Wackerlin family hope for return of stolen memorial in Ottawa

Beth Wackerlin hopes that all people will be like her late son and “live and love” as he did, but there’s one person in particular she wants that sentiment to reach and hopefully change in a meaningful way.

That person is the one who stole a decorated bench – a memorial to her son, Wayne Wackerlin, who in 2017 died in a work accident at the age of 25. The bench was taken from the corner of Washington and Post streets in Ottawa.

“I just don’t understand how someone would do something like that, just take something from someone’s yard. If people knew the story, they wouldn’t have taken it, but they did.”

—  Beth Wackerlin, mother of the late Wayne Wackerlin

The bench – one of two made from the ends of an old bed frame, was painted white, cushioned and had the words “live and love like Wayne” written across the backrest, all through Beth’s hands. The bench was placed at the corner in front of 1030 Post St., the house that Wayne Wackerlin owned and lived in at the time of his passing.

“Someone just helped themselves to it, a bench that has more meaning than they know,” said Beth Wackerlin, fighting back a tear. “I had just redone it over the summer, so I think someone just saw it, liked it and thought they’d just take it. … It was out there a long time, and there was never a problem. It’s so frustrating and disappointing. There’s no respect for personal property.

“I just don’t understand how someone would do something like that, just take something from someone’s yard. If people knew the story, they wouldn’t have taken it, but they did.”

The Wackerlins have done several things to memorialize their son, including starting the Wayne Wackerlin Memorial Fund that annually hands out scholarships to deserving young entrepreneurs like him.

It was six years ago, only a year after his passing, that Beth Wackerlin, who with her husband Russell lives in Leland, first placed the bench on the corner after noticing elderly people from the Ravlin Apartments making the long walk along Washington Street to the downtown area.

“One day I was working on the landscaping, and I saw an older gal walking along, and it’s a long way to Handy Foods,” Wackerlin said. “I made a point to watch for her on the way back. When she did, I saw she was stopping to rest, so I introduced myself and asked her if she’d like to sit down, and she did. I told her I put this here for people like you, to take a break ... a nice place for someone to sit, relax and rest.”

Each year, she did a little more cleaning and landscaping around it, setting it on bricks so it wouldn’t sink into the soil when sat upon, placing mulch around it, etc. Last summer, after noticing the paint was peeling, she refurbished the entire bench to perfection.

It was shortly after Christmas when Beth Wackerlin was doing some renovations at the house they inherited from their son that she last noticed the bench.

However, on another such trip Feb. 3, she saw it was gone.

The Wackerlins didn’t filed a police report because they were unsure of how exactly the bench went missing. Wackerlin did immediately post it on Facebook and has had many reactions to the theft, most of them anger and disbelief, but so far there are no leads to its whereabouts.

“His name has three or four coats of polyurethane on it, so that won’t come off easily,” she said. “It’s something that most people would recognize, so it was probably taken by someone who doesn’t live around here. … That’s why I thought social media might help. If anyone sees it, we hope they can contact us so we can get it back.”

Until then, Beth Wackerlin is working on the twin of that bench, but it will take some time to make it as finely crafted as the missing one.

“I’m going to do it again, and I’m going to put it out, but this time I will anchor it in better, chains or maybe cement it in,” Wackerlin said. “Enough people sat in it that I think it’s a good thing to have out there.

“You know, when you lose someone, people you see at a store or somewhere avoid you because they don’t know what to say, so they walk down the next aisle. I always say, ‘Say his name, tell his stories, talk about him,’ and putting the bench out there is a reminder to do that. I hope people will remember him and do that.”