KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Rose River Memorial is a community art movement that honors the lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Missouri’s installation is being preserved inside Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. Cities across the United States are making felt roses as a symbol of grief, each rose representing a life lost in their state.
Karen Bartlett and Heather Daugherty have participated in the project over the last year. It was a way for them to honor their late father, Craig Daugherty, who died from the virus. He was diagnosed in late September shortly after his and his wife’s 40th wedding anniversary. He relied on ECMO and a ventilator until his family made the decision to take him off life support.
“We never thought this would happen to our family. Our father passed away Nov. 14, 2020,” the sisters said.
Craig Daugherty served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a father, a grandfather and a husband. His daughters said their dad was a family man through and through.
“I was lucky in that I was able to stroke his head and hold his hand,” Bartlett said. “But the rest of us couldn’t, the rest of us couldn’t.”
Craig is now one of 10,000 roses represented at the Rose River Memorial. Tracy Hull with Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri has been involved in all of the efforts that brought this installation to Kansas City, so people like Craig can be remembered.
“I just kept thinking, each of these has a family, a story of when they were in the hospital,” Hull said. “I didn't realize how much 10,000 was.”
The sisters hope others who are experiencing loss will know they are not alone. Other family members say being a part of the project has even reunited their family.
“This would be a time when we could actually come together when we hadn’t been together for a very long time, and do something very meaningful to honor him and help us to heal,” their cousin, Lisa Peña, said.
The installation will be on display through Oct. 21, 2021. It will eventually head to its permanent home in Washington D.C. and join other memorials from around the country.
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