By Claudia Loucks
Correspondent
The Anderson Memorial Park has deep meaning for the Howard Beck family of Geneseo.
The green space is tucked away at the corner of Main and Illinois St., and holds a memorial to Howard Beck’s wife, the late Joni Beck, who died in 2022.
The memorial pathway with meditation area provides a means for him to honor his wife in a quiet and peaceful setting.
The memorial bricks are available to purchase through the Geneseo Park District Foundation.
Each paver is engraved with up to three lines of type with a maximum of 19 characters per line, including spacing, punctuation and special characters.
The pavers are ordered two times per year with Aug. 1 as the next deadline for orders, and the bricks ordered at that time will be installed by Nov. 1, weather permitting.
The Geneseo Park District will place the pavers along the pathway. Cost is $150 for a 4” x 8” brick paver and orders may be placed at geneseoparkdistrict.org/foundation and when at that site, click on the toggle at the top that reads “pavers.”
Joni Beck was employed at Geneseo Communications for many years and the ground for the initial part of Anderson Park was donated to the Geneseo Park District in 1999 from the Anderson family members who were connected to the telephone company. A second lot became part of the park in 2017 and the trees, sundial, path, shed and statue were added in 2018. Lights and new signage were installed in 2019 and the Girl Scout Library Box was put in place in 2020 with the phone booth and the Joni Beck Remembrance Path becoming part of the park in 2023.
After his wife’s death in 2022, Howard Beck approached the Park District with his idea of creating a Remembrance Path in the Anderson Park. It was his donation in memory of his wife that made it possible to create the pathway and stone sitting area in the park.
The path is lined with paver bricks to honor a loved one or commemorate a special occasion.
Beck shared how the idea for the pathway and mediation area came about…”Joni and I talked about what she wanted as a memorial while she was alive,” he said. “She told me that I should just do a memorial for her in Anderson Park. After she passed, I went to the park and looked at the options of doing something as a memorial for her.”
The Joni Beck Memorial Pathway and stone structure with a meditation area are the result of his thoughts and his donation.
Beck said, “I felt that this being a Memorial Park, there should be more opportunities for people to honor their loved ones in some way and the Pathway provides that opportunity.”