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Memorials in Sligo Park
- Memory is a man's real possession. In nothing else is he rich.
- Alexander Smith
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Memorials in Sligo Park
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Memorials on this page are described in order from New Hampshire Avenue upstream to Maple Avenue.
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Robert Harmon, Jr. and Robert HobstetterPlaque on bridge at New Hampshire Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway, on the Parkway corner across from the commercial center. |
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On August 1969 a violent evening thunderstorm dropped four inches of rain in our area. By midnight rising creek waters had stranded a Virginia family on the Parkway, two blocks up from New Hampshire. The family escaped through windows and reached the New Hampshire bridge.
Two volunteer firefighters, Robert Harmon, Jr. and Robert Hobstetter from the Chillum - Adlephi Company, soon arrived and found the family "perched on the cement downstream railing of the bridge." As the rescuers reached the railing to help, macadam at the edge of the bridge suddenly gave way. Water cascaded through the opening and, a third person reports, "it was like a big drain. We were just sucked in. My friends thought I was history, but I managed to grab a branch on the bank."
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Robert Harmon, 23, worked as a glassblower with NIH. He was wearing a lifeline when the macadam gave way, but the rope tangled around him underwater. He was brought to the Washington Sanitorium and Hospital, but died within an hour.
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Robert Hobstetter, 31, worked as a technician for TV station WTTG. He had recently moved to Bowie with wife and 5-year old daughter. While trying to save Harmon, Robert's lifeline gave way. He was swept a half-mile downstream and his body was found at 3am that night.
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Family members and a third rescuer were eventually saved by Takoma Park firemen.
Much of the Parkway was still under water the next morning. For more details |
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Jane and Loren Sasseen
Bench plaque located a short distance down the Trail from the Washington Adventist Hospital.
The bible quote was a favorite verse of Jane from Collossians, 3:14. 
The bench is angled for a view downstream. It was contributed in April 2002 by a close friend
Jane lived in Palmer, Alaska near Mt.Denali. She often visited her daughter, who resides near the Carroll Avenue bridge. With daughter and grandchildren, Jane walked and biked in the Park and appreciated nature.
who often went with Jane and family on outings to the Park. 
A law journal reports that in (apparently) 2001 a cocaine crack addict from three miles away knocked at Jane's house. He announced his intent to burglarize. When she didn't move fast enough to get her purse from a walk-in closet, he shot her in the forehead. Her body was later found buried under clothes and boxes. Over nine days the addict stole money he used for drugs by making daily ATM withdrawals. On the tenth day many ATMs were being monitored, and he was arrested. He received 99 years for murder and 19 more for robbery. |
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Sally Gagne March 2006 References |