Arnold is home to the first permanent memorial in Jefferson County to recognize those who have died from COVID-19.
The county’s new Yellow Heart Memorial was unveiled Dec. 8 at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road.
Right now only one name is part of the memorial – the late Howard Wagner, a longtime county circuit clerk, who died from COVID-19 on Dec. 8, 2020, at age 74.
But, organizers are seeking names of other county residents who died because of the virus to be included in the memorial, which is displayed on a wall in the hallway leading to the rec center.
Names will be added for free and will be written on yellow hearts and placed in one of the 48 heavy plastic holders affixed to the wall. The memorial also includes an aluminum plaque that says, “Yellow Heart Memorial Remembering Loved Ones We Have Lost to COVID.”
As of Monday, the city had not received any requests to add names to the memorial, but it had received about six phone calls asking about how to submit a name, Arnold Parks and Recreation supervisor Teresa Kohut said.
County residents may submit names for the memorial through the city of Arnold’s website at arnoldmo.org/yellow-heart-memorial. County residents also may fill out a form at the rec center or call the Arnold Parks and Recreation Department at 636-282-2380 for more information or to submit information about the memorial.
The city paid Warren Signs of Arnold $10,815 to create the memorial, City Administrator Bryan Richison said.
“This memorial is a way for the folks who have lost loved ones to help them with the grieving process,” Mayor Ron Counts said. “We are proud of the idea. It is something that is catching on all over the country, and we think it will be something the city of Arnold and Jefferson County will be proud of.”
First name
Megan Wagner-Westermayer spearheaded the effort to create the Yellow Heart Memorial in Jefferson County after the death of her father, who was a longtime De Soto resident.
She got the idea from a Carrollton, Texas, woman, Rosie Davis, who started making temporary memorials by printing the names of people who have died from COVID-19 on yellow paper hearts. She started the movement after her mother, Mary Castro, 75, died due to complications from the virus in May 2020, according to the Yellow Heart Memorial website.
“I hope this brings attention to COVID-19,” said Wagner-Westermayer, 37, of Festus. “I hope this will bring some peace to families who have lost loved ones to COVID. I hope it brings awareness to the severity of COVID-19 and reminds people that we have to take care of each other and our community so more lives are not lost.”
Davis, 45, who traveled from the Dallas area to Arnold for the unveiling of the memorial, said it was important for a permanent memorial to be created.
Her temporary memorial was started in her backyard but has been moved to the Irving Archives and Museum in Texas.
“I never thought we would see a permanent memorial,” Davis said. “Now, I know it is possible. I can’t wait to see other cities follow suit.”
She said city officials in Irving, Texas, are planning to create a permanent memorial, as are officials in Norwalk, Calif., Scranton, Pa., New York City and Washington, D.C.
“Our loved ones deserve to be remembered,” Davis said. “We don’t want history to repeat itself and be another 1918 when so many lives were lost (to the Spanish flu) and no lives were memorialized.”
Several of Howard Wagner’s family members were on hand for the memorial unveiling – his wife, Julie Wagner; their daughter, Wagner-Westermayer; and her daughters, Elizabeth, Tilly and Gracie Westermayer. To unveil the memorial, the Wagner family, Davis and Counts pulled down two black curtains, revealing the plaque and name holders, including the one filled with Howard Wagner’s name.
Julie Wagner, 73, of De Soto said she is proud of her daughter’s efforts to get the memorial created and thankful to Arnold officials for giving the memorial a permanent home.
“I’m so proud of her trying to get out the word for people to pay attention that this is serious,” Julie Wagner said. “Masks help, vaccines help and we don’t want anyone else to lose a loved one like we lost ours. I’m just grateful that Arnold has allowed us to do this to get the word out, and so Howard and the others will not be forgotten. They are not just numbers.”
Mourning
Wagner-Westermayer teared up when looking at her father’s name on the wall.
“My father did not have a chance to get vaccinated, and he paid the ultimate price,” she said. “It is bittersweet because deaths can be prevented. If you get the vaccine, you have a better chance of surviving this.”
Wagner-Westermayer said she is happy people like her father, who served as Jefferson County associate judge from 1979 to 1984 and as Jefferson County circuit clerk from 1987 until his retirement in 2014, will be remembered because of the memorial. She also said she hopes it helps people cope with losing someone to COVID-19.
“We did not get to have the funeral,” Wagner-Westermayer said. “When someone passes, you usually get to be surrounded by family and friends. Because COVID was so full-blown at the time, we did not have that. There was never any closure with my dad. Seeing his name up there, it provides the sense that we can take two steps forward and see what the next chapter is.”
Richison said he hopes the memorial will bring a similar sense of closure for other county residents who submit names for the wall.
“Our hope is that people become more than a number and that we remember them and don’t forget this,” he said. “Hopefully, this will still be here for future generations so they remember or learn about what happened.”
Future
Richison said the memorial may be expanded if needed. He also said depending on the response the city receives, officials may decide to add names of people from outside the county who have died from COVID-19.
“Since no one has done this, I don’t know what kind of response to expect,” he said. “If we fill up quick and feel like we have a big waiting list that requires a big expansion, we will have to figure out how to pay for it.”
Davis said memorials like the one in Arnold will help educate future generations about the pandemic.
“This will stay in history,” she said. “They will know what happened, how it happened and we will know our loved ones will not just disappear into time.”
Richison said he does not expect the memorial to be controversial, despite the disputes that have arisen about how to stem the spread of the virus since the pandemic began in March 2020.
“This has nothing to do with masks, vaccines or mandates,” he said. “It is just trying to remember people who we have lost in our community. I would be really disappointed if anybody felt this was political. It is a memorial. It is to recognize and remember people who had died due to this pandemic. I don’t see anything political about that at all.”