Latest news with #MemorialService
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Memorial Day service coming to a former poor farm's cemetery
princeton – Two of the graves have markers and the others are marked only by indentations in the earth. Many factors brought around 300 people, likely more, to a poor farm's cemetery, but they will be remembered on an appropriate day, and that's the Sunday before Memorial Day. This year's Poor Farm Cemetery Memorial Service will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 25 at the Gardner Center off Exit 14 of Interstate 77 near Princeton. A golf buggy will be available to help visitors unable to walk from the center's parking lot to the cemetery. Located a short walk from the Gardner Center, the Mercer County Poor Farm's cemetery had been forgotten for years. Overgrown and abandoned, the many souls interred there had been lost to memory. This started changing around 2019 when the Mercer County Commission acquired the former U.S. Department of Forestry Laboratory in Gardner and converted it into offices and a meeting center. Mercer County Commission President Bill Archer and Everett Cole, the Gardner Center's maintenance director, spent a couple of days this week clearing away branches brought down by recent storms. They were preparing for Sunday's Memorial Day service at the cemetery. 'We've had pretty large crowds and we've had small crowds,' Archer said. 'We did it in heavy rainfall one time and we still had several people gathered under umbrellas to come see it. Usually when people are aware of it, there's people who come and participate. Of course, we have our handicap conveyance to take them up to the cemetery for people.' The Mercer County Poor Farm was a place where homeless people who had nowhere else to go could settle and earn a living by farming the land. 'The cemetery was started in 1920,' Archer said. 'It's possible some people from World War I who, because they didn't have anything after they returned from the war, may have been there; but I don't know. That's just speculation on my part.' There are times when poor farm's records hint at the tragedies which struck families in the coal mining communities. 'We do think about all those people who were there and when you look through the record books – which I keep them at Gardner now –when I look through the record books you can see, like for example, it's always been touching to me that sometimes you can almost trace mine disasters by all of a sudden you have additional population coming out to the poor farm,' Archer said. 'I assume it's because they lost a loved one, lost a spouse. They had no other place to turn. The county was even back then was nice about.' Archer got out a long list of around 300 poor farm residents who are interred in the cemetery. Their ages range from infant to elderly. One, Rebecca Kinzer, died on Dec. 15, 1944, of pneumonia when she was 2 months old. Another grave is that of Lutica Daniel, 22, whose cause of death on Oct. 9, 1924, was listed as 'homicide, gunshot wound.' Further down the list is a grave belongs to 99-year-old Margia Marshall Clendenon, who passed away on Jan. 5, 1922, of old age. In many other cases, the cause of death is unknown. And there are still many graves that have not been identified, Archer said. 'And we know, I can tell you by sections where, for example, where children are buried,' he said. 'Their graves are usually smaller than the other ones. There are only two markers that identify the two people and both of them were United Mine Workers, and so the United Mine Workers gave them (markers).' Pastor Craig Hammond, who is the Bluefield Union Mission's executive director, will present the service's keynote message. 'It's just a memorial service for all those who lived and died at the farm, many who are not known because their identities have not been discovered, but many are known. Bill did a wonderful job in identifying people there, but there are lots who are still not known to anybody,' Hammond said. 'That is something that is not uncommon even to this day. There are many people that are deceased, but with no one to claim them; so we just try to remember these folks, the lives that they lived. Many of them were at the farm for reasons beyond their control.' Memorial Day will be a time for recalling people who were once forgotten entirely. 'We look forward to that every year,' Hammond said about Sunday's memorial service. 'It is a time to remember those who were unfortunate. Even if they are unknown to us, we know that they are known to the Creator.' Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
May 25: Theresa's Memorial Day celebration
Theresa's 47th annual Memorial Day celebration will be held on Sunday, May 25, at 11 a.m. There will be a Chicken BBQ at 11 a.m., a memorial service at 1 p.m., a parade at 3 p.m., and a craft fair and car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
17-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Elgin police remember the 10 Illinois law enforcement officers killed in line of duty in last year
Debbie Wiseman's brother, Iowa State Trooper Mark Toney, died in the line of duty in September 2011. As the years have passed, Wiseman worries his sacrifice will be forgotten. She wants to make sure that doesn't happen for her brother or any other officer killed while protecting the lives of others, she said during her keynote speech Thursday at the Elgin Police Department's 2025 Memorial Service, held at The Hemmens Cultural Center on National Peace Officers Memorial Day. 'He is never forgotten. Neither are the other fallen officers,' said Wiseman, who also spoke at last year's service. The memorial day was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. It always falls within National Police Week, which this year was May 11-17. During the ceremony, Elgin police recognized the 10 Illinois law enforcement officers who died in 2024. They were: There were 165 on-duty police deaths nationwide last year, Police Chief Ana Lalley said at the event. This year, 25 have been killed as of mid-May, she said. Wiseman's brother died 13 years ago. He was the youngest of four children from a military family. 'He always wanted to be a cop,' Wiseman said. With 24 years served, Toney was looking forward to retirement when he died in a car crash during a high-speed chase. Wiseman had talked to him right before his shift started, she said. After his death, Wiseman's family received a lot of support from other officers, she said. 'I lost a brother, but I gained an entire family,' she said. Wiseman is past president of the Illinois Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), an organization that assists families of fallen police officers and supports officers while on the job. Families know how difficult it is to be a police officer in these times, she said. 'We see you. We appreciate you,' Wiseman said. Police Chaplain Al Keating offered a prayer for Elgin officers and all police officers. The meaning of the memorial day is to 'honor the courageous who selflessly answered the call to protect and serve, often (giving) the ultimate cost of their own lives,' Keating said. 'Lord, we thank you for these remarkable individuals, for their unwavering commitment to justice, for their courage in the face of danger and for their willingness to place the safety of others above their own. 'Let their stories of bravery ignite passion within the hearts of those who continue to carry the torch of justice forward,' Keating said.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Yahoo
Berks police officers honor their fallen in somber ceremony
Law enforcement members and their supporters gathered Friday afternoon at the Berks County Heritage Center in Bern Township for a solemn service to honor their fallen colleagues. The Police Memorial Service is conducted by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 71 at the police monument, the base of which is etched with the names of members who made the ultimate sacrifice. 'This memorial serves as a central place where our brothers and sisters who served in law enforcement in Berks County have a place to come together as one,' said Joseph M. Brown, lodge president. 'It serves as a reminder to all who visit this beautiful park, the sacrifices that were made by these officers. Joseph M. Brown, president, speaks during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) 'To the families here today, your loved one stood for something greater than themselves. They wore the badge, not for recognition or for praise, but because they believe in protecting others and standing up when others step back, and in serving with integrity, courage and heart.' Brown said two of the names added to the monument this year were Reading police officers who died by suicide. 'They stood with us in our deepest moments and carried burdens few of us can truly understand,' he said. 'It is never easy to speak at times like this, especially when we lose someone, not in the line of duty, but to an internal battle too often fought in silence. 'Their deaths are a heartbreaking reminder that the wounds our officers carry are not always visible, the weight of the job, the things seen and felt, the unspoken expectations to stay strong. can all become overwhelming.' During the ceremony, Lt. Sean Fullerton of the Exeter Township police department slowly read the names of the fallen as the memorial was surrounded by the Berks FOP honor guard, color guard and a squad of police officers who marched in unison from the parking lot. The police honor guard marches to the memorial during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Family, friends and former colleagues of the fallen grabbed red carnations and placed them at the monument as bagpipers and drummers played 'Amazing Grace.' Carnations were placed by family members honoring police officers during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) * The police honor guard marches to the memorial during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) * Joseph M. Brown, president, speaks during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) * Joseph M. Brown, president, speaks during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) * Lt. Sean Fullerton o fthe Exeter Township police department reads the names of the officers on the memorial during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) * The Berks Lodge #71 Firing Detail offers a rifle salute during the Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) * Carnations were placed by family members honoring police officers during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Show Caption 1 of 6 The police honor guard marches to the memorial during the Berks Lodge #71 Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service at the Berks County Heritage Center on Friday, May 2, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Expand
