Family gets surprise from 'Extreme Makeover'

Staff photo by Jim Noelker James Terpenning and his family have been selected as the local 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' family to receive a new house. In this 2007 file photo, James Terpenning plays wheelchair basketball with the Moraine Minute Men and is firing up the crowd at Holy Angels School.

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Ty Pennington and other designers surprise James and Shannon Terpenning of 548 Carthage Drive in Beavercreek with a knock on the door from 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' Thursday morning, July 30, 2009.

Jim Noelker Ty Pennington and other designers surprise James and Shannon Terpenning of 548 Carthage Drive in Beavercreek with a knock on the door from 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' Thursday morning, July 30, 2009.

By Steve Bennish, Staff Writers Updated 12:46 AM Sunday, August 2, 2009

BEAVERCREEK — Surprise, wonder, joy and gratitude are the emotions James Terpenning and his family are experiencing as they anticipate a new home courtesy of the ABC TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Terpenning, a civilian computer specialist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, learned his family would be on the hit show after getting a knock on the door Thursday morning, July 30, from “Extreme Makeover” host Ty Pennington.

Nominated by a three-star general, Terpenning, 40, said he’s thrilled by the prospect of a home that will make life easier for his seven-member family, including his four small children, wife Shannon, 33, and his brother Joseph.

The family lives in a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house with a basement on Carthage Drive.

Terpenning, who has won top medals in the Paralympic Games and acts as a mentor to disabled Iraqi vets, uses a wheelchair following a bout with polio as an infant in Vietnam. James is the son of a G.I. who abandoned him. He was later adopted by an Ohio family.

Joseph, 42, also uses a wheelchair, and in the tight confines of their home, it’s no easy task to get around. Joseph has cerebral palsy.

Their current home will be bulldozed, and the new one will be revealed to them next week after the family returns from a paid weeklong vacation at Disney World.

The demolition is expected to be on Saturday.

“I’m hoping it will be more wheelchair-accessible and with more open space, not stepping on each other’s toes,” James said.

The production crew flooded the Terpennings’ quiet Beavercreek neighborhood on Thursday with security details, television trucks, producers and countless volunteers.

In addition to Pennington, fans, neighbors, city officials and community members caught a glimpse of country singer Kellie Pickler and the “Extreme Makeover” crew as they shot scenes for the episode that’s set to air this fall.

Local home builder Coventry Fine Homes will construct the house, along with roughly 1,500 volunteers, in about 106 hours.

Hannah Bealer and Amanda Liles contributed to this story.

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