THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 17, 1997 TAG: 9702170052
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 105 lines
They came 100 strong, families and friends, each with the painful memory of a child, a brother, a sister, lost.
Even as a mild day gave way to winter's chill, they gathered Sunday at a wall they hope will bring the warmth of healing - a memorial to South Hampton Roads' lost children.
They huddled close and bowed their heads. And they faced what had drawn them to Rosewood Memorial Park: a small, smooth granite wall that will bear the names of the region's youngest homicide victims.
``Just as we stand here today, tragedy will strike again,'' said the Rev. Toney McNair of Christ Cathedral church, who stood focused on the 2-foot-high, 6-foot-long memorial. ``We pray that there is healing.''
McNair's benediction was the culmination of a nearly two-hour public ceremony to unveil ``The Healing Wall,'' built by Rosewood in cooperation with Mothers Against Crime, a nonprofit organization in Norfolk.
Before gathering at the wall, participants joined in a service at Kellum Funeral Home. Prayers, songs and poetry addressed what many referred to as the ultimate tragedy.
``Nobody ever plans for a death of a child,'' said Dennis Toler, a Rosewood family service counselor who coordinated the project. ``It's important to be able to come to a memorial park and have a time that's yours. That's what this is about.''
The remembrance of lost loved ones evoked mixed emotions from those in attendance and a variety of messages from speakers.
``We need to teach a kid not to put a needle in his veins, but put knowledge in his brains,'' said the Rev. Sharon Holley of Christian Temple church, who saw the wall as a ``wake-up call.'' In a fiery sermon, she urged community responsibility.
A similar but more subdued message came from Vanessa Williams of Norfolk who read from the poem, ``Who Is to Blame?''
``For in so many cases it's sad but it's true; the title `Delinquent' fits older folks too.''
Williams, a member of Mothers Against Crime, knows the pain a mother can feel. Her son was killed.
Lee McDonald brought the crowd to its feet with a powerful rendition of the song, ``I'm Clean.''
Before the song, McDonald - whose wife, Jacqueline, is the founder of MAC, said he hopes the wall will allow families to move past their losses.
The children ``are with the angels now, and they're healed,'' McDonald said. ``And to all the mothers, they should heal you too. . . . Each time you go (to the wall) you can get rejuvenation.''
Evangelist Bob Boyd preached forgiveness in the face of tragedy and urged the audience to turn to faith.
``When we receive Jesus Christ into our hearts. . . then He can heal the wounds no one else can heal.''
Many family members - including children and older adults - touched by tragedy, sat in the crowded room.
The family of Tim Wheaton, the Virginia Beach 17-year-old who was shot last month, was among them. So were Sharon Trenkle and Patricia Sill. Trenkle's son, James Klassen, shot and killed Sill's daughter Amy in 1992. But the two mothers have since become friends. They sat side-by-side.
``I feel like this is something I can do for Jamie and something I can do for Amy,'' Trenkle said.
For some, like Cynthia Wright, the pain is still overwhelming. Her son, Kevin Sutton, was killed during a robbery last summer.
``I'm upset because I can't get closure yet,'' Wright said.
Despite her anguish, she was there with 100 others, hoping that Sunday's ceremony might spark healing.
There were 66 homicide victims ages 18 and under in South Hampton Roads between 1993 and 1995, according to a Virginian-Pilot analysis of police reports - the ages of victims Rosewood plans to memorialize. That's 15 percent of all homicides in the area during those years.
There were no names on the wall Sunday; the cemetery will begin to honor those who died after the first of this year, Toler said.
But the wall was not bare. Two angels, dubbed ``Goodness'' and ``Mercy,'' are etched into the front of the wall on the left side. On the right are drawings of sneakers and a tiny handprint. The words ``Compassion is just a touch away,'' MAC's motto, are emblazoned across the top.
Rosewood will place bronze plates bearing the names of those who have died on the granite wall. The cemetery will put up the names free of charge, he said.
Rosewood decided to build the wall after reading about the idea in The Pilot. That idea was Jacqui McDonald's.
``To me, it's like a miracle. I didn't think it would happen,'' she said.
The idea came to herafter she saw a mural for her son Dirrick, who was killed in 1987 - the first of two of her boys to be gunned down.
The mural, made by the Bronx, N.Y., housing community where the family was living, allowed McDonald to begin her healing process for her sons.
She hopes this wall does the same for other mothers.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
The families of the area's youngest homicide victims gathered to
dedicate ``The Healing Wall'' to the memory of their loved ones
Sunday. The 6-foot-long, 2-foot-high granite wall was erected at
Rosewood Memorial Park in Virginia Beach. The wall was the idea of
a mother who lost two of her children.
Photo MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Late Sunday afternoon at Virginia Beach's Rosewood Memorial Park,
The Healing Wall was unveiled. About 100 gathered, many who have
lost children to homicide in Hampton Roads, to dedicate the granite
wall that was designed to give family members a place of their own
to remember.
KEYWORDS: HEALING WALL MURDER VICTIM MEMORIAL CHILDREN