Luke's Memorial Bench


In October 2017 we installed a memorial bench in Luke's honor on the hillside in the Town of Paris Park, overlooking the swimming pools where Luke served as a lifeguard. The bench was funded by the generous donations of caring community members, who chose to give toward a memorial for Luke. Because of the continued schism in our family, due to the wedge of loyalty to the Irwins, an actual memorial service was not possible. I decided, as the eldest and legal next-of-kin to Luke, that a publicly located memorial was best. Also, I did not want to continue holding on to the monetary donations and felt the community deserved a place to honor our hero.

I am grateful to the board members of the Town of Paris who easily agreed to my request and graciously supplied the concrete slab on which the bench is installed. Abundant thanks to all those who donated to the GoFundMe account and have offered support throughout this tragedy. Luke's uncles, Tim and Jason Leonard, attached the bench to the slab.


Luke's Uncle Tim and Aunt Mary


A perfectly lovely location
If you'd like to visit the memorial, the Paris Town Park is located at 2580 Sulphur Springs Rd,
Sauquoit, NY. The bench sits on the hillside behind the pools.


A smaller, impromptu memorial exists at the corner of the driveway to the Word of Life Building located at 3354 Oneida St, Chadwicks, NY. Neighbors placed various items around a tree, and then we added a Superman logo, which Luke's uncle Jason created for us. Luke is to me Superman defeating Doomsday.


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