The owners of one of Dayton, Ohio’s oldest taverns got good news in the shape of a yellow tabby with golden eyes.
Henry, one of two cats owned by Trolley Stop owners Robin and Chris Sassenberg to go missing after the Memorial Day tornadoes, has been found.
The four-bedroom home the Sassenbergs moved into 32 years ago on Hillsdale Avenue was badly damaged by the most powerful of the 15 tornadoes to assault the Dayton area May 27.
The destructive storm came just days after Robin Sassenberg’s youngest son, 34-year-old Fletcher Austin, died in St. Louis while waiting for a liver transplant.
The family and the community support they received was the subject of several stories this news organization published as part of the ongoing Stories of Survival series.
The Sassenbergs raced to the basement of their home, which dates to 1926, moments before the tornado came.
They carried their two dogs, Mini and Cooper, to the basement. Two of their three cats, Henry and Alice, came along.
The third, Slim Shady, was outside when the tornado struck.
Frightened, Henry ran out of the house following the tornado.
Robin Sassenberg said city workers sweeping the streets spotted Henry in a window of the badly damaged cottage behind her home. He contacted one of her sons.
Sassenberg said Henry is happy to be back with his family.
Slim Shady, a blue Persian, remains missing.
The Trolley Stop is the city’s oldest continually operating bar.
Established as the Liquor Room in the mid-1880s, the bar was named the Trolley Stop between 1976 and 1978 as gentrification transformed the neighborhood.
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