Jim Dickerson thinks of the small lamp as his daughter's eternal flame. Powered by solar energy, it provided constant illumination for a small memorial to Christine Dickerson on the Amherst bike path.
When Jim and his wife made their daily trip to the memorial Sunday morning, they were rudely surprised to find that the lamp, and the light it provided, was gone.
"I felt like someone had tried to snuff out her flame," Jim Dickerson said. "The symbolic removal of that made me feel like someone was trying to snuff out her memory."
Christine Dickerson was a freshman at UB last December when she was killed in a car accident in the town of Ellicottville. Her family erected the memorial this spring on the Amherst bike path, directly behind the Wilkeson dorms where Christine lived.
On Saturday afternoon, the lamp stood on a post next to the monument as the Dickersons watered its flowers.
When the family returned Sunday afternoon, they hoped to take some pictures of how the tree had grown since it was planted. Instead, they left shocked and saddened at the damage.
"My wife was devastated. She could hardly drive when she saw it was gone," Dickerson said. "It's a monument to our Chrisy, and someone defiled it."
Dickerson said he hopes the lamp is returned by whoever took it.
"I know they didn't mean to do it, but people need to realize and take responsibility for what they've done."
"An open wound"
Christine was an avid rower at Buffalo's Nardin High School, and last fall she made the UB crew team as coxswain.
After the accident, Christine's parents placed the memorial directly outside the exit of the Spaulding Lot, so when crew team members leave for practice at 4:30 a.m., they would be reminded of their fallen teammate.
The solar lamp was intended to light a sapling planted in Christine's honor, along with a memorial plaque.
"The fact that it was defiled in any way is not only a slam to the family but a slam on the entire team," said Rudy Wieler, head coach of the women's crew team.
"What's the point? What value is it to somebody?" Wieler said.
Wieler said members of the crew team are saddened by the theft because Christine's death is still an "open wound." The team dedicated a crew boat called "The Spirit of Christine Dickerson" in February.
Family begs for return of lamp
Christine's memorial is centered on a young Cleveland Select pear tree, planted between Frontier Road and the bike path. Surrounding the tree are colorful flowers and a ceramic angel, and in the center, a plaque that reads "I will see you again and your hearts will be full of joy."
Also hung on the tree is a paper sign, recently added by Jim Dickerson. A picture of Christine in a row boat, along with a picture of the lamp, are found with a short letter from Christine's father asking the thief to return the missing light.
"It is truly the correct and honorable thing to do for my daughter and your classmate," he wrote in the letter.
Jim Dickerson's first thought was that the theft was an intentional attempt to darken his daughter's memorial, but he said he realized that was not possible. Now, he said, the family just wants the lamp back.
"Chrisy had a love for life and always wanted to help people out," he said. "Maybe someone could help her out by returning this."
