In Memory of Kathryn

Kathryn's Playhouse

On November 20, 2005, the day Kathryn passed away, Naperville resident Leigh Ann Boscarino won a playhouse from a Saybrook Garden Club raffle.  The playhouse is a replica of a house built in Naperville and was built by Siena Custom Builders.  

Leigh Ann has three children who attend Beebe Elementary school and it is also where Kathryn's mother Doris teaches Kindergarden. The next day, when Leigh Ann heard about Kathryn's death, she decided to donate the playhouse to Beebe school in her memory.  "I've had such a wonderful experience with the neighborhood and with the school, and it just seemed right," said Leigh Ann.

With the help of Beebe's principal Robyn Rippel, Naperville's City Manager Peter Burchard and Naperville's Development Services Team Leader Dick Dublinski, LaGrange Crane Services Inc. was contacted and donated the $500 expense of moving the playhouse.  They lifted the playhouse over the building and into the school's courtyard just outside Doris' classroom.  Now, not only can the kids play in the playhouse, but Doris can see it out her classroom window to remind her of Kathryn.  The city has also donated a yellow street sign for the courtyard that says "Kathryn Bender Blvd" on one side and on the other side "Beebe School." 

"I feel so proud and so thrilled...not just for the Bender family, but for the Beebe family, too," Rippel said.  "Because everybody is going to be able to benefit for generations to come on this wonderful donation in memory of such a fabulous young girl."

Kathryn's Playhouse