Lake Park to dedicate memorial garden

When Marianna Colucci heard about the sudden, unexpected loss of a Lake Park High School classmate on Thanksgiving Day 2013, she said she and fellow students took it to heart.

"We were all devastated when it happened," she said. "We feel we're all invincible as teenagers. When something like this happens, you realize how fragile life is."

One year apart, she and Jake Hilligoss had attended Westfield Middle School in Bloomingdale together.

A sophomore at the Lake Park's East Campus in 2013, Hilligoss' death shook the high school community, Colucci said.

"We didn't know him that well," Colucci said. "We felt like we should have, after that."

Colucci and several other students approached their principal at the West Campus, Janet Constien, with an idea about how to honor his memory and the memories of others who had passed on and were once part of the Lake Park High School community. A student group at the East Campus also talked with their principal.

"That started a conversation between the principals and the foundation," said Jennifer Jungel, executive director of the Lake Park High School Educational Foundation.

This spring, that idea becomes a reality. The Lake Park High School Memorial Garden will be dedicated at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 30, at the auditorium entrance at the West Campus, 500 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Roselle.

Jungel said the garden memorializes students, staff, retired employees and friends of Lake Park who have passed away.

The garden features memorial bricks and benches and a landscaped mix of flowering trees, evergreens, perennial plants and ornamental lighting. The centerpiece is a memorial stone with an engraved bronze plaque, Jungel said.

Jungel said the foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships, teacher grants and emergency funding for struggling families, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. When Lake Park students and principals raised the garden idea, she said, the foundation supported the project as its anniversary commemoration. A development committee including the principals, the foundation's two student representatives, Colucci and Noel FioRito, and foundation members worked to raise funds.

"Our goal was $25,000. We raised $30,000," Jungel said. "It has had such a positive response from everybody in the Lake Park community."

Jungel said landscape architects donated services.

"Several landscape firms are donating some of the plantings as well," she said.

Donors also contributed by underwriting expenses for benches, lighting, trees, plants, walkways and memorial bricks. While all major donor bricks have been purchased, she said, smaller bricks that will be engraved with memorial messages are still available.

Colucci, who graduated on Tuesday, said students contributed via donations from hot dog sales during final exams and with proceeds from theater performances. Teachers contributed financially, she said.

"It was really a group effort," she said.

The garden is located in an area that is easily accessible, yet far enough away from the school's main entrance to ensure a quiet environment, Colucci said.

"It's in a very pretty spot," she said.

"We really envision it to be a serene area where people can come and remember a loved one," Jungel said.

If you go

What: Dedication of Lake Park High School Memorial Garden

When: 10 a.m. Saturday, May 30

Where: Lake Park High School West Campus, 500 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Roselle

Info: lphs.org/foundation or (630) 295-5264