Tornado victim Arlan Coty, 10, 'had the most infectious and special energy about him'
At 10 years old, Arlan Coty had lived a life full of energy with a zest for learning that made it difficult for his parents to keep up, they said.
The National Weather Service in Nashville reported 62 injuries and three fatalities in Clarksville after an EF-3 tornado with peak winds of up to 150 miles per hour ripped through the city Saturday. The twister was 600 yards wide and stayed on the ground for 43 miles, hitting three counties in Tennessee and Kentucky, the National Weather Service said.
The little boy was one of the three who died in Clarksville. He was passionate about two things: basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers, his favorite professional team.
"Arlan had the most infectious and special energy about him. We can not believe how many strangers to us have reached out to share a story about how they encountered our son, and how he positively radiated happiness and love. There is not one person who has met Arlan that has not been brought to tears from his passing," his family said in a statement, released Monday.
Described as a precocious child, Arlan was always talking about history, music and sports, and he was intelligent beyond his years, the statement from Katherine and Kyle Burnham said.
He was a 4th grade student at West Creek Elementary School.
The boy's mother said in a Facebook post that the family's home was in the direct path of the tornado, and Arlan did not make it out. Her daughter, Ella, was taken to a local hospital, treated and released with minor injuries, the post said.
"Kyle and I are not ok," Katherine Burnham said in a Sunday post. "We don't know how to navigate through this. We have no idea what is next."
The Burnham family has an army of friends helping them, digging through rubble to find and save things like a drawing Arlan made in kindergarten, she said.
More than $144,000 had been raised to support the family as of Monday afternoon via a GoFundMe account set up by Wyatt Johnson Toyota, where Kyle Burnham works.
"It's been an emotional time," Kyle Burnham's boss Brian Burkeen said.
Arlan was compassionate, caring, loving and overprotective of his sisters and enjoyed playing video games and Pokémon, according to his obituary.
More than 50 employees and family members from Wyatt Johnson helped the Burnham family search the remains of their Henry Place Boulevard home Sunday in hopes of finding family mementos and keepsakes from Arlan.
Burkeen, the dealership's general manager, said he remembers the boy visiting Kyle Burnham at work. He remembers interacting with the 10-year-old at company functions and getting to know the Burnham family over the past two years.
While he and other co-workers were sifting through the rubble Sunday, Burkeen said he realized the challenges the Burnham family would have in rebuilding their lives, so he decided to have the company start a GoFundMe account.
The outpouring so far has been amazing, he said.
Sunday's turnout was also amazing.
People came from across town to help the volunteers go through the debris to find personal items for the family, he said.
A celebration of Arlan's life will be held at 3 p.m. Dec. 17 at First Baptist Church, 499 Commerce St. in Clarksville.
The little boy is survived by his parents Katherine and Kyle Burnham, and Daniel Coty; siblings, Archer Burnham, Mason Coty, Ella Coty, and Leilani Coty; maternal grandparents, Martin and Barbara Robinson, Joyce, and Patrick Modic, and Barry Smith; paternal grandparents, David and Kathy Coty, and Joan Battaglia, his obituary said.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Clarksville boy, Arlan Coty, 10, who died in tornado remembered
