By Jim Bloch
The city of Port Huron has accepted a donation from the Hannah R. Winkler Memorial Fund in the amount of $18,736 for the purchase and installation of a new pavilion in Harrison Pointe Park.
The city council voted unanimously at its regular meeting April 14 to approve the donation.
The “Hannah R. Winkler Memorial Fund was established in March 2020 in honor and remembrance of Hannah Winkler, who battled a congenital heart and lung condition until her passing on Dec. 26, 2019, at the tender age of 23,” according to the resolution accepting the gift. “Hannah Winkler is fondly remembered for her infectious joy, her passion for children and her platform for raising awareness for invisible disabilities and illnesses; the Hannah R. Winkler Memorial Fund carries on the legacy of Hannah Winkler through annual scholarships to local high school seniors, extra-curricular classes for local children, and various supports for individuals with visible and invisible disabilities.”
“Our community has been very blessed to have the Winkler family,” said City Manager James Freed, as heard on the recording of the meeting posted on the city’s website. “The Winkler family’s beautiful daughter Hannah’s memory has been forever forged in this community through our parks, whether it’s Gratiot Park or, now, Harrison Pointe Park. The family has done a tremendous job to pay it forward.”
Hannah’s mom Cathy addressed the council.
“We lost our daughter Dec. 26, 2019,” said Cathy. “Her first birthday after she passed, March 1, 2020, we decided to do a scholarship that was family funded. It did help with the grief. Then we started raising more money doing a golf outing. Hannah absolutely loved this community. She was very involved. She graduated from Port Huron High School and then went onto St. Clair County Community College and got her early childhood education degree. She loved children. She loved anyone with a disability. She loved animals and she really loved Port Huron. So, we want to give back.”
“Ms. Winkler, I went by Gratiot Park tonight and it was just filled with people,” said Freed.
“I know,” said Winkler. “I love it.”
“The way you speak of her, she must have been a very, very fine and bright young woman,” said Mayor Anita Ashford. “This is a way that her legacy lives on. It does help with the grief. But you know what? It’s the healing you’re at now, because it’s action. When you leave that grieving, action lifts everything up within you.”
“It makes all the difference,” said Winkler.
“And makes you that much stronger,” said Ashford. “So, you just keep doing what you’re doing. We appreciate everything you’re doing in her memory… I know she is smiling down on us.”
The audience applauded.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
