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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

Bench plaque 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 be 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.

Anne Marie died in a car accident at the corner of University Blvd. and Sligo Creek Parkway,
while 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.

William Edward Caswell

A red oak planted by the North Hills of Sligo Civic Association near the house of Julia Daitch, sister of William Caswell. The tree stands in a triangle of public lawn between Thornhill Road and Bruce Drive.

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

Alison Thresher

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

On May 23, 2000, Alison Thresher, who worked as a copy editor at the Washington Post, simply did not return home.

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