OWASCO - On March 20, Dorothy Holbien Foster had no choice but to stand by and watch 56 years of family memories go up in flames when she woke to find her home on fire.

She credits surviving the tragic fire to her companion, Arbie Hatfield.

“It was 10:15 p.m. and we were already asleep, ” she said during a benefit given in her honor at the Owasco Firehouse No. 1, Saturday evening. “He heard the alarm and woke me up.”

After quickly putting on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, Holbien Foster said that she was able to get her beloved dog, Joey, out of the house before the kitchen roof came crashing in.

“We were barefoot,” she said.

According to her daughter, Teri Wise, also of Owasco, the couple were able to keep warm by sitting in Hatfield's truck.

“My mother lost her identity,” she said. “Everything was in that house. But thankfully Arbie had a spare set of keys in the truck so they were able to keep out of the cold by sitting in the truck.”

Wise said that she came as soon as she heard that her former childhood home was on fire and could not believe how it lit up the sky.

“When I came close it literally looked like ‘Gone with the Wind,'” she said.

Holbien Foster said that David lost his one arm in a tragic farming accident at the age of 22, but that did not stop him from building the home for his wife and children.

“My husband did more with one arm than most men can do with two arms,” she boasted. “I had to custom make his shirts because his muscle was too big to fit into a regular sleeve.”

The couple raised seven children in the home, and saw one daughter, Teri Wise married in the home. Another daughter, Eileen Winne, held her wedding reception in the home.

In 1990, when David passed away, the family held his funeral in the home.

“I lost everything but nothing can take my memories away,” Holbien Foster said.

Wise said that they were able to salvage a few family photos but even they were charred around the edges.

“The outpouring of support has just been astonishing, ” Holbien Foster said.

“Owasco is such a small community and with everyone coming out and supporting my mother any way that they can has just been amazing, ” Wise added. “The good thing is that they are safe and okay.” Holbien Foster said that she would like to especially thank Pam Head, of Owasco, because she has worked so hard in many ways to help support the family since the fire.

“Pam spearheaded this whole benefit,” Wise said. “She has just been so wonderful.”

Holbien Foster said that she plans to rebuild in the near future.