COLORADO SPRINGS — A bench at Bear Creek Regional Park in Colorado Springs now serves as a memorial for all the victims impacted by the Return to Nature funeral home.
Mary Simons came to Colorado Springs on Thursday to visit the memorial bench. It is dedicated to the 190 victims of the Return To Nature Funeral Home, which includes her husband, Darrell Simons.
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It was the first time she saw the memorial bench.
“It's beautiful, it's just beautiful,” Simons said.
Seeing the bench was emotional for Simons, something she was not expecting.
“They will never be forgotten now,” Simons said.
The bench sits in the shade with the sound of a creek nearby.
“Just sitting here is so peaceful and so nice. You know, you feel like you're out in nature, you hear water and trees and wind and there's a nice breeze that is amazing,” Simons said.
A plaque is placed in the middle of the bench that reads, “Dedicated in loving memory to victims and families never forgotten Penrose, Colorado 2023.”
“This means that we won't be forgotten and that our loved ones won't be forgotten. People remember us and remember the tragedies that we have, we're still going through,” Mary said.
Simons said other victims' families fundraised the money to get the memorial made.
“Parks and Rec worked with them to get it up so fast. Everybody's just coming together, you know, helping in one way or another, donating, doing what they can, it's amazing to me,” Simons said.
She said many of the victims' families have created a supportive community for one another. It's been something that Simons has really enjoyed and relied on.
“I'm thankful, I'm very thankful that we won't be forgotten. You kind of figure in a few years, everybody will forget and we can't let that happen. Because if that happens, it might happen again. This (memorial) really honors all 190 people. It really does honor them and that makes me happy,” Simons said.
In October 2023, investigators found 190 bodies improperly stored inside the Return to Nature Funeral Home building in Penrose.
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“For so long, you've got horrible images in your head and this kind of takes them away,” Simons said.
The bench serves as a tribute to those impacted.
“It's a beautiful Memorial, you know, to our loved ones, it means the world,” Simons said.
As well as a place where families, like Simons, can come honor their loved ones.
“We literally took something that was just horrific. And we've turned it into something beautiful,” Simons said.
News5 asked Simons what her husband would think of the memorial.
“I've thought about that a lot lately with a lot of the things I've done, and I think he would be so proud of all of us, of how well we've all come together, how we've joined and made a community and we're all there for each other. And I think he'd be amazed by what happened, what came out of all this,” Simons said.
Simons describes the memorial as a peaceful place.
“For us it is a place to sit and reflect and to remember why we're doing what we're doing. It doesn't feel like it's for nothing. It feels like we're making an impact and I hope that anybody who walks by and sees this has questions and looks for answers, because that will help this never happen again,” Simons said.
Simons hopes the land where the funeral home in Penrose once stood will also be turned into a memorial.
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