By Christine Bryant
Staff Writer
In front of Peggy Sergent’s Grove City home is a large flower bed full of vibrant plants that radiate color and light up the block.
Up until about three weeks ago, a stone angel statue stood as a centerpiece in that garden – a figure that had far greater meaning to Sergent than its price tag. The statue, placed there in memory of her father, was stolen sometime over the Fourth of July weekend, and has left Sergent and her family heartbroken.
“It has a lot of meaning as far as his death and his life,” Sergent said. “We’re devastated over it.”
Since the statue went missing at her home, 3894 Richard Ave., two perennial flowers next to where it once sat have not bloomed – something Sergent says is difficult to find coincidental.
“I’ve had the angel for a couple years, but it’s only been sitting there this summer,” she said. “Those flowers come back every year, but they’re supposed to bloom all summer long.”
Sergent’s father, William Marcum, was a U.S. Army veteran and served in the Korean War.
After returning to the United States, he worked for the Fisher Body Division of General Motors Corp., retiring after 37 years. He died seven years ago after battling congestive heart failure.
For years, Sergent looked for the perfect piece to help memorialize the close relationship she had with her father, finally purchasing the $400 angel statue a few years ago. However, after being advised by the cemetery where her father is buried that the special order piece could be stolen, Sergent decided to keep the statue at her home.
“When I go to the cemetery, I get so emotional I shouldn’t drive home,” she said. “I thought this year, I would put in a memorial flower bed in front of my house so I didn’t have to drive. I thought there I could do my visiting with my dad.”
After adding the statue to the finished memorial bed this summer, she began visiting it regularly to remember her father. After the Fourth of July weekend, however, as she set up for a yard sale, she noticed the piece she and her family had grown to love was missing.
“We started bringing things out for the sale, and as I crossed over the area where it had been sitting, I stopped dead in my tracks and thought that I shouldn’t have been able to do that,” Sergent said. “And then I realized it was gone.”
Sergent filed a police report, but said all she really wants is for the statue to be returned.
“I’m hoping someone will bring it back, no questions asked,” she said. “If they just return it, they can bring it in the middle of the night, I don’t care. I was very close to my dad – a daddy’s girl. I had an awesome relationship with him, and there’s not any money in the world that could replace that.”
Anyone with tips about the stolen angel statue may call the Grove City Division of Police at (614) 277-1710. An anonymous tip line is also available at (614) 277-1808.
