wfn.org | Florida couple loses four grandchildren in Turkey earthquake

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 23, 1999  News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally**(615)742-5470**Nashville, Tenn.    10-71B{435}

By Andy Ellis*

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (UMNS) -- For members of Trinity United Methodist
Church  here, the earthquake that rocked Turkey hit close to home. 

Champee and Bill Kemp, members of the congregation and residents of nearby
Shalimar, Fla., learned during the early morning hours of Aug. 18 that the
quake had claimed the lives of four of their grandchildren and had injured
their daughter, Jan Kilic. A fifth grandchild, three-year-old Natalie,
escaped with only scrapes and bruises.
 
The two boys, ages two and six, and two girls, ages nine months and five,
were found in a collapsed building in Yalova, Turkey. The family was staying
in a condominium in the resort town, which is located only about 10 miles
from Izmit, the earthquake's epicenter. 

Numerous people in Northwest Turkey remain buried while the death toll
continues to climb.  Some officials estimate the number of deaths may
surpass 40,000. Along with human suffering, damage to buildings,
infrastructure and industry is extensive

Babur Kilic, Jan's husband who is a doctor, was at the family's home in
Atlanta when the quake occurred. According to the Rev. Paul Wolfe, senior
minister at Trinity Church, he left immediately for Turkey to be reunited
with his wife and their surviving child. 

The quake also claimed the life of Babur's father, Nizam Kilic, and left his
mother, Turkan Kilic, in critical condition after being buried beneath
rubble of a five-story building for nearly 16 hours.  She suffered an
apparent stroke which has left her partially paralyzed and on a ventilator.

Babur Kilic's parents came to the United States nearly 40 years ago where
his father became a well-known and widely-respected physician in Birmingham,
Ala.  

According to Wolfe, the Kemps are presently at their daughter's home in
Atlanta and appear to be holding up well under the tragedy. "They are really
concerned about getting the bodies back to Atlanta for burial as soon as
possible, as well as getting their daughter either back to the United States
or to Europe where she can be assured better medical care," Wolfe said.
"This is quite an ordeal and we all are keeping the family in our thoughts
and prayers."

Champee Kemp, a retired school teacher in Okaloosa County, Fla., told the
Northwest Florida Daily News, "We just thank everybody for their prayers,
because friends are very important."

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is responding to the Turkey
earthquake through Action by Churches Together (ACT) and has sent an initial
emergency grant of  $10,000 to assist in beginning recovery efforts.

UMCOR is collecting donations for earthquake relief in Turkey through its
International Disaster Response No. 982450-8.  Cash donations, designated
"Turkey Earthquake," may be made by depositing appropriately marked checks
in local church collections or by mail to UMCOR, Room 330, 475 Riverside
Drive, New York, NY 10115. Credit card donations may be made by calling
(800) 554-8583. As with other donations to UMCOR, 100 percent of the
contribution goes to the designated cause.  Updates will be posted on the
UMCOR Hotline at http://gbgm-umc.org/er/turkey.html and (800) 841-1235.

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*Ellis is director of communications for the Alabama-West Florida Conference
of the United Methodist Church.

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