A new garden outside the Marion County Sheriff’s Office honors homicide victims and offers their families a place for peace and reflection.
MARION, Ohio — Families of homicide victims gathered Thursday outside the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to dedicate a new memorial space honoring their loved ones.
The Marion Memorial Garden is now the largest garden of its kind in Ohio.
John Stricklin traveled nearly 1,000 miles from Florida to attend the dedication to honor his father, also named John Stricklin, a 30-year military veteran who was murdered in Marion County in 2017.
“To ensure that my father, John Stricklin, has not been forgotten and also to support the other victims of violent crimes,” Stricklin told 10TV. “It gives us a little piece of solitude that he’ll be remembered here.”
Marion County Sheriff Matt Bayles told families the space is meant for reflection.
“I hope this garden will help all of you that have lost loved ones, a place to come and remember them and think about them and what they meant to you,” Bayles said. “We have not forgotten them and we never will.”
The project began as an idea about two years ago, led by Courtney Rittenour with the Marion Victim Assistance Program. She formed a committee, and they raised $75,000 to make it possible.
“What makes this garden especially meaningful is that it was created for Marion, by Marion — every dollar that brought this pattern, neighbors, businesses and community members who believe in the importance of honoring families,” Rittenour said.
At a ribbon cutting ceremony with several families of homicide victims in attendance, the names of those victims honored on a sculpture in the garden were read aloud and a moment of silence was held.
Families who attended said the garden provides comfort.
“To come here and to be able to sit and just talk with her because I don’t like going to the grave — it’s just a reminder. This is a reminder of peace and healing,” said Margaret Reed, whose daughter Amy Lynn Aldrich was shot and killed in 2012.
“The point of this garden was to be extremely gorgeous and peaceful, a place of light and hope, and it is beyond what I thought it would be. This will be a blessing for a lot of families,” said Jessica Chapman, whose brother, Jeremy Tolle Clements, was murdered six years ago.
For Stricklin and his aunts, Kelly West and Kathy Caudill, the dedication represents more than remembrance.
“It’s a commitment from the community to us, the families of the victims, that they haven’t forgotten,” he said. “It’s very important to give us a place of rest and peace.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office plans to hold an annual gathering at the garden on Sept. 25, which is National Homicide Victims Day.
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