Letter
Thomas and Sandra Tokarski

We have sad news. Our friend and fellow litigant Cora "Betty" Young has died.  She died Tuesday, June 26th, a mere 17 days after she was forced out of her home by INDOT and the I-69 highway. We send our heart-felt condolences to her husband Ralph and all her family who have suffered this loss.

Betty was a long-time Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads member and stood with us during the legal fray and added her voice in letters and comments during the long I-69 study process.

"She was a courageous, kind and proud woman who did not want to leave the home that she helped build and lived in for 52 years."

She was a courageous, kind and proud woman who did not want to leave the home that she helped build and lived in for 52 years. She spoke often of her love for her land and the pleasure and pride she felt in having worked hard to pay for it and make it her home.

On her thirty acres she grew fruit trees and grape vines whose abundance she shared with her friends and neighbors. She took great satisfaction in ownership of the dense, majestic, forested areas of her land. She enjoyed fishing with her grandchildren, nieces and nephews in her spring-fed pond. She spoke of the wildlife she watched out of her kitchen window and of how she marveled at the greening of spring and the bright colors of autumn. Her home was the site of many family gatherings over the years.

All was taken by I-69. Pressured by INDOT, she finally had to leave. When I last spoke with her she was still hoping she could at least hold onto a little of the land. It was not to be so. My personal feeling is she simply did not want to live away from her home place.The cruelty of this destructive highway has no bounds.

Farewell, Betty. You did your best to do what is right, to the end,. No more can be asked of anyone. We will miss you.

Thomas and Sandra