Completion date set for Willowick Gold Star Families Memorial project

Willowick officials have worked to set a completion date for the Gold Star Families Memorial project, spearheaded by Owen Engle, an Eastlake North High School student.

According to Mayor Michael Vanni, a date for Sept. 27 has been set to have the memorial finished and to be dedicated at Lakefront Lodge Park, 30525 Lakeshore Blvd.

“We are moving along with the parking lot and feel we can go to bid next month,” Vanni said. “We wanted to be realistic and think that the lot should be done by then. It will be very exciting.”

Vanni said the new agreement with Lake Metroparks at the Lakefront Park will ensure the continued partnership with Lake Metroparks in managing the park and solidifies a shared commitment to preserving, and enhancing the community space for residents and visitors.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lake Metroparks will continue to use and oversee the maintenance of Lakefront Park, as well as constructing a 30-by-44-foot picnic shelter, a flush restroom, renovation of the deck at the lodge and paved walking path improvements.

The additional paved parking lot included in the agreement is to be completed by the city. The agreement calls for the parking lot to be completed this year and the improvements to be made by Lake Metroparks completed in 2027.

Vanni said the memorial will go where a house was torn down in the park as there is plenty of room and no erosion problems located there.

“It does also provide some level of privacy away from the pavilion,” he said. “When the house was torn down, we couldn’t really do anything in that spot, so it worked out well. Metroparks will put some barriers there as well as part of the agreement.”

As part of the memorial project, some of the trees will come down, but not all as they are holding up the side of the hill, Vanni said.

A memorandum of understanding is currently being worked on.

“We have to temporarily donate the land,” Vanni said. “It’ll come before Council next month probably.”

After learning of his father’s hometown having a Gold Star Families Memorial Monument, Engle made a visit there in Wapakoneta, Ohio. After the visit, he was inspired to bring a similar monument to Willowick.

Engle has since met with city officials and has led the charge in bringing the monument.

Hershel Woody Williams, a Marine in World War II who fought at Iwo Jima, was the last living Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. After his death in 2022, a monument was dedicated in his hometown in West Virginia.

Since starting the monuments, the Woody Williams Foundation has been responsible for establishing Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments across the United States. The foundation continues to grow its reach by being involved in multiple initiatives across the country.

“He had a famous saying,” Engle said. “The saying is, ‘The cause is greater than I.’ He was a chief warrant officer in the Marines and wanted everyone to remember his motto.”

In Willowick, there are four Gold Star Families, the immediate family members of a service member who died in combat.

“We were able to locate one of the Willowick Gold Star Family members,” Engle said. “We do have two other families from the surrounding area — Willoughby and Wickliffe. The foundation requires that on our committee, we need to have at least one. We’ll have two, so that is great for us.”