Garden plaque honours memory of 'civic-minded' Sussex resident

A community garden on Maple Street in Sussex started by a town resident eight years ago now bears a plaque in his memory.

Sussex Mayor Marc Thorne said the town "quietly" installed the memorial to Walter Freeze after council voted to explore it in November. Freeze, who Thorne said was "well-known" in the community, died in November at age 72.

"Walter, many years ago, asked the council if he could create a garden opposite his home on public land," Thorne said. "He lovingly maintained that space for years. When he passed last year, we wanted to make sure that that garden continued on and Walter's memory was honoured."

Thorne called Freeze "one of the most civic-minded people" he had the chance to meet.

"He and I had a lot of great conversations about our community," he said. "He would both praise and criticize in equal order, if he saw something that he thought was being done well, he let me know. If he thought things could be done better, he also let me know."

In November, when council voted on the plaque, Thorne told council Freeze "loved this community dearly" and would be seen around town greeting people, as well as digging people out on storm days well into his 60s.

"People like Walter are what makes a town a town," Coun. Paul Maguire said at the meeting.

Tributes have popped up online as people discover the plaque, which calls the garden "a message of hope and inspiration to any who may gaze upon its beauty."

"Walter was low-key, he never sought attention, and we thought that to just quietly place the plaque to honour him at the same time as we prepared the garden this year would be appreciated by Walter," Thorne said. "People have discovered it and Walter was well-known in the community, so we're getting a lot of positive feedback ... I'm grateful for that."

Walter's brother Donnie Freeze called it a "lovely idea, a very nice idea."

"I was quite surprised when I seen it, and from what I've heard, a lot of people are talking about it," Freeze said. "That (garden) was his cup of tea, he enjoyed that immensely."

Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Telegraph-Journal