Heartland Community College dedicates memorial garden honoring the late Ann Pontius

Heartland Community College is commemorating the life of longtime employee Ann Pontius with a newly constructed memorial garden

Pontius, one of Heartland’s first employees, died in March at age 85. She joined the college in 1992 as a lab assistant, and went on to serve 29 years on campus, holding positions ranging from chemistry technician and program facilitator to skills evaluator.

Known for her green thumb, the memorial garden is located near the lab space Pontius occupied during her time at Heartland.

Heartland Community College

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WGLT

The location of the garden was chosen to be close to the chemistry labs that Pontius helped establish and support.

HCC president Keith Cornille, staff members, and others joined family and friends on Oct. 23 to complete the planting of the Ann Pontius Memorial Garden that was created with contributions from the Pontius family. Ann’s husband, Dave, and son, Peter, helped plant spring bulbs — the final touch to the garden.

“It is an honor to have this garden as a permanent part of the college,” Cornille said. “Ann made so many connections and helped students in so many ways. Her dedication to Heartland extended beyond her years of service on campus and also through the support she and Dave provided for the Heartland Foundation.”

The garden can be seen on two sides of the walkway entrance of the Instructional Commons North building on Heartland’s main campus.

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