LOCKHART, Texas – It has been a year since the Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Maxwell served as a haven for grieving families and a place for investigators to begin picking up the pieces after the worst hot air balloon crash in U.S. history.
"I got a phone call Saturday morning, when it happened, and they said, 'Pastor, there's been an accident,'" Caleb Jeffers, pastor of Ebenezer Lutheran, said.
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The balloon crashed after hitting powerlines and went down in a field in rural Caldwell County.
The tragedy would claim the lives of 16 people with no survivors.
The Ebenezer Lutheran Church had just built a new building, situated just two and a half miles from the crash site.
"No question, like, open the doors. Get the people in. It's a place that they can meet," Jeffers said on the decision to open the church to the public. "The NTSB used it for their briefings for the families. DPS did their briefings there with them. It was kind of the first big function we had in there."
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The church provided food for families and as well as spiritual counseling. But the mood inside remains in the mind of some of the people who helped after the crash.
"Very quiet, very quiet, you know, everybody was, had so many questions," said parishioner Bruce Germer.
"On a plane crash, they know everybody who is on that plane. With the balloon, it was a question for a little while, as to how many people were there, was it my family member was it not?" Jeffers said.
All day Sunday a memorial at the crash site grew with pictures, memories and mementos.
Six of the victims were from San Antonio.
Newlyweds Matt and Sunday Rowan had exchanged wedding vows less than six months before. Lorilee Brabson got a ballon ride for two for Mother's Day from her daughter, Paige. Brian and Tressie Neill were married for 23 years, the balloon ride an anniversary present.
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"It was a very special thing that we could provide the support and the help for those families, at that time. If it happened to any of our families, we'd appreciate the same opportunity," Germer said.