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By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff WriterTo know her was to love her, and those who did gather to dedicate a garden to remember a vivacious 9-year-old.
PINELLAS PARK - The background noise of joyous screams from kids at play on Davis Field served as a poignant contrast to a somber service in honor of a child who died too soon.
The service last week at Girls Inc., across from Davis Field, was designed to dedicate a garden to the memory of 9-year-old Ember Coolbaugh.
Ember died Aug. 12, 2004, when she was electrocuted after touching a copper pipe on an outdoor water heater near her Pinellas Park home. Leaking water had reached the contacts for the power and energized the heater and the pipes attached to it. Ember was standing in a puddle of water when she touched the pipe.
Before her death, Ember had participated in programs at Girls Inc. for three years. A staff favorite, Ember was known for being "spirited, opinionated, a real girly girl in one respect," said Kathy Christopher, director of program operations. "In another respect, she didn't have any problem climbing trees. I think everyone definitely had a soft spot for Ember."
On Wednesday, about 40 playmates, staff members, teachers and family members gathered in front of the garden for a 30-minute ceremony.
"Ember is special to me because we are good friends in the purple club," said Ember's best friend, Amanda Haugh. "Ember and I helped start the purple club."
The club, said 10-year-old Amanda, was just what its name suggested - an informal group of kids and counselors from Girls Inc. who liked the color purple.
"Ember was always there if you were sad," Amanda read from a memoir she had written. "She was funny and she always had a bright smile on her face.
"The purple club was always there for Ember, too. Ember and the purple club loved all kinds of animals like dogs, horses and cats. If Ember were still alive, I would have invited her to go horseback riding with me.
"She was as special to me as she was to her family."
When it came time to light a candle to Ember's memory, Amanda stepped forward. Lighting the candle took a moment in the light breeze, but Amanda persisted until the flame burned brightly in the corner of the garden of remembrance.
The garden was the brainchild of Girls Inc. staff members who knew and loved Ember.
Doris Williams, assistant director of the Girls Inc. center, 7700 61st St. N, was the driving force. She encouraged Home Depot to provide most of the labor and plants (mostly purple, of course) for the garden.
Williams also secured a grant that went to Gulfport artist Blaine Whitford, who designed a mural for the wall behind the garden. Whitford simplified the design, which has a Tuscan flavor, so that Ember's friends and other girls could paint the parts they could reach.
"It's their art," Whitford said. "It's great. . . . It's a happy place. It's not somber. It's calm, but it's alive. What better way to honor someone?"
And judging from the comments of those who attended Wednesday evening's dedication, the garden was a hit.
Murmurs of "it's gorgeous" and "wow, that looks so nice" punctuated the conversation.
Had people looked at the plot before the garden was there, they would have seen "a sordid patch of weeds, and that's being complimentary," said Renee McInnis, Girls Inc. executive director.
"It's a quiet little space," she said. "This has been a labor of love."
After the ceremony, Ember's grandparents, who raised her, praised the garden and the thought behind it.
"It was a great honor to have them dedicate something for her," Wilma Beliveau said.
Beliveau said she wanted her granddaughter to be remembered as "the most beautiful, bright, vivacious child. . . She hated no one. . . (She was) a giving child full of love. She knew no stranger."