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A bench, an oak sapling - and a lot of memories

Family members and friends gather at a memorial for Ali'Zeva Kormendy at Cypress Point Park.

By JANET ZINK
Published March 25, 2005

It was her home away from home.

Nearly every day, South Tampa resident Ali'Zeva Kormendy took her dog, Trinity, to a beach on Old Tampa Bay at Cypress Point Park.

Kormendy died of hepatitis C a year ago, three months after Trinity, a Doberman pinscher, died.

Last Sunday at sunset, about 30 family members and friends dedicated a bench and a sapling overlooking the water at Cypress Point Park to Kormendy. Before nibbling on a picnic of cheese, fruit, feta spread and wine, they remembered Kormendy and the affection she had for the place.

"This was her spot," said her sister, Jen, who traveled to Tampa from Vancouver, British Columbia, for the ceremony just one day short of the anniversary of her sister's death at age 46.

"She liked the fact that hardly anybody knew about it," said Kathryn Young, one of Kormendy's best friends. "It's a good place for her memorial."

Young's 10-year-old daughter, Geryn, said she came to the park often with Kormendy.

"It's really pretty. Her dog loved it. It was a place for her to relax. Somewhere to go think," she said.

Kormendy's mother, Agnes, said that whenever she flew from Toronto to visit her daughter in Florida, they went to the park every evening to walk along the beach and let the dog play in the water.

"We watched the beautiful sunset," she said. "That's why we wanted the bench here."

From their homes far from Tampa, Kormendy's family members coordinated the placement of the wood and metal bench and the planting of the live oak tree through the Mayor's Beautification Program, a nonprofit group that partners with the city, schools and neighborhood associations to beautify the city.

Kormendy and her dog frequented the beach before the city posted "No Dogs on Beach" signs last August. Now dogs are allowed in the park only if they are leashed.

Judy Dato, a board member with the program, presented the family with a plaque engraved with a passage written by Jen Kormendy that ends with the phrase: "You live on in our hearts forever."

Dato also paraphrased a quote from billionaire Warren Buffett: "Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

The bench will eventually hold a plaque noting Kormendy's birth and death dates.

The Mayor's Beautification Program regularly helps place memorial benches and trees. It costs $300 to $500 to adopt an existing tree, $500 to $800 to plant a new one, $2,000 for a bench and $10,000 for a shelter, Dato said. The contribution is tax deductible.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a memorial can call Dato at 727 410-8805.Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 24, 2005, 08:15:13]