North Township first responders are looking for an outpouring of support from the community to make the dream of a memorial for fallen first responders a reality.

It was just a little more than a year ago when Highland Police Cmdr. John Banasiak approached North Township Trustee Frank J. Mrvan about the idea of a permanent monument dedicated to fallen police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel at Wicker Memorial Park. 

“Highland has, sadly, lost two police officers in the line of duty,” Banasiak said. “Our town has named parks in memory of Donald R. Sheppard and Robert J. Markley and have dedicated monuments in the parks to those officers, but I wanted to do more to ensure those in the township who have made the ultimate sacrifice are never forgotten.”

Mrvan embraced the plan and began working with Banasiak to assemble a coalition of first responders from Whiting, East Chicago, Hammond, Munster and Highland.

Dean Savarino, president of Dean’s Landscaping of Schererville, as well as Kevin Nordyke and Shelley Marshall of Hillside Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Highland, have created a rendering and video (above) of the monument with input from the group. 

“Since it was dedicated nearly a century ago, Wicker Memorial Park has been a serene setting for people to honor and remember those who have given their lives in service to our country,” Mrvan said. “It seems fitting for the park to also be a place of reflection and memorializing our first responders who have made the ultimate sacrifice as they protected us here at home.”