Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - At the time, Terry Vaassen didn't realize the significance when his daughter, University of Wisconsin-Platteville student Katie Vaassen, returned home from spring break talking about dolphins. Sharing gifts adorned with pictures of dolphins. Saying next time she was going to swim with the dolphins.

Some time later, Terry is talking to friend Taylor Page, a Platteville funeral director who hands him the lyrics to "Say a Little Prayer," a song Page heard on the radio the night before. Terry's ears perk up when he reads these words: "I'm gonna throw you in the ocean, and you will turn into a dolphin, and when you get all better, you will swim back to me." He asks Page what time the song came on the radio. The friend replies, 6 p.m.

That was the time Katie died.

People have different ideas about what death is. It is an end of some sort, certainly, but - just as some religions and philosophies assert - death can also be seen as a new beginning.

UWP alumna Katie Vaassen died May 13 at the tender age of 23. Months later, hundreds of individuals gathered at the Platteville Chamber of Commerce to not only celebrate what would have been Katie's 24th birthday but also to recognize that the love Katie shared with those around her during her lifetime endures.

Katie's Garden, located on the Rountree Branch Trail near the Platteville Chamber of Commerce, remains as a testament to the life of a woman whose time here on earth was too short. Hundreds of Platteville residents, UWP community members, friends and family members were on hand as the gardens were formally dedicated in Katie's honor July 25.

"Katie was special. She loved being outdoors, so a garden was perfect," Platteville Chamber of Commerce Director Kathy Kopp said. "Katie's Garden is full of flowers, which always make you smile and feel good, just like Katie did."

The Vaassen family has lived in Platteville since 1985. Katie began volunteering at the Platteville Chamber of Commerce following the eighth grade. By the time she graduated from high school in 1999, she had accumulated 800 hours of volunteer service at the chamber.

"She came almost every day, and would help do whatever project we had," Kopp said. "She was very creative, very organized, loved interacting with the public and was always up for a challenge."

Katie continued to work at the Chamber of Commerce throughout her college career, graduating from UWP with a degree in business administration in 2003. The idea to place a garden near the chamber site began to take root in fall 2003, and when Katie died in May 2004, the Chamber of Commerce Board unanimously voted to designate the garden in her honor.

Ground was broken on the gardens June 14, just a month and 11 days shy of the date selected for the dedication ceremony. Kopp said a host of community members and friends, many of them with little or no prior gardening experience, came out to help. Contractors worked extra hours to make sure the gardens were completed in time.

"These are very special people who literally performed miracles," Kopp told the crowd at the dedication ceremony. "When word of Katie's Garden got out, dozens of you called or stopped by to tell us you wanted to be a part of it. The garden is full of flowers and shrubs from many of your gardens, which makes this a truly unique space."

The gardens remain as a reflection of Katie's can-do attitude.

"Katie's Garden has evergreen trees which will rise above the rest of the garden in years to come and will stand as a tribute to rise above challenges. Their roots will be deep, just like Katie's," Kopp said.

"How quickly this has transpired, it's just amazing. All of the volunteer work and all the involvement of everyone, it's just wonderful. The gardens here are going to be a great thing for Platteville, and it's a wonderful thing in remembrance of Katie," Platteville Chamber of Commerce President Ron Holl said.

Katie's Garden is the first of many gardens planned as part of the Platteville Community Arboretum project, which seeks to develop nature areas along the Rountree Branch Trail. David Canny, member of the arboretum's board of directors, said the purposes of the arboretum are education, recreation, conservation and encouragement of cooperation within the community.

The overwhelming display of community support that made Katie's Garden possible holds special significance for those that knew her.

"You try to find a word that describes the outpouring of affection that each of you show for Katie," said David Driscoll, Katie's doctor at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester. "I think uplifting is perhaps the best word, because that's what Katie gave to all of us. She uplifted all of our souls. She was like a gift to us, a gift taken away too early."

"Katie was an exceptional person. Her bright smile, positive attitude and perseverance for life was contagious and inspirational to everyone she met. This is apparent in all the hard work her family and friends gave to create Katie's Garden," UWP graduate Becky Gill said. "I am so glad I had the opportunity to be good friends with Katie and know her family. She will always be in my memories and in my heart."

Katie died almost exactly one year after her graduation from UWP. Every semester hundreds of new UWP graduates participate in the ceremony known as commencement, but few may realize the term itself holds a certain duality. While a university commencement marks the end of a student's career, the word commencement is defined as "a beginning." UWP alumna Katie Vaassen may no longer be with us, but her spirit has found resurgence.

"Katie's Garden has a strength flowing through it which is always moving and seeking new adventures, just like Katie," Kopp said. "Katie's Garden is a new beginning, and is something that will continue on forever, constantly changing and ever evolving."