The 1944 Shinnston tornado took two minutes to kill 72 people and destroy 50 Pleasant Hill homes on June 23. That was 72 years ago. It still is the worst tornado toll in West Virginia history.

Other towns visited by the tornado were Flemington, Meadowsville, Montrose and Thomas in West Virginia, Oakland in Maryland and Chartiers, McKeesport and Smithfield in Pennsylvania.

103 West Virginians lost their lives, 3 in Marion County, and 404 homes were destroyed. Y.C. Holsberry lost 17 buildings, including his general store in Shinnston.

Another 45 died in Pennsylvania and 3 in Maryland.

The series of tornadoes killed 153, injured more than 800 others and destroyed 400 homes. Miraculously, the Shinn house survived the tornado, mostly untouched and still standing in the aftermath. It was among 10 that weren’t leveled on Pleasant Hill.

West Virginia has had only 127 confirmed tornado touchdowns since 1950. Neighboring Ohio has seen 1,008 in the same period. Conditions are usually not conducive to tornadoes in West Virginia – the mountains, lack of a direct shot of Gulf of Mexico humidity, etc.

The Shinnston dead included Tony Oliverio and his wife and their daughter, Rose. The injured included Mrs. John Marra and her infant.

Dawn Holleman Mastrodonato, who was a 3½-month-old, survived when the tornado ripped through her West Side home. Today she lives in The Villages, Florida with her husband, Ron Mastrodonato when they aren't in Mentor, Ohio.

All of Dawn’s family survived the tornado. They lived on the West side, but could see over to Pleasant hill.

Dawn and Ron have 3 children and 4 grandchildren.

Daughter Kristine lives in Las Vegas where she is an executive producer of the NBC station;  son Mike and wife Susan have a son Jacob and daughter Megan and live in Mentor where Mike owns his own company, Lasko and Ohio Irrigation and Outdoor Lighting and Landscaping; and daughter Elisa and husband Richard have a daughter Lauren and son Richard and live in Chesterland, a few miles from Mentor, with Lauren an RN with the Cleveland Clinic. 

To read the 2014 Monongah High Alumni blog article about the 1944 Shinnston tornado, click on http://jo4wvu.blogspot.com/search?q=Shudders+70+years+later%3A+