SEFFNER (FOX 13) -
The healing process is just beginning for a Seffner family whose life was
destroyed by a sinkhole.
The family lost their home, and they never got to say goodbye to Jeff Bush,
who was killed when his bedroom floor collapsed into the hole.
His body has never been recovered. On Tuesday night, his family is holding a
memorial in his honor.
"It just – it doesn't seem real," said Janell Wheeler, who was inside the
home when the sinkhole opened.
Wheeler and home owner Buddy Wicker spoke with FOX 13 at the site of the property
Tuesday morning.
"We drive through the neighborhood every day," said Wheeler, whose family is
now in a house set up by her insurance company.
Wicker said he's still waiting for the county to hand back the property,
which has since been fenced in. People have left flowers and
cards for the family on that fence, and memories still linger of what once was, Wicker said.
"I might put a memorial site on there for Jeff," Wicker said of the
property. "Like a little park bench so the family can come by, and it's just,
it's hard to look back – 39 years there. The only thing left there is a tree.
That's the way it was when I first bought it bare like that … 39 years I spent
in the house. I raised my four kids, 13 grandkids and 18 great grandkids."
A service in memory of Bush, 37, is set for Tuesday night at 7. It's at Bell
Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon and is open to the public, Wheeler said.
"It's going to be a good night," she said. "It's going to be a celebration
of Jeff's life. He was a great person. He was real quiet. He was loved by everybody.
He loved to go fishing. He loved to play his game. He was just a great person,
and we're going to celebrate his life.
The family has asked
for donations to the Sinkhole Family Relief Fund. Checks should be made payable
to the Brandon Foundation and sent to P.O. Box 3197, Brandon, FL 33509, Attn:
Sinkhole Family Relief.
