KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Two years ago, Kalamazoo was in chaos. A murderer stormed the city, shooting and killing people throughout the area. In the end, the shooter killed six people and critically injured two more.
Now, the victims’ families are working to make sure they’re remembered as “forever strong.”
“The hurt, the devastation, the getting up and wanting the nightmare to not be true, it doesn’t go away,” Laurie Smith, whose husband Rich and son Tyler were among those slain, said Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the shooting spree. “It’s there.”
But she and other victims’ families refuse to let the pain take over. They’ve created the ForeverStrong Memorial Foundation and are working to follow through on plans to build a large memorial.
“I have never felt God work in my life like I have when I’m working on this project,” Smith said. “It literally takes your breath away.”
The memorial will feature a memorial walkway and pavilion — called the Memorial Axis — and a memorial soccer center. The Axis is expected to cost between $2 million and $3 million and the soccer center another $7 million, not including the cost of the land. The foundation plans to start fundraising this year.
Tyler Smith was an avid soccer player and his father was his biggest fan. Tyler Smith’s soccer coach Dan Bulley says some things are bigger than sports.
“It goes deeper than soccer,” he said.
The ForeverStrong organization is still working to find a location for the memorial. It said it has looked at eight spots, only one of which is still a viable option. It did not specify where that site is, though it said the “ideal property” would run along I-94 in Kalamazoo County. The original plan was for the Axis and soccer center to be on the same property, but that may have to change based on where property can be found.
Smith said she believes the foundation can help the community even before the memorial is complete.
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