BRAZIL — Standing near two white-painted wooden crosses along U.S. 40 that mark a site where his parents were killed 20 years earlier, Jerry L. Lybarger flipped through several red ribbons he held that were marked with the letters MADD — Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.
“One thing about the crash. Mom and Dad had a piece of red yarn for MADD tied on their car at the time,” Lybarger said, Friday. “It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been 20 years since Wednesday, Nov. 29, 1989, and I got that call from Bob.”
His brother Bob Lybarger, 42 at the time, had telephoned his brother Jerry, 38 at the time, to tell them their parents, Marjory R. Lybarger, 69, and Herschel H. Lybarger, 73, of Terre Haute had been killed in a collision that involved a drunken driver. Ronald E. Glasscock was later convicted and sentenced to jail for their deaths.
“That call from Bob absolutely changed our lives,” Jerry Lybarger said. “I remember today him telling me, ‘Jerry, you better sit down, I’ve got bad news. Mom and Dad are both dead.’ I was in emotional shock,” he said.
“Our boys were 10 and 12 at the time and we had to tell them about their grandparents. We loaded up the van. It was quicker to drive [the 12-hour trip from Longview, Texas] all night than fly here [to Indiana]. We had driven that many times before to visit everyone,” he said.
“When we got to Mom and Dad’s house, I remember the first thing that Bob said to me was, ‘This always happens to someone else,’” Lybarger said.
Each year since 1989, with the exception of 2008, Bob and Jerry Lybarger have conducted a memorial service on the day after Thanksgiving to remember their parents. The brothers put up the wooden crosses 20 years ago near the crash site at 2104 W. U.S. 40, now a vacant lot of the former Burger Dodge Chrysler automobile dealership on the western edge of Brazil.
The brothers had a connection to Brazil: Each graduated from Brazil High School; Bob Lybarger in 1965 and Jerry in 1969.
Bob Lybarger still lives in Lizton. Jerry Lybarger now lives in Westerville, Ohio.
“My cousin, Barbara Wood, called me from Terre Haute. She was trying to get us on the phone, but one of our kids was on the phone, so the operator interrupted the call saying it was a medical emergency. I think Dad had had some health problems and I thought that maybe he had a heart attack,” Bob Lybarger said Friday.
“My cousin came on the phone and said my mom and dad had been killed. Uncle Charlie then came on [the telephone] and said they are gone, they are both dead. It is one of those things you can’t believe at the time. You think man, am I dreaming this? But, it happens and it is not very pleasant,” Bob Lybarger said.
Bob Lybarger said he understands Glasscock remains in Indiana and is involved in a religious ministry.
“I have forgiven him, but I don’t want to see him,” Bob Lybarger said.
“I agree with that, I never want to see him,” Jerry Lybarger quickly added.
Last year, the brothers did not hold a memorial for their parents in honor of Marilyn Peffley, former president of the Wabash Valley Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter who died in late 2008. Peffley had been instrumental in the brothers’ annual memorial.
During a short memorial on Friday, Jerry Lybarger referred to 2008 figures from MADD, stating that on average, one person was killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes and about three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related automobile crash in their lives.
He then spoke about a car accident in Kaufman County, Texas, that happened in March. A drunk driver killed Carolyn Sue Darling, 47, and her grandson, Keaton Lambert, 5.
“I mention this because Keaton Lambert played football with my youngest grandson in Longview, Texas in the fall of 2008. That season, his grandmother, Carolyn Darling, had told my daughter-in-law that if anything ever happened to Keaton on her watch, she would die,” Jerry Lybarger said.
“I ask that you please spread the word not to drink and drive,” he said, still clutching several red MADD ribbons.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Red Ribbons
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving will kick off its annual Tie One On For Safety campaign at 12:30 p.m. Monday at the Terre Haute Boys and Girls Club.
Red ribbons will be distributed to remind people not to drink and drive during the holiday season. For more information, contact Mary Tremmel, site coordinator, at wabashvalley.in@madd.org.
Local & Bistate
Sons mark 20th anniversary of parents’ deaths
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Asian hooded crane lands in Greene County wildlife area
Bird watchers are flocking to a southwestern Indiana wildlife area to try to catch a glimpse of a crane usually spotted only in Asia.
-
Slow drips: It’s maple syrup season in Indiana
More seasonal, colder temperatures will hit the Wabash Valley this weekend, which is ideal weather for maple syrup production, said Keith Ruble, superintendent of the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department.
However, Ruble voices concern that this year’s maple syrup season may be short.
-
Downtown restaurant celebrates expansion
The streets of Terre Haute were chilly Thursday night, but for the glow of hot pasta inside Louise’s Pizzeria and Cafe.
-
Contract signed for new Y
Papers are signed and the ink is in place for a new YMCA to operate in Terre Haute.
-
City to impose $30 release fee on towed vehicles
The Terre Haute City Council voted without opposition Thursday to impose a new $30 release fee on vehicles towed and impounded by the police as part of a criminal investigation.
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Trial date set for former WTH police chief
A July 23 trial date has been set for a former police chief of West Terre Haute accused of theft.
-
Motorcycle gang member pleads guilty in federal court
A member of an Indianapolis motorcycle gang who delivered methamphetamine to a Terre Haute dealer has pleaded guilty to drug charges in federal court.
-
July trial date set for mother charged with child neglect
A July 30 trial date has been set for a Terre Haute mother charged with neglecting and battering her toddler.
-
Business hosting SPPRAK fundraiser
Java Haute is hosting the latest fundraiser sponsored by SPPRAK — Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness.
-
Valley high school cooking competition under way today
Clabber Girl Corp. and Gordon Food Services will host the fourth-annual High School Chef Competition, beginning today through Saturday, and again Feb. 18, in the Culinary Classroom at Clabber Girl.
- UPDATE: Marshall, Ill., school bus driver involved in accident dies; cause appears to be cardiac-related
-
Terre Haute road name game
What used to be called U.S. 40 from the Wabash River west through West Terre Haute to Interstate 70 needs to be renamed and, probably, get new street addresses, a Vigo County planner recommends.
-
MARK BENNETT: William Henry Harrison taught us how to campaign
William Henry Harrison is running for president, again.
It seems impossible, because today would be his 239th birthday, and America has never elected a deceased person to the Oval Office. -
Air National Guard cuts won’t hit 181st Intelligence Wing
The Air National Guard is taking the lion’s share of planned cuts announced last week by the U.S. Air Force. But no cuts are currently expected at Terre Haute’s 181st Intelligence Wing. In fact, the nation’s evolving defense strategy may spell growth at the local base.
-
Friends group takes over Ernie Pyle home in Dana
The western Indiana home in which renowned Hoosier journalist Ernie Pyle was born and an adjacent museum dedicated to preserving his legacy as a World War II correspondent have a new owner.
-
ISU rec center pool out of service while being repaired
Indiana State University is spending about $10,000 to repair a swimming pool at the Student Recreation Center, which opened in 2009.
-
Clinton man throws away, then recovers, $50,000 ticket
A Vermillion County man found himself in a scenario that strikes fear in the heart of Lottery players everywhere. He threw away a $50,000 winning ticket.
-
Show to feature talents of artists with disabilities
Artists whose disabilities have overshadowed their work get a chance to shine in the light of a prodigy this coming month.
-
Fort Wayne forester tells of damage
The emerald ash borer likely will cause as much as $8 million in damage to Fort Wayne’s ash trees by 2015, the city’s manager of forestry operations told a Terre Haute audience Tuesday.
-
Unclaimed assets now part of Goodwill auction site
Many of Indiana’s unclaimed assets are now on Goodwill’s online auction site, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced Tuesday.
-
Toyota to increase Highlander output in Indiana
Toyota will increase production of the Highlander mid-size SUV in late 2013 at the company’s Princeton, Indiana plant. Hybrid and export versions will be included. The project is expected to create about 400 new jobs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Inc.
-
Friends of Ernie Pyle takes ownership, renames Dana museum
The western Indiana home in which renowned Hoosier journalist Ernie Pyle was born, and an adjacent museum dedicated to preserving his legacy as a World War II correspondent, have a new owner.
-
Spreading Goodwill
Goodwill Industries Inc. on Tuesday opened its third Terre Haute store.
-
Feds sending money to Feather Creek
Clinton residents have reason to celebrate.
Federal officials have granted more than $800,000 toward a $1.2 million project of widening and deepening Feather Creek, which has been a flooding problem in the city since the Great Depression. Work could begin in spring 2013. -
City to clean up Toney site
A contaminated petroleum site at the northwestern edge of Indiana State University’s campus will be transferred to the city of Terre Haute to remove the property from a pending sale.
-
Bennett: Terre Haute ‘moving in the right direction’
After four years of shrinking budgets and a slow economy, Terre Haute is “moving in the right direction,” Mayor Duke Bennett said Tuesday morning in his first “State of the City” address since being re-elected by Terre Haute voters in November.
Difficult financial and political battles are largely in the past, he said, and now the city can start moving forward in ways not possible in the past four years. -
Terre Haute group locates missing caver
An Iraq war veteran and caving enthusiast took his own life about half a mile from where he left his car on a rural road but more than four months passed before four young spelunkers exploring where they weren’t allowed found him deep inside a treacherous cave, Indiana conservation officers said Tuesday.
-
Schools celebrate rising graduation rates as ‘team effort’
For the fourth year in a row, Vigo County School Corp. graduation rates have topped the state average, school district officials said during a news conference Tuesday.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Asian hooded crane lands in Greene County wildlife area
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Sandusky makes a statement
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
Halle Wants to Leave the Country
Northern Lights shine above earth
Plane makes perfect belly landing
Kris Jenner New Face of Arousal Oils
Trending: Zip it!
What's in Steve Jobs' FBI file?
SJP Talks About Replacing Demi Moore in 'Lovelace'
Over 200 dead dolphins wash ashore
Lady Gaga's Battle With Bulimia
Evacuation at Sea
Osama Bin Laden Zombie Movie: "Osombie" Teaser Released
VS Model Quits Over Religion
