Steve Conroy doesn’t want his son Sean to be forgotten. And he wants respect for his family and others in similar dire straits.
It was those kinds of concerns that led him to the Delaware County Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.
It was my honor to host him, along with chapter President Jane McPhee and member Marilyn Dougherty and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan last night for a very special ‘Live From the Newsroom,’ our weekly live-stream Internet broadcast. If you missed it you can catch the replay here.
McPhee and Dougherty can feel Conroy’s pain. And his concern. They’ve both lost children to random violence.
I have to admit I was thinking of the Conroy family yesterday when the news started moving about a shooting on SEPTA’s broad street line. Every time there is an incident involving SEPTA I think about Sean Conroy. He grew up here in Delco, but was living in the city and working as the manager of a Starbucks. He was on a SEPTA subway underground platform when he crossed paths with evil. A group of teens attacked him for no apparent reason. In one flash of senseless action, a promising young life was lost.
Every member of Parents of Murdered Children can tell a similar story.
Next Tuesday night they will gather at a very special place to mark the National Day of Observance held across the country by Parents of Murdered Children. The event will take place at 7 p.m. at the Memorial LIving Gardens off Chichester Avenue in Upper Chichester. It was created by the local chapter so families could have a place to honor and remember their loved ones outside the concept of a cemetery. This special place marks their life, not their death.
Whelan also joined us last night and told us how important the group is. He’ll join me Tuesday night at the Gardens.
The public is invited. I hope you will join us.
Because Steve Conroy doesn’t want any of us to forget his son Sean. I don’t either.
Comments