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Toho Wather Authoriy’s Jacki Torbert provided the keynote address at Friday’s City of Kissimmee’s annual employee memorial. PHOTO/DAVID CHIVERS
On a breezy, sunny Friday morning, the City of Kissimmee, Toho Water Authority, and Kissimmee Utility Authority held their annual Employee Memorial Service in the shadow of the Employee Monument at City Hall.
Originally started to remember employees who passed away while still working for the city, the event now also celebrates those municipal employees who have retired in the past year, and remembers retirees who have passed away.
Following Toho Water Authority employee Angela Perez’s moving recitation of Margaret Mead’s poem “Remember Me” , which urged, “For if you always think of me, I will never be gone,” the names of this year’s 18 honored retirees were read.
Jacki Torbert of the Toho Water Authority gave the keynote address.
“This is a reverent occasion which is deserving of all the grandeur we as fellow public servants should show in honor of these employees that have given so much to our community. We’re here to celebrate their service today” she said. “This community is a better to place to live, work and play because of these dedicated servants who chose to enter into the public arena, not to become rich or famous, but to contribute and in some cases to even sacrifice to build this community.”
The address was followed by the placing of a single red rose before the monument by members of the Kissimmee Police and Fire Departments, sometimes accompanied by family members, for each of 55 names of employees who passed away since 1983 while still actively employed by one of the three municipal agencies. Eleven white roses were then placed together as the names of 11 retirees who passed away this year were read.
A soulful rendition of the Sarah McLachlan song “Angel” was sung by Toho Water Authority employee Gwen Henry.
The Employee Monument was initially displayed at City Hall in 1988, before moving to Kissimmee Lakefront Park in 1993. It was returned to the front of City Hall in 2010.
Master of ceremonies Justin Hetu, a City of Kissimmee employee, noted that this year the recent retirees names have not been engraved on the monument as in past years, as the space left for such engravings is increasingly limited. A committee has been formed which will put out a nationwide call for artists to submit ideas for revision of the current monument or adaptation of it to better honor those who have retired or passed.
