Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the 10th installment.  

Makayla Russell remembers her mom, Cathy Jo Blackburn Minish, as “really funny and outgoing” and who loved nothing more than having a bunch of cousins and nieces over to pile into her bed and watch movies.

“She was really big on family — that was her big thing,” Russell, 24, said of her mother. “That got her excited the most — being able to spend time with family. As long as she was around family, she was at her happiest.”

Minish, a homemaker and mother who lived in Marion, died from landslide injuries, including drowning, during Tropical Storm Helene, according to a death certificate.

Read previous installments of The Lives We Lost.

Born in Burke County in 1972 to Dianne Elizabeth Benge Minish and the late John Franklin Minish, Minish was 52. She is survived by her mother; her only child, Russell; and four siblings, according to her obituary.

Russell said her mom loved crafts, travel and trips to the beach in Florida or on the coast of North and South Carolina. 

“Cathy had an incredible sense of humor and will be remembered for her ability to bring laughter to all situations,” her obituary said. “She loved to shop, and Cathy was a gifted crafter. It brought her great joy to make all kinds of crafts particularly during Christmastime.”

Russell said this holiday season will be particularly tough to navigate. Russell was 23 when her mother died, and she never thought she’d have to inform her grandmother that her daughter had died.

“My great grandma lived to 94, so I was for sure that I’d have my mom for a long time,” Russell said. “And she didn’t get to be a grandma or see me get married or anything like that. So I’m having a really hard time with that.”

Russell, a care management support assistant at a local medical office, lives in Fairview, which is where Minish died. The family has not received details of how Minish died, Russell said.

Minish had traveled to Fairview to stay with her best friend since high school during the storm. 

Russell cherishes the many good memories she has of her mother.

“She just was full of life, always happy,” Russell said. “She just always found the good in everything. She tried not to let anybody see if she was worrying or having a hard time. She always wanted everybody to remember her happy and smiling and laughing. She was awesome.”

– John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog

Lula Jackson

Lula Jackson, 63, died at her Asheville home Sept. 27. Her death certificate lists chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as the primary cause of her death, with Tropical Storm Helene noted as a secondary cause.

Jackson had dealt with COPD for at least seven years, according to her death certificate.

Her obituary said she loved her pastor and church, Worldwide Missionary Baptist, where she was a “faithful attendee,” part of the choir and part of the anniversary committee. 

“When she could not attend [church], her heart was always there,” the obituary said.

“Lula was preparing her song on Friday night, September 27, 2024 when hurricane Helene blew into Asheville and she ascended to her heavenly home,” the obituary said.

Jackson, 63, was the mother of two daughters, according to her obituary. She had at least two grandchildren, a brother and a sister, and a “host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends,” the obituary said.

Her sister and daughter said none of the family wanted to speak to the media. “It’s too soon,” her daughter Nichole Mayfield said when reached by phone.

Jackson graduated from Asheville High School in 1979, according to her obituary. “She was active in the Cougar band and excelled as the drum majorette. Lula loved music and regularly performed in talent competitions,” her obituary said. 

She had a music scholarship to Mars Hill University, but decided to start a family instead, the obituary said. 

“It is with a heavy heart and fighting tears I must unfortunately inform you all of the passing of my first wife Lula Jackson (Nance),” a Facebook account belonging to Rojam Mayfield posted Oct. 2. “There is never a good time for God to call a loved one home but this is… particularly hard [due] to the tragic situation with hurricane [Helene]. … Lula we loved you, God loved you more. No more pain. I’ll see you on the other shore.”

Asheville Watchdog could not reach Rojam Mayfield. 

Nichole Mayfield, Jackson’s daughter, posted a slideshow video showing her dad in her youth and adulthood. He is smiling in each image, sitting on a couch or standing with family, all accompanied by the song “Still Here,” by R&B artist Anthony Q.

On his Facebook account, Rojam Mayfield commented on the video:

“Lula Jackson is looking down smiling.” 

– Andrew R. Jones, Asheville Watchdog

Gabriel Gonzalez

Gabriel Gonzalez had gone to work in driving rain at the Ingles distribution center near the Swannanoa River when floodwaters swept him away, according to the Catholic News Herald. Gonzalez’ co-workers called him “the happy one,” the article said, because he was always singing as he loaded tractor-trailers for the regional grocery store chain.

Gonzalez was an Ingles employee who worked in truck loading, according to his death certificate.

He was a Catholic and a mass for his death was celebrated Oct. 25 St. Eugene Catholic Church in Asheville, according to his obituary. 

According to his death certificate, the 52-year-old died as a result of landslide injuries. His body was found on U.S. Highway 70 in Swannanoa, next to the Swannanoa River.

The story includes a picture of Gonzalez in front of his red Jeep, standing beside best friend Ulises Garcia, a friend from Swannanoa.

Gonzalez will be laid to rest in his home country of El Salvador, his obituary said.

– Andrew R. Jones, Asheville Watchdog

John David Keretz 

John David Keretz, 69, a financial planner who lived in Fairview, drowned during Helene, according to a death certificate. Keretz’s body was found Oct. 1 near Echo Lake about a mile from his home.

Asheville Watchdog made numerous efforts to reach family members but did not hear back by deadline. The funeral home that handled arrangements said no obituary for Keretz was published.

Keretz was an armed services veteran and lived in Fairview, according to his death certificate. He is survived by his spouse, Laurie Ninness Keretz, according to the document.

– John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org.  Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org.The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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An attempt by Mission Hospital’s corporate owner to counter a lawsuit filed against it last year by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has been dismissed. 

North Carolina Business Court Judge Julianna Theall Earp filed an opinion Dec. 6 dismissing HCA’s counterclaims against Stein, who had sued HCA and its Mission Health system in December 2023. Stein’s lawsuit alleged they had violated the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) entered into when HCA bought the hospital system in 2019 for $1.5 billion.

Earp’s opinion focused on the argument the attorney general and his team had made that he is shielded from HCA’s counterclaims by a legal concept known as sovereign immunity. News of the dismissal was first reported by the Asheville Citizen Times.

Sovereign immunity is defined as “the state’s immunity from most kinds of lawsuits unless the state consents to be sued,” according to the University of North Carolina School of Government.

“We are confident that Mission has fulfilled its obligations under the Asset Purchase Agreement, and we intend to defend the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General aggressively,” Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell said Tuesday. “Unfortunately, the lawsuit continues to be a distraction from the important work that Mission continues to do in Western North Carolina.”

The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to Asheville Watchdog’s request for comment. 

Stein’s 2023 lawsuit on behalf of Dogwood Health Trust – the entity responsible for ensuring HCA complies with the APA – alleged the company had violated commitments it made to maintain services related to emergency and oncology care at the Asheville hospital. Those agreements were solidified in the APA, which Stein‘s office oversaw and agreed to before the sale.

In February, HCA sought dismissal of the suit, countering that it had never promised to provide quality health care but had honored its APA commitments. As Earp’s opinion noted, “HCA characterizes the Hospital Service Commitments at issue as requiring that HCA: “(1) maintain Level II trauma capabilities at Mission Hospital; and (2) maintain the capabilities to provide the emergency services and oncology services that were provided at Mission as of January 2019.”

Only a small portion of Earp’s opinion focused on the issue of HCA commitments to the APA, instead explaining why sovereign immunity justified dismissing the counterclaims.

Stein had relied on sovereign immunity in response to HCA’s counterclaims, arguing he could not be a target of legal action. HCA had countered that he couldn’t rely on such protection.

“HCA rejects the contention that sovereign immunity applies because, it argues, this action was brought by the Attorney General, not in his state-sanctioned role, but on behalf of Dogwood Health Trust, a private, non-profit corporation,” the opinion said. 

Stein disagreed. 

“Plaintiff [Stein] maintains that the APA’s protections and the right to enforce those protections were borne from the Attorney General’s statutory review authority and are consistent with his broad consumer protection mandate and his ‘common law’ right and power to protect the beneficiaries of charitable trusts,’” the opinion said.

No conditions for immunity

In deciding the matter, Earp turned to conditions under which immunity might be waived. None applied, she stated.

She followed that decision by explaining she would not make broad declarations about the case, sidestepping issues related to the APA, stating: “[T]o the extent Defendant’s [HCA’s] declaratory judgment claims present no new controversies and simply amount to the converse of Plaintiff’s declaratory judgment claims already pending before the Court, the Court concludes, in its discretion, that allowing Defendant’s claims to proceed would not serve a useful purpose and would ‘conflict with the interests of judicial economy and efficiency.’”

While Earp dismissed the counterclaims, she denied Stein’s request to avoid having to pay attorneys’ fees, noting it was too early in the case to make such a decision.

Stein’s lawsuit is not the only legal issue facing Nashville-based HCA in western North Carolina. 

Buncombe County, the cities of Asheville and Brevard, and Madison County are suing HCA in a separate antitrust lawsuit in federal court.

Mission Hospital also fell under scrutiny of state and federal investigators earlier this year when the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found it had violated federal standards of care and placed it under immediate jeopardy, the toughest sanction a healthcare facility can face. A report following that investigation showed that four patients died in two years related to those violations of care and leadership mismanagement.
CMS lifted the immediate jeopardy sanction in February.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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