Paul and Lucy Cortez moved from Texas to Chicago in 1962 and then to Streamwood in 1966, where they raised a family of 6 kids.
“My brothers played baseball at Dolphin Park,” recalls daughter Brenda Sayre, “Back then they were called the Babe Ruth Fields.
Brenda’s sons also played Little League Baseball at Dolphin Park and her mother Lucy never missed a game.
When Paul passed away in 1986, Lucy decided to take her husband back to be laid to rest to their hometown in Texas, where they planned to retire together.
Even though her mother remained a widow, many of her children married, had kids of their own and remained local. Brenda believed Lucy was happy not only watching her kids grow up here but her grandkids as well.
“This is our home,” said Brenda.
When Grandma Lucy, as she was known, passed on April 15, the family took her to Texas to be buried next to Paul but also felt it was important to preserve her memory here in Streamwood.
Working with the Streamwood Park District, Brenda was able to arrange for a Memorial Tree to be planted just beyond the outfield fence at one of the fields at Dolphin Park adjacent to the scoreboard.
“That’s why the memorial tree is so important to us,” said Brenda, “She may not be buried there, her bones are not here, but we have so many memories with her here and would like a place dedicated to her, where we can visit and remember her.”
On Thursday, September 22, Parks crews were honored to plant the memorial tree in Grandma Lucy’s memory.
For more information about the Streamwood Park District’s Memorial Program and how you can memorialize a loved one with a memorial tree, bench or brick, visit https://streamwoodparks.org/parks/memorial-program/.