Adam's Park (Grotto) · Fergus Falls, Minnesota

A place to remember the children we love.

The Angel of Hope Memorial Park sits on the hill in Adam's Park in Fergus Falls — a quiet place for families and friends to honor children who have died, regardless of age or reason.

Who this place is for

For the families who grieve, and the community that tends this place.

Angel of Hope Memorial Park is a small Minnesota nonprofit, founded and maintained by volunteers, that exists to keep the memorial monument and its pillars cared for. It is here for parents and grandparents who have lost a child — at any age, for any reason — and for the friends, siblings, and neighbors who walk these grounds beside them.

If you are grieving

Come and sit a while.

The park is open to visit. Walk among the pillars, read the names, and know that you are not alone in carrying your child with you. Other families have walked this hill and shared their stories.

Read families' stories
If you want to remember a child

Add a name to the monument.

Families may order an inscribed memorial block to be placed on the pillars surrounding the Angel — a permanent place for a child's name to be read, remembered, and honored alongside the others.

Order a memorial block
If you want to support this place

Help us keep the park a place of peace.

The park is cared for entirely by a small volunteer board and the community that loves it. Donations and helping hands keep the grounds, the annual vigils, and the monument itself in good standing year after year.

Donate or volunteer

Our story

How the park came to be.

Three families — Jim and Judy Schoon, Julie Nelson, and Allen and Betty — sat on the original steering committee, each carrying the loss of a child. Together with the City of Fergus Falls and the wider community, they raised what was needed to bring the monument here.

The park was dedicated on May 26, 2012, joining an international network of more than 100 Angel of Hope memorial parks worldwide. Each was inspired by Richard Paul Evans' 1994 book The Christmas Box — and by his words, "It is in the darkest skies that stars are best seen."

A quiet sunlit interior, soft daylight
14+ Years since the park was dedicated on May 26, 2012
100+ Angel of Hope memorial parks worldwide
9 Angel of Hope parks in Minnesota
2 Community candlelight vigils held each year

At Angel of Hope, we are committed to keeping alive the cherished memories of extraordinary children. Each name is inscribed on the pillars that surround the Angel.

  • Scott Allen Whipps 1967–2006
  • Anna Marie Nelson 1983–2004
  • Baby Girl Nelson 1980
  • Averee Lyn Schroeder
  • Melissa Kay Klinnert
  • Deborah Jo Kenyon
  • Timothy A Kenyon, Jr
  • Denise Anne Kenyon
  • Two Kenyon Babies
  • Andrew Joseph Ness
  • Jacob Andrew Ness
  • Reegan Lynn Samuelson
  • Willow Grace Edmond
  • Baby Hope King
  • Our Precious Angels

Take a moment to reflect as you view the full list of their names.

View all names

Help us keep the park
a place of peace.

Donate
Two gatherings each year

We meet at the park twice a year.

On the third Tuesday of May at 7:00 pm, the community gathers at the monument as spring returns to the hill. On December 6, we return in the dark of winter, when each name is read aloud and a candle is lit so its light can carry through the longest nights.

All are welcome — whether you come to remember a child of your own, to stand with a neighbor who is, or simply to be present in a place where grief is held gently.