Efforts bring memorial garden at Deming Park to new life

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - When Wanda Froderman's sister-in-law died 19 years ago, the family placed a memorial plant in the Hospice Memorial Garden in Deming Park.

Froderman later moved to Florida and then lived in Arkansas before returning to Terre Haute. Checking on the plant, she realized the garden had been abandoned.

Thanks to her efforts contacting the Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of the Wabash Valley, which originally dedicated the garden a quarter-century ago, the space has been renovated. Froderman joined hospice employees and community dignitaries Tuesday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to reopen the garden, located between the park's entrance and exit roads at Fruitridge Avenue.

"They've really done an excellent job to rejuvenate," she said, standing next to Trudy Rupska, Hospice's CEO.

Rupska said Froderman was the driving force behind the project.

"Well, you're the pusher," Froderman told her.

"I'm the pusher," Rupska replied. "You're the doer."

The hospice's bereavement support group thought of the idea for the garden in 1989, Rupska said. A single bench was placed across the road from the park's front pond.

Over the years, trees and brush began overtaking the seating area, making the garden sometimes difficult for passersby to notice.

"I can remember driving by and seeing it, but it was kind of buried," Rupska said.

After Froderman reached out, the hospice approached the parks and recreation department for help with the project. Parks and recreation board members blessed the partnership this summer.

The hospice cleaned up the area, put in new concrete and added mums for color, Rupska said. Parks and recreation stored the original stone and most of the plants until the garden was finished.

This summer, the city also agreed to provide a new sign and water and mulch the garden.

"It's just been a great relationship, a great partnership to get this done," Rupska said of the parks department staff's assistance. "They've been more than helpful."

The garden now consists of two facing benches on a concrete pad. Rupska said the area provides a shady place for individuals and families to reflect upon loved ones.

In the future, Rupska said the hospice wants to extend the concrete pathway across to the park's entrance road and add a second seating area. Donations are welcomed for that phase of the project. They can be mailed to the hospice at 400 Eighth Ave., Terre Haute, IN. 47804.

The hospice already has money set aside for more plants next spring.

During remarks before the ribbon cutting, Mayor Duke Bennett praised the hospice for serving the community and complimented the garden's new appearance.

"It looks phenomenal," he said.

Hospice volunteer Kay Brown, who also attended the ceremony, said the garden was "absolutely gorgeous" and gave kudos to those who completed the work.

"They've done a fantastic job," Brown said. "I think everyone will come and enjoy it."

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Source: (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star, http://bit.ly/1k5vS4N

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com