CAPE MAY – Under blue skies and white, puffy clouds, family, friends and school representatives gathered June 1 to unveil another name added to the Lower Township Children’s Memorial Garden at Carl T. Mitnick Elementary School.
Lilyana Fernandez, 5, died last August from bacterial spinal meningitis. Her name was the 15th added to the stone monument that sits beside the school’s driveway in a small area flanked by shade trees, flowers, and small shrubs. Two park benches, provided by two families whose children are listed on the memorial, offer comfort for visitors who go to remember.
“This is a day of sorrow and memories,” Sue Campbell, co-founder of the garden, told a small group of Fernandez’s family and friends. “I hope this garden can bring you some happiness as it provides a place for you to come and remember.”
Campbell, a former teacher, shared the history behind the garden, which is intended as a place to remember those children who died while attending Lower Township elementary schools.
She recalled the many months when volunteers raised funds, donations and offered help to make the garden a reality.
“I hope you can sit here and remember happy memories of Lilyana,” Campbell said, directing her comments to the girl’s mother, Shannon Decker, and other family members and friends.
Fernandez attended pre-school at David Douglas Veteran’s Memorial School, Villas. She was about to start kindergarten in September when she died.
Principal Sherry Bosch, said she had Fernandez’s photo in her office and “could feel her joy and presence” when she recalled the youngster.
Her pre-school teacher, Nicole Parkinson, described Fernandez as a “kind friend who helped others, had a joy for life and enjoyed every moment.”
When Fernandez’s name was unveiled, her mother said her daughter would have “loved the flowers and garden, and she loved angels.” An angel sits atop the stone. Amid tears and hugs, family and friends remembered the youngster who they said was “forever a princess.”
“The idea of a memorial garden began in 1996 when second-grade teacher Sue McIntyre had a terminally ill child in her class,” explained Jessica Breuss, garden chairperson and kindergarten teacher at the Memorial School. “Mrs. McIntyre wanted a visible way to preserve her memory and others who had died while attending our schools.
“Although that child survived,” Breuss said, “it was another child who caught Mrs. McIntyre’s attention: her 8-year-old neighbor, Johnny Munson, who died from cancer. After the loss of that child, planning for a Children’s Memorial Garden began.”
In 1998, the Lower Township Board of Education permitted the Lower Township Elementary Educators Association (LTEEA) to start the garden on a plot of land adjacent to the Carl T. Mitnick School, on Seashore Road. A committee formed to research past records for other students who had died while attending the municipality’s elementary schools.
Frank Church, from Church’s Garden Center and Farms, Erma, was asked for help to design the garden. With funds from the teachers association, Parent Teachers Association and Church, pavers, stones, shrubs, soil and trees were purchased. An irrigation system was installed.
The Munson and Campbell families donated two benches. The LTEEA raised money through letters and personal contacts to purchase the memorial stone and to pay for engraving.
The stone began with 11 names, but during the planning stage another student, Joanie Chew, died in June 2001, Breuss recalled.
The project was completed and in December 2001, the families of the deceased, the school staff and board members, along with the community, unveiled the stone.
“Little did I know that in the spring after we unveiled the monument, my great-nieces would be added,” Campbell said, referring to Samantha and Darryl Campbell, who died in a car accident.
Breuss said in May 2005, another dedication was needed as Tyller Camp succumbed to a house fire.
In May 2012, she said another name was added to the stone to memorialize Gabrielle O’Neill, who lost her battle with brain cancer.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.
Cape May – Why don’t some of our well established builders even answer their phones, answer texts or emails. Who would ever recommend them to a friend.
