New bench in Chester memorializes Suzy Forlie

Suzy Forlie, kneeling, and Mariette Bock plant bulbs in front of the Whiting Library in 2015.

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Visitors to the Hearse House and the Public Tomb across from Chester’s Green will notice the addition of a granite bench with the inscription “In Memory of Suzy Henry Forlie.”

Forlie, who died on April 16, 2020, was a member of Chester Townscape and was instrumental in the repair and renovation of those structures and the installation of a museum around the town’s 19th century hearse.

The bench was the result of donations of time, skill and materials from many organizations and individuals to remember Forlie’s contributions to the town.

The slabs of granite for the bench and the labor to move them were contributed by the Town of Chester and the bench itself was created and installed by Scott Wunderle of Terrigenous Landscape Architecture and Wunderle’s son Tuck.

Photos by Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham

On July 31, 2020, the inscription was sandblasted on the bench by Dale Barnard of Green Valley Memorials in Randolph. Chris Potter of the Fenton and Hennessey Funeral Home coordinated the inscription work.