MOORE, Okla. – Ten children lost their lives May 20 in the tornado that pummeled Moore.
Seven of them died while taking shelter in their elementary school, Plaza Towers Elementary.
Kyle Davis, 8, was one of the young victims.
His family remembers an athletic boy, who was afraid of the dark, who protected his sister and young cousins, who loved to help his grandmother cook, who adored his extended family.
They affectionately called him “Hammy” and “Ham bone.”
Davis was Marvin and Sharon Dixon’s first grandchild.
They thought he’d be safe at his school when the tornado struck.
He died in the gym at Plaza Towers Elementary with six other students in his class.
“Oh we miss him, God,” Sharon Dixon said. “I’m gonna miss him a whole lot. I already do.”
Kyle and his sister Kaylee, 11, lived with their mom, Mikki, and her parents, Marvin and Sharon Dixon and his great-grandparents in a home not far from Plaza Towers.
“They (the grandchildren) are so important in our life,” Marvin Dixon said. “He still is important in our life. He’ll never be gone from our life. I love him with all of my heart.”
Kyle was a soccer star.
His grandparents clutched his soccer ball as they talked with us.
They wear t-shirts honoring his jersey number.
Him mom has stories too, and memories; but she’s not ready to share.
There is a cross that bears Kyle Davis’ name in the front yard at Plaza Towers.
Crews started to demolish the school Thursday morning.
Monday May 20, Kyle Davis’ family was actually searching for two children inside Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Kaylee and Kyle were both taking shelter in their school.
Kaylee was with her class in an interior bathroom; she was uninjured.
The family raced to Plaza Towers as soon as they heard it had been hit.
They found Kaylee right away.
“If the teachers hadn’t moved her to the bathrooms we might have lost her, too,” Sharon Dixon said.
The family didn’t get word until the next morning that Kyle was killed by falling debris.
They said they had hoped in those overnight hours he was missing or injured, being cared for at a nearby hospital.
The coroner confirmed Kyle was killed when a piece of a firewall collapsed on his neck.
He did not suffer.
“We’re blessed he didn’t suffer,” Sharon Dixon said. “I’m glad he wasn’t wondering ‘Where’s Mama, Paw Paw, Grandma, or Uncle Terrill?’ He was afraid of the dark. I’m glad he wasn’t wondering that.”
The family cherishes memories of an active young man who adored sports.
They cling to pictures of Kyle at an OU football game; the highlight of his life, according to Marvin Dixon.
Dixon had promised Kyle they would attend an OKC Thunder game next season.
He will never have the chance to take his grandson to a game.
Marvin Dixon fights tears as he remembers taking Kyle and Kaylee to school that dreadful Monday morning.
He will never forget their last good-bye.
“I said, ‘I love you, Bubba. I love you ham bone.’ He said, ‘I love you too, Paw Paw.’ That’s the last words he said to me, ‘I love you too, Paw Paw.’ And I’ll never hear those words out of his mouth again but they will ring in my ears the rest of my life. I know that,” Marvin Dixon said. “Hey, he’s playing a big soccer game in the sky. He’s good.”
If you would like to donate to Kyle Davis’ family, they have set up an account at Bank of Oklahoma.
You can give to the “Kyle Davis Special Contribution Account” at any BOK location.
