his son Riley Brunner, who was then in high school, placed the fragment in a cabinet they had built. It’s now displayed at the Darrington fire hall.

Dayn Brunner lost his sister, Summer Raffo, in the slide. She was driving on Highway 530 at the time.

Friday’s gathering was a milestone, Brunner said. It marked five years since the disaster, and also the start to a permanent memorial. He and others have been working on the plans for almost two years. The mailboxes are just one element of a proposed 4-acre park.

Part of Highway 530 also has a new name. Signs for the Oso Slide Memorial Highway were unveiled at mile posts 22 and 45, between Arlington and Darrington. For Gail Thompson, it symbolizes how the two towns came together for Oso and the valley between them.

People view the 2014 mudslide site after a remembrance ceremony on Friday near Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

People view the 2014 mudslide site after a remembrance ceremony on Friday near Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

A year after the slide, 43 trees were planted to represent each of those who died. They’ve grown from knee-high seedlings to nearly 7 feet tall.

Chaplain Joel Johnson’s daughter was born about a week before the disaster. She just turned 5, and it reminded him that there’s life and hope in the midst of grief.

Amid the somber tone Friday, plans for the memorial park brought an undercurrent of celebration.

In 2018, the Snohomish County parks department took charge of construction and has drafted conceptual plans. Within the park, a path will meander through remembrances of each of those who died, recognition of the responders and information about what happened. The path ends at a pond that overlooks the scarp.

The memorial is expected to cost about $6 million and includes a maintenance endowment.

People bow their heads while chaplain Joel Johnson (right) leads the group in prayer during the Oso slide remembrance ceremony on Friday in Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

People bow their heads while chaplain Joel Johnson (right) leads the group in prayer during the Oso slide remembrance ceremony on Friday in Oso. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

On Friday morning, at least 100 people spilled out from under green-and-white striped canopies. Past ceremonies had drawn smaller crowds. Some wondered aloud: Maybe that’s because they hadn’t been ready until now.

The group held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m., five years to the minute from when the hill fell. A chorus of frogs chirped their greetings to spring in the background. A young girl called to her father.

Brunner took the microphone and thanked groups of people for their support, repeating the word “family” six times.

“Do you see a common thread? It’s family,” he said. “We are all family now.”

Julia-Grace Sanders: 425-339-3439; jgsanders@heraldnet.com.

Listen to a KNKX interview with Herald reporters Noah Haglund and Rikki King describing what it was like to cover the Oso mudslide.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest Senior Associate ESL Instructor James Wilcox, right, works on speaking and writing with Anfal Zaroug, 32, who is accompanied by her daughter Celia Hassen, 6 months, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
What will Trump’s immigration policy mean for Snohomish County?

The president-elect has vowed to ramp up deportations and limit legal immigration.

Water cascades down the Lower Falls near the Woody Trail at Wallace Falls State Park near Gold Bar on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. A nearly six mile round-trip to the park's Upper Falls offers hikers an array of vistas on a well maintained trail.
Wallace Falls closed due to bomb cyclone damage

Over 170 trees fell in last month’s storm. The park near Gold Bar is closed until further notice.

Neepaporn “A” Boungjaktha (Snohomish County)
Snohomish County executive director takes new gig with Port of Seattle

Neepaporn “A” Boungjaktha joined the county in 2022. Her last day will be Jan. 2.

People walk into the Everett Library off of Hoyt Avenue on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How will new Everett library hours affect its programs?

This month, the two branches scaled back their hours in light of budget cuts stemming from a city deficit.

The Evergreen Branch of the Everett Public Library is open and ready for blast off. Dillon Works, of Mukilteo, designed this eye-catching sculpture that greets people along Evergreen Way.   (Dan Bates / The Herald)
Snohomish County awards money to improve warming, cooling centers

The money for HVAC improvements will allow facilities to better serve as temporary shelters for weather-related events.

Marysville
Marysville to hold post-holiday ‘tree-cycling’ event

You can dispose of your tree and holiday packaging Jan. 4.

Marysville
Marysville school board will not vote on closures Monday

A special meeting was tentatively planned to decide on which schools to close in a cost-saving effort.

Edmonds Police Chief Michelle Bennett outside of the Police Department on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘It’s the right time’: Edmonds police chief talks retirement, budget woes

Michelle Bennett will retire early next year in a time of uncertainty for the department.

Lynnwood City Council Vice President Julieta Crosby speaks during a Lynnwood City Council meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood council VP paid Binda recall leader for campaign help

Julieta Altamirano-Crosby paid $37,000 to Diodato Boucsieguez during her run for a PUD board seat.

Marysville
Motorcyclist killed in Marysville crash identified

Callan Waldal was ejected from his motorcycle after a crash with a car on Dec. 6, police said.

Snohomish County Council listens to George Skiles talk about his findings in an audit of the Snohomish County Executive Office on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Somers lets Snohomish County budget go through without his signature

The county executive on Friday declined to sign the two-year, $3.22 billion budget passed last month.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Mukilteo in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Shelter in place lifted after Mukilteo ammonia leak

Multiple fire departments were on scene of the leak at Pacific Seafood on Friday morning.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.