BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BANTAM -- Nick Leone curled his small fingers around the trunk of a tree planted Sunday in honor of the grandmother he will never know.
The 15-foot red oak -- and the 5-year-old boy's knowledge about his Grandmother Anita -- will grow simultaneously.
"They'll know her through me," Nick's mother, Merry Leone of Union Township, said following a memorial ceremony at East Fork State Park. The 15-acre site is now officially Willow Wood Memorial Grove, named for the non-profit organization that helps children cope with the death of a primary family member.
Under a gray sky that threatened rain but never followed through, 81 people gathered for the ceremony. After a stirring rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Amelia High School junior Karen Sweet, families made their way to the grove to mark their red oak and sugar maple trees.
The first tree was dedicated to Jerry Howell, the Clermont County boy who was 8 when he was murdered by his mother, Rhonda Brown, who was is now serving a 15-year-to-life sentence at the Women's Reformatory in Marysville. Attorney Anita Bechmann, president of the Willow Wood board of trustees, served as guardian for Jerry's younger brother, Chance, who has been adopted by an area family. Ms. Bechmann said he is "doing very well." He was 4 when his older brother died. No one from the family attended.
The Howell case prompted the establishment of Willow Wood, which the United Way named a 1997 Volunteer Group of the Year.
Willow Wood came to Karen Sweet's aid after her mother died when she was 6. The lesson she learned: "Think of the good times, the funny times." Recently, two Amelia High friends with whom Karen regularly ate lunch, freshmen Justin Smith and Steven Lowery, were killed in a car crash. Lessons learned in the Willow Wood grieving program years ago will help her again, she said.
Focusing on positive emotions carried Deb Carter-Baker through Sunday's ceremony.Her son, Joey, was 3 when he died of sudden infant death syndrome. Her other son, Chuck, now 19, also attended.
