June Laxton - Sparta, WI, USA
Posted by: 
mrjcanger
N 43° 57.066 W 090° 47.462
15T E 677249 N 4868813
June Laxton was a counselor at the State Public School for Neglected and Dependent Children for over 20 years before it closed in 1976. She helped find the names of 285 children who were buried with no names.
Waymark Code: WMT0A9
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 09/02/2016
Views: 1
After the State Public School for Neglected and Dependent Children, in Sparta, WI, closed its doors in 1976, former counselor June Laxton never stopped thinking about the cemetery on the property which was the final resting place for over 300 of the children who resided at the orphanage. It always bothered her than these children never had a name and may never again be known in history. In the 1990's she started research that culminated with working with one of her former colleagues, Dr. Milton Varsos, a chief psychiatrist at the school. Dr. Varsos saved some hand written books which were in a temporary storage at the school and allowed Ms. Laxton to go through them. Much to her surprise, Ms. Laxton found a chart and names of the children buried there. Dr. Varsos then took the books and studied the school's 89 year history in order to match the children to their grave number. He was able to find all but 20 of the 305 children who were buried there. Once that was accomplished Ms. Laxton took this information and created a memorial where the children could once again have an identity for the world to read. On US Memorial Day 1999, the memorial was dedicated to the well kept cemetery and Ms. Laxton was able to rest easy knowing she had given these children back their names.
June Laxton passed away in 2006 and this permanent statue and plaque were erected right outside of the Child Center Cemetery so that her memory could be tied with those children she cared about so much.
Plaque Text -
"In Memory of June Laxton"
The memorial is located in River Run Golf Course and is only accessible from sun up to sun down from 1 April to 15 November yearly.
Website with more information on either the memorial or the person(s) it is dedicated to: [Web Link]
Location: River Run Golf Course
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