A lasting memory of Hayley and Kelsey Byrne has been created with the dedication of a bench and plaque at a place where many remember the girls — Twin Ponds Park.
Members of Kelsey Byrne’s soccer team, called Blue Fusion, parents and friends gathered for the dedication ceremony at the park on Sunday, Feb. 27. Twin Ponds Park is one location where team soccer practices are held.
“This is testimony to two very special girls,” Blue Fusion coach Peter Thomsen said about the Byrne girls. “Many people will have known them and others won’t, but they will know that there is something special about them.”
Kelsey Byrne was a member of Blue Fusion for two years, Thomsen said, and Hayley Byrne was a member of a different soccer team, which recently changed their name from Comets to Hayley’s Comets. She, nonetheless, was well-known by members of her sister’s soccer team.
“Hayley would hang out at practices,” Thomsen said. “She was kind of like a little sister to the team.”
Hayley Byrne, 9, and Kelsey Byrne, 11, were found dead inside their father’s Edmonds home on Nov. 22. The girls’ father, Steve Byrne, was found dead in the backyard from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Steve Byrne had previously sent an e-mail to family and friends saying he was going to harm himself and his children. He was thought to be upset because his former wife, Suzanne Dawson, had been granted primary custody of the girls.
The idea to install a bench and plaque in memory of the Byrne girls originated when the 16 members of Blue Fusion began discussing ways to honor their late team member and her sister, said Vicki Wonser, Blue Fusion team manager.
“We met at a church as a group to just grieve and talk about positive ways to help the girls through the tragic situation,” Wonser said. “The girls came up with a whole list of ideas, one of them was the idea of a bench and plaque.”
The significance of the bench and plaque, Wonser said, is that it is located at one of the fields where Blue Fusion practices. She said the bench was funded through donations by team parents and from one of the memorial funds established for the Byrne girls.
A Mimosa tree was also planted nearby, Wonser said, and flowers were planted by a few of Hayley Byrne’s soccer team members and coach.
The Mimosa Tree is significant to the Byrne girls’ family, Thomsen said. Shortly before moving to Shoreline from Bainbridge Island, the girls’ family purchased the Mimosa Tree. They never planted it in Bainbridge Island, so decided to bring it with them to Shoreline.
Thomsen, who has coached Blue Fusion for the two years since its inception, said team members were very pleased with the ceremony and seeing their idea for a memorial bench come to fruition.
“Considering the whole situation, there were many tears,” Thomsen said. “But I think they felt good about coming together in a positive way. “
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