Glenwood dedicates memorial for soldier

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The village of Glenwood recently dedicated a memorial garden at Veterans’ Park in honor of 2nd Lt. Derwin Williams, who was killed in 2009 while serving in Afghanistan with the Illinois National Guard.

Williams’ wife, Felicia, attended the ceremony and said her husband would have been honored to have a park named after him, especially a park that provides a place for children to play.

“Derwin would be so honored by this,” Felicia said. “Kids will play in this park, and this is so fitting for Derwin because he loved children. He was so willing to give his time; anything he could do to help. He was a very courageous person.”

“I am just honored that he will be the face that the kids and people will see when they come here just to sit and to reflect, and to just have a moment to themselves,” she said “They will be able to look and to honor him. He is so deserving of it.”

Williams, a resident of Glenwood, lived in the neighborhood near the park. Village President Kerry Durkin said it was an easy decision to dedicate the Veterans’ Park garden in honor of Williams.

“We started this program of redoing the parks while Derwin was alive and lived on the next block,” Durkin said. “We thought this would be a very appropriate tribute to his memory and to the sacrifice that his family has made.”

Durkin encouraged the community to use the park as a place to reflect.

“I would hope that in time coming when you really need a place for solace, especially those that are veterans that you could come here and have a place to reflect,” he said.

Among those in attendance were members of Williams’ National Guard unit, the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and officers from the Cook County Corrections Department, where Williams worked as a corrections officer.