EDWARDSVILLE - It is incredibly heartbreaking to lose someone you love. When that loved one passes away at a young age, it can be unbearable.
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Ensuring that their memories will live on forever in the hearts of those who loved them, a special remembrance service was held at 12 p.m. this Monday at the Robert C. Stille Edwardsville Township Community Park. Families of the fallen gathered not only to mourn the loss of their loved ones, but to remember them for who they were before they passed away. Their names were also engraved in stone forever on the Susan Ann Stille Youth Memorial.
The Susan Ann Stille Youth Memorial honors Susan Stille, the daughter of former Township Supervisor Robert C. Stille, who tragically passed away in 1989. The memorial lies within the same park that bears his name.
"From their loss, the Stille's were determined to create a place where fellow members of the Edwardsville community will be able to memorialize the youngest community members who passed at an early age," Dave Romoser, Pastor of Newsong Fellowship Church and current President of the Glen Ed Ministerial Alliance said at the remembrance ceremony.
Since his daughter's passing and the Memorial's inception, 37 names have also been added to the monument, ensuring that the lives that had gone too soon will be remembered forever.
"Today, 37 names are listed, memorializing the young who have left too soon, whether from an accident, childhood illness, or even those who have served our country and give the ultimate sacrifice at such a young age," Romoser said.
The Memorial is forever marked with these young men and women's names, who will surely never be forgotten:
- Evan D. Allen
- Tyler W. Anderson
- Anna A. Bauer
- Scott F. Bianco
- Benjamin B. Blain
- Brian B. Blain
- Melissa Marie Bona
- Matthew Bradshaw
- Gina Cho
- Macie E. Crow
- Connor J. Cunningham
- Scott A. Cunningham
- Jordan A. Dupy
- Carla S. Farmer
- Ryan C. Garbs
- Daven E. Guettler
- Bobby Hansen Jr.
- Whitley S. Hedger
- Erica L. Holliday
- Melissa N. Holliday
- Damon T. Krapf
- Jeffery L. Lloyd
- Jacob "Jake" V. Ludwig
- Daniel "Thom" Lusby
- Marcus J. McFarland
- Connor G. McKinsley
- Samuel A. Merkel
- Christopher J. Petroff
- Jeffery P. Petroff
- Arthur R. Schubert
- Kathryn "Katie" Sinn
- John S. Summer
- Michael K. Taylor Jr.
- Frank E. Wilkinson III
- Austin A. Witmer
- Julie K. Wooldridge
To be eligible for inclusion on the Susan Ann. Stille Youth Memorial, the youth must have passed away after January 1, 1989, been a student for at least one year in a school located in Edwardsville Township or Edwardsville District #7 schools and must have been no older than 25 years of age.
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