On an afternoon so perfect it must have been heaven-sent, Brownie Scouts from Sacred Heart Catholic Church bid farewell to one of their friends Tuesday.
They did so by planting a dogwood and placing a stone marker in memory of Janet Leichman.
Leichman, 62, was an assistant teacher and after-school coordinator at Sacred Heart who suffered a stroke early last December. She died Christmas Day.
“Mrs. Leichman taught Allison how to jump rope,” recalled Andrea Baucom, speaking of her 7-year-old daughter. “She was a very special lady.”
Plenty of others agreed.
Though the tree planting and memorial service was staged by the dozen or so members of Brownie Scout Troop 251, all the children from the church’s after-school program attended the program held under a beautiful spring sky.
Most of Leichman’s six children and nine grandchildren also attended.
“Janet so loved her school and her church,” Leichman’s husband, Donald, told the students who gathered on the Sacred Heart playground. “But above all, I know she loved you children.”
Brownie Scout leaders said Leichman never worked directly with the troop, though they said she had supervised all the girls at one time or another.
“Basically, the kids came up with the idea for all this,” said Nellie Bowen, troop leader. “They wanted to do something for Mrs.
Leichman. She was always here in this area, watching over her children.”
The dogwood was planted in a hole dug among a bed of buttercups, to the side of a jungle gym. During the ceremony, each Brownie took turns using a trowel to help cover the tree’s roots.
Leichman’s children also helped plant the dogwood.
A marker, reading simply, “In memory of Janet Leichman,” adorns the foot of the tree.
“Look at the young tree, it is as children,” said the Rev. Joseph Dinh, one of the priests at Sacred Heart. “Whenever we look at the tree, we know that Janet Leichman has started a new life in Jesus Christ.”
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