New memorial dedicated to 9/11 victims seen in Fairfield

A new memorial has been built in Fairfield to honor the victims of 9/11 ahead of the milestone anniversary.

News 12 Staff

Sep 10, 2021, 9:15 PM

Updated 1,178 days ago

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A new memorial has been built in Fairfield to honor the victims of 9/11 ahead of the milestone anniversary.
Oak Lawn Cemetery & Arboretum spans 100 sprawling acres and is a place people have come to mourn and remember loved ones for more than 150 years. Now, they can visit Oak Lawn to honor all those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
The new memorial has two 9-foot granite towers on top of a pentagon-shaped granite base. A rock engraved with the words "let's roll" pays tribute to the heroic final moments of Flight 93.
Along the walkway, the trees have a direct connection to ground zero.
"One of our board members visited the 9/11 site in New York City, gathered the acorns, took them back to his home nursery and then raised the trees. So these are the children of the trees at the 9/11 memorial," says Bronson Hawley, of Oak Lawn Cemetery and Arboretum.
It's a place to quietly reflect.
"What I think about is the day that I was teaching in Westport and we could see the smoke from the Twin Towers across Long Island Sound," says Patti Hiller.
Everything was meticulously designed by longtime groundskeeper Dean Powers.
"A very, very dedicated hardworking groundskeeper and he worked here literally seven days a week. He saw this site and he said, 'boy this is great and I’d like to do something to memorialize the victims,'" says Hawley.
Powers never got to see his concept come to be be. He died from cancer in June of last year at the age of 69.
"Dean started designing maybe three years ago, literally worked on those designs up until the day he died. It was just amazing," says Hawley.
The cost of the memorial is being covered by Powers' estate.
"He wanted to pay for it himself and that’s another very great gesture on his part," says Hawley. "It really is a magnificent representation. He would be very, very proud of it."
Oak Lawn will hold an official dedication ceremony next week. Jed Glick, the brother of one of the heroes who rushed the cockpit on Flight 93, will be part of it.