The Greene County Medical Center Foundation held its annual event for community members to honor the memory of loved ones.

The 13th Annual Tree of Life ceremony took place Thursday afternoon in the main lobby of the medical center. A total of 54 names were announced as those individuals who have passed away. The keynote speaker was Bonnie Riphagen, who is a licensed master’s social worker at the Greene County Family Medicine Clinic. She talked about the different ways and situations where people process grief. CEO Chad Butterfield shared his favorite part of this event.

“I think it’s great to be able to read the names so that their names are not forgotten, not that they ever would be forgotten but to speak them. And then each year, the community relations team does a wonderful job of finding someone to speak, and I think Bonnie Riphagen did a phenomenal job this year, really touching on grief and how it affects us and how we can deal with it.”    

Each of the 54 names were memorialized with ornaments on the “Tree of Life” that was on display in the lobby.