Memorial to honor volunteer, environmentalist Joy Sacopulos

Howard Greninger, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·3 min read

May 13—A masonry and stone memorial is being constructed to honor the legacy of community volunteer and environmentalist Joy Sacopulos, who worked to improve the quality of life in Terre Haute and whose dream it was to make "the city and parks more tree-friendly."

The memorial will serve as an entryway from the National Road Heritage Trail along Poplar Street into Deming Park.

"It is in memory of Joy Sacopulos, one of our founding members of TREES Inc. established in 1990. We thought it would be a great way to honor her and her legacy and what she has done not only for Terre Haute and our community, but for Indiana," said Kimberly M. Kimbler, president of TREES.

"She was so much of a mentor to me and was a very special lady," Kimbler said, as Sacopulos, a retired teacher, not only worked to educate people on the importance of trees, but also to educate about sustainability.

And Sacopulos helped spur other projects, such as the crow patrol, launching "Bird Bangers" into the sky to discourage crows from piling droppings in city neighborhoods, to improve the quality of life in the city, Kimbler said.

The entryway is a cement block wall with Indiana stone facing. Construction should be completed by the end of this week, according to Kenny Clymer of Clymer Masonry of West Terre Haute. The stone will match a wall at the Holly Arboretum in Deming Park.

As part of the memorial, TREES will plant 10 white oaks in Deming Park.

"Those 10 oak trees symbolize the TREES Inc. logo," Kimbler said, "and how the white oak tree is also a native tree to Indiana. That was also one of Joy's favorite trees."

The white oaks will be planted from the new entryway through the park to Dogwood Point, near the swimming pool in Deming Park. That area is dedicated in memory of Luke Dever, also a co-founder of TREES.

Dogwoods were another favorite tree of Sacopulos and for Dever, who sought to plant dogwoods through Terre Haute and Vigo County inspired by a similar initiative in his former home in Knoxville, Tennessee, that later turned into a festival. However, an outbreak of a disease affecting dogwoods stopped the idea for several years.

The new entryway is a collaboration of the Terre Haute Parks and Recreation Department, TREES and the Sacopulos family.

"It will be a nice touch to the trail and Deming Park," said Parks Superintendent Eddie Bird.

"TREES Inc. came to a park board meeting with the idea. We all knew the hard work and overall accomplishments Joy and TREES has completed for the parks department and overall city," Bird said. "TREES made the memorial idea an easy answer for us all, so the board gave them the okay to move forward."

Bird said Sacopulos "not only cared about the city of Terre Haute but believed in her dream of making the city and parks more tree-friendly. You can't say enough about her overall commitment to TREES and her desire to improve the city and parks properties."

Kimbler said Michael and Peter Sacopulos, Joy's sons, along with her husband, Gus, helped to write what will be placed on a bronze plaque on the entryway wall in her memory.

The plaque will read:

"Joy Sacopulos, 1939-2019, a community volunteer, environmentalist, and a lifelong resident of Terre Haute. She helped found TREES Inc. in 1990. Thousands of trees, dozens of which are in this park, were planted by TREES Inc. volunteers.

"Joy was Phi Beta Kappa, president of Kappa Alpha Theta, Boy Scout Silver Beaver, a Teacher, a St. Benedict Church Extraordinary Minister.

Over a lifetime of service and dedication, Joy Sacopulos worked to make Terre Haute a better place. May Joy's example serve to inspire others to make our community a better place."

A formal dedication of the memorial will be scheduled when the entryway is completed, Kimbler said.

Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward.