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A memorial ‘for Dennis’ By Buffy Pollock Updated: Nov 11, 2022 10:50 AM A A 3 View all photos Cathy Richardson at the new Dennis Richardson memorial being finished in Central Point. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Cathy Richardson at the new Dennis Richardson memorial being finished in Central Point. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Cathy Richardson holds a photo of her late husband, former Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, when he was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. [Buffy Pollock/Mail Tribune] For the first time since former Secretary of State — and onetime Central Point City Council member — Dennis Richardson helped spearhead the Oregon Fallen War Heroes Memorial, dedicated in 2008, the city won’t host a Veterans Day ceremony at the site. The reason is that city and contractor crews have been hard at work making improvements to the site, which bears the names of nearly 6,000 Oregon service members who have died in the line of duty from the Civil War to the present. In addition, the crews are creating an adjacent memorial in tribute to Richardson. City officials said this week they’re in the final stretch on the half-million dollar Dennis Richardson Memorial project. The tribute was announced last year, and a $552,000 bid was awarded to Knife River Corporation to complete the two-part project before year’s end. Momentum to create a tribute to Richardson had been in the works since his death in 2019. Richardson was a helicopter pilot during Vietnam, and before his career in state politics, he was a local business owner, a community volunteer and a dad. Community members showed up to planning meetings, eager to see a tribute built for Richardson. Seeing the site for the first time Thursday, Richardson’s wife, Cathy, who was married to her late husband for over four decades and raised eight children with him, was only slightly teary-eyed but mostly smiles and nostalgia. “Dennis would love this so much,” she said, running her fingers over one of the large rocks on the site. Richardson said the city reached out to the family prior to the pandemic to ask for feedback on what the site should look like. A soft-spoken, dignified leader, the late Secretary of State was not one for fuss. “We went down to City Hall when they had a meeting about it, and they were trying to come up with ideas. I remember some people said, ‘What about a statue?’” I laughed and said ‘Oh, Dennis wouldn’t have wanted a statue!’” Cathy Richardson remembered Thursday. “This is really peaceful. I think it’s going to be just right. I can picture families coming here to sit together. Family was everything to Dennis. The most important things were his family, his God and helping Oregon.” Richardson remembered her late husband lobbying to have the Fallen War Heroes memorial built, 11 years before succumbing to brain cancer. Ever the patriot, another project near and dear to his heart was reviving the historical cemetery tucked beneath the trees between the memorial and Hamrick Road. More good news for the area surrounding the now two-part memorial: The city of Central Point acquired ownership of the old cemetery last year and has made a host of repairs and tended to the once-ailing landscape. Richardson said the space for her late husband would be a nice addition to the war memorial and nearby cemetery. A quote from her husband, which will be unveiled when the site is dedicated on Memorial Day, and a photo will be incorporated into the new area. Surrounded by trees and bushes, the memorial to Richardson features a long ledge area for seating, a half-circle walkway and an area where a fountain will be installed. City parks planner and cemetery manager Dave Jacob confirmed Thursday that Veterans Day events wouldn’t happen this year, and groundbreaking of the Richardson memorial had been delayed until Memorial Day. Jacob said things were close, but not close enough, for a formal dedication. “Our goal was to have it completed by (Friday). We had an issue with the fountain not being delivered yet. We didn’t want to open up without the main feature, so we had to move it out just a little,” Jacob said. “It is nearly complete, as are the improvements on the existing war memorial. We’ve done a lot of work replacing landscaping and irrigation and electrical that needed redone. We’ll move everything to Memorial Day, and then we’ll be back on schedule with the regular events twice a year.” Jacob said city officials were thrilled to see the added tribute for Richardson. “It’s coming out really well. To go from only seeing it in a drawing to now seeing the actual thing, it’s more impressive than I thought it would be. Once the water feature goes in, it’s going to look really good. Holding off until spring (for dedication), all the plants will be more established.” Enjoying a few hours of sunshine Thursday, a small group of dog walkers strolled by the memorial site and noted the addition to the park was “for Dennis.” Cathy Richardson smiled at the trees that had matured from the original Fallen Heroes Memorial and looked forward to the newly planted trees — “for Dennis” — providing shade for the site. She hoped the improved site would be a peaceful place for local veterans and their families to come and reflect. Her husband’s death, she noted, was likely due to his own time serving his country. “It was the Agent Orange. He flew through it, and it just really wreaked havoc on our veterans who were over there,” she said. “Dennis worked so hard to get the memorial put in. It meant a great deal to him, and I know this would mean a lot, for this to be here, too. It’s just going to be a really special space.” Local Veterans Day events Eagle Point Senior Community Center Veterans Day breakfast is free for veterans, $7 for non-veterans. A breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, juice and coffee will be served. The location is 121 Loto St. Stone Ridge Golf Course will host an event on behalf of the Veterans Golf Club of Southern Oregon featuring “four person scramble”; proceeds to benefit the Quilts of Valor Program. Southern Oregon Concert Band will perform a Veterans Day concert at 7 p.m. at the North Medford High School auditorium, 1900 Keene Way, Medford. The band will feature “Civil War Suite” and music from the World War I era, including “Over There,” by George M. Cohen; “The Golden Star” by John Philip Sousa; and Carmen Dragon’s arrangement of “America the Beautiful,” closing with Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis.” Admission is free, but donations are “gratefully accepted.” For more information, email [email protected] Southern Oregon University will offer free admission to all veterans for its football game Saturday (kickoff is at 1 p.m.), with veterans celebrated throughout the game.