A Flemish Beauty pear tree will stand as a lasting memory of a Grade 1 teacher.
The Class of 1956 at Chemainus Elementary School (and eventual 1967 Chemainus Secondary grads) recently made the dedication to Letitia (Tish) Marks at the Chemainus United Church.
Class member Helen Stephen explained one of the apple trees in the garden of the church died last year.
“When thoughts turned to replacing it, I got in touch with a group of students that were in Mrs. Marks’ Grade 1 class and asked if they would be interested in donating some money so that we could buy a new tree in her memory,” Stephen noted. “She was very active in the church since she arrived in the early ’50s.”
There was a good response from those Stephen contacted and they decided to buy a winter pear tree called Flemish Beauty that would enable them to share fruit with the Chemainus Harvest House food bank in the years to come.
The tree is now a great symbolic gesture for a beloved teacher. Marks was visited by the group at the Steeples assisted living facility during its 50-year high school reunion in 2017.
