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Memorials in Sligo Park

Memory is a man's real possession. In nothing else is he rich.
Alexander Smith
Memorials on this page are described in order from Wayne Avenue upstream to Brunett Avenue.

Anne Marie Johnson Dade
Sept. 28, 1938 - Oct. 18, 1999
The bench is located near the first pedestrian bridge downstream from Colesville Road.
The plaque reads, "In loving memory of Anne Marie Johnson Dade.
May the sun always rest on your shoulder and the wind blow at your back."

The quote is from the Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Portrait of Anne Marie

Anne Marie died in a car accident at the corner of University Blvd. and Sligo Creek Parkway,
when returning to her family's home on Erie Avenue. Her sister reports she had moved to her parents' home
suffering from debilitating illnesses, and between 1979 and 1999 Sligo Creek was one of her places of solace.

Her sister writes of her Sligo Memories.

William Edward Caswell This memorial consists of a red oak planted by the North Hills of Sligo Civic Association in September 2002. The tree grows near the house of Julia Daitch, sister of William Caswell. It is not in Sligo Creek park, but it was planted on public property where two neighborhood streets, Thornhill Road and Bruce Drive, meet.

William Caswell was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. He had a doctorate in elementary particle theory, had taught college physics, and worked for the Navy about twenty years.

For a time the paper pictured lay at the base of the tree, describing the man beloved by two sisters, and by parents who live in nearby Silver Spring.

  William Edward Caswell

  June 22, 1947 - September 11, 2001

  What though the radiance which was once so bright
  Be now for ever taken from my sight,
  Though nothing can bring back the hour
  Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
  We will grieve not, rather find
  Strength in what remains behind;

  William Wordsworth
  Intimations of Immortality


Children have occasionally hung ornaments. The tree was planted exactly one year after the 9/11 disaster.

Alison Thresher
The bench stands on Brunett Avenue within view of the Parkway. It is made of Douglas fir. The bench was placed in July 2002 on the route between home and Blair High School so that Alison's daughter and son could pass it daily.

On May 23, 2000, Alison Thresher, who was about to start work as a copy editor
at the Washington Post, did not appear at work; she was murdered.
The killer went unknown. In 2018 the Washington Post reported new evidence about his identity.
The following day the suspect, who was already in jail, committed suicide.

A photo taken in 2006 by James Thresher.

(c) 2006, The Washington Post. Photo by James M. Thresher. Reprinted with Permission.

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 Sally Gagne
March 2006
References