“They can play with their brother forever”: Waco memorial company helps family pay tribute to their son who died of SIDS in 2020
RIESEL, Texas (KWTX) – At Friedens Cemetery in Riesel, you will find a sandbox with blue sand that remembers the life of seven week old, Axton Engelke, who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in 2020.
The design is the first of its kind in the area and it was made possible with the help of Phipps Memorial Company in Waco.
The purpose behind the design is to allow Axton’s siblings to play together while remembering him.
“It was heartbreaking for them to come out here, they didn’t really look forward to it. Now, with this, they can come out here and forever play with their cousin or brother,” says Axton’s mom, Lacy Engelke.
Axton died two days after Christmas, just one week shy of being two months old. Axton was staying with his grandmother at the time, when the Engelke’s got a call that he had stopped breathing and that they were taking him to Cook’s Medical Hospital in Dallas.
“We were in the car, on the way up there, we were about 20 minutes from the hospital when they called and told us he was gone. It’s a day I’ll never forget,” says William Engelke, Axton’s dad.
Lacy says she didn’t want the gravesite to be a place they just visited, but one where they could continue making memories with Axton. They have dinosaurs surrounding the sandbox, where Axton’s brothers play in the sand with him.
They found the idea online but it was Phipps Memorial Company that helped really give life to their vision.
“We got ahold of Phipps Memorial and they were the same place that did my mother’s headstone. And we took them the idea and showed them some pictures. It took about a year and a half to make it but they made it and I think it looks great,” William says.
The memorial is the first of its kind that the memorial has done, and the first of its kind in the surrounding areas.
“They did a great job, they’ve never done anything like it. They actually asked to put a picture of it in their office to show what they did. We just want to say thank y’all and appreciate what y’all did,” Lacy says.
KWTX spoke with Phipps Memorial Company and they say they are filled to the brim with gratitude and pride for getting to be a part of Axton’s life and memory.
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