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Artificial Reef Sculpture to Honor
Fallen Firefighter
 Boynton
Beach, FL - August 24, 2005
-- Sculptors
at Stone Grove Memorials are completing a six thousand
pound sculpture that will soon become part of an artificial
reef commemorating fallen firefighter Peter Firehock.
The off duty Delray Beach firefighter was murdered on
December 22, 2001 while riding his bike in the woods with
his dog Pepper. Pete’s fellow Fire-Rescue workers are
coordinating the deployment while coping with the tragic
loss of this twenty-three year veteran firefighter. An
avid diver, Pete will soon be memorialized with an artificial
reef off Palm Beach County.
Firehock joined Delray Beach Fire-Rescue in 1978. Throughout
his career Pete became an integral and vital member of
the department. He was instrumental in the development
of the Delray Beach Special Operations Team and was the
founder of the Fire-Rescue Dive Team. Pete became a Fire
Academy instructor and was recognized throughout the state
for his expertise in many special operations disciplines.
The sculpture replicates a life size diver gliding over
a reef formation with memorial messages carved into stone
panels affixed to the monument. The creation of the memorial
was started over two years ago by Stone Grove Memorials
in Boynton Beach, Florida. Owner Christopher O’Hare who
comes from a family of New York firefighters says he was
moved by Pete’s story and contacted the fire department
with his idea of creating and donating the monument. Stone
Grove Memorials typically creates small cremation urns
called “Personal Monuments” that weigh about 15 pounds
each. This time O’Hare directed his sculptors to create
a memorial over 400 times larger. “Our sculptors have
spent years carving memorial art for cremation families.
The Stone Grove collection includes over one thousand
sculpted images all less than eight inches across. Pete’s
memorial was a challenge that we met with respect and
enthusiasm,” says O’Hare.
On Friday September 2nd 2005, the monument
will make the trip from Palm Beach Inlet to a pre-selected
location adjacent to the existing Governor’s River Walk
Reef. There it will be submerged in the ocean to a depth
of nearly ninety feet. The statue is designed to resist
the Gulfstream current and the shape and complexity of
its interior chambers will provide habitat for marine
life.
The barge carrying the monument is scheduled to depart
its dock at 7:00 AM on Thursday morning. About 100 passengers
will participate in a short memorial ceremony on the barge
just prior to deployment. Firefighters throughout Florida
are expected to attend. Many will come prepare to dive
and plan to form an informal underwater Honor Guard to
accompany the monument down to its final resting place
on the reef.
Stone Grove
Memorials is a leading provider of personal memorials
for the cremation consumer in North America. The company
designs, manufactures and distributes “Personal Monuments”
which are made available through funeral homes in the
United States and Canada. Stone Grove Memorials has created
the world’s largest collection of sculpted memorial images.
Customers can select from over 1000 designs to create
a memorial as unique as the person it honors. Custom cremation
memorials are made one at a time and can be delivered
to the funeral home the next day.
Stone
Grove Memorials, Personal Monuments and Every Life Deserves
to be Remembered are either trademarks or registered trademarks
of Stone Grove Memorials. All sculpted and printed images
are visual arts copyright protected property of Stone
Grove Memorials.
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Specs
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High Res
(few minutes to open) |
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File
Name:
Dimensions:
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Diver.jpg
1600 x 1200 @300dpi
5.49 MB |
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File Name:
Dimensions:
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Plaque.jpg
1600 x 1125 @300dpi
4.83 MB |
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