James Crawford Gosser, 1926-2025
James Crawford Gosser
Staff Report
Funeral services were held Sunday for a well-known, 100-year-old man who amazed all by surviving a tornado which destroyed his home earlier this year.
James Crawford Gosser, 99, of the namesake Gosser Ridge community in eastern Russell County, was laid to rest Sunday.
Son of the late Chester and Nova Gosser, he became somewhat of a media sensation when on May 16th, an EF-4 struck his home while he was asleep.
Mr. Gosser was thrown out of his bed and found lying injured on the floor.
His home and farm buildings were destroyed and the adjacent area suffered widespread damage.
Loved and respected by many, Mr. Gosser’s family and friends, and people who had simply heard of the incident flocked to the area to assist not only him, but his neighbors and other victims of the May tornado which eventually travelled through Somerset and London with deadly results and massive destruction.
Ironically, Mr. Gosser was a witness to a 1971 EF-4 tornado which struck Gosser Ridge.
An obituary for Crawford Gosser appears in this issue.
