Tim and Mary Ann Mai were just the third family to move into the mobile home subdivision when it opened about eight years ago, said neighbor Charles Faulk.

Faulk and his wife, Sheila, moved in a short time later and the couples became fast friends. Tim, a master carpenter, installed the Faulk's ceiling fan. Faulk, 47, said whenever he visited the Mai home to chat about current events, which he did as often as five times a week, he was admonished for announcing himself.

"They would get on me about knocking on the door because it was me," he said.

A few years ago Tim's son, Michael Brown, and his daughter, Cheyenne, moved in to the family's double-wide. Mary, who worked as an accountant, had no children but treated Michael, whom everyone called Mikey, as though he was her offspring.

Mikey was an electrician, but his real passion was firefighting. A while back, he approached Faulk, who drives a truck for the American Red Cross, and asked him to be a reference so he could join the volunteer fire department, whose members recognized one of their own when they arrived Thursday morning.

Faulk said Cheyenne, who was ready to start school soon, called him Uncle Charlie. Just a year ago, Mary Ann Mai's parents, Joe and Minnie Gasper, moved into the subdivision to be closer to their daughter. Faulk soon began calling them mom and dad. After the tornado struck, Faulk and the Gaspers frantically looked for signs of Tim, Mary Ann, Mikey and Cheyenne among the wreckage.

"Where's Mary, Charles," Minnie Gasper asked Faulk.

"I don't know, mom," Faulk said.

Tim and Mary Ann Mai and Michael Brown had been killed. Cheyenne was found injured but alive, crying next to her father.