Katherine's Park
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Katherine’s Park is a small park on the east side of St. Joseph, located close to Hochman Park. It is a lovely green space to enjoy the outdoors and spend a peaceful hour or two. It is a lovely memorial to a much-loved wife in a part of the city that is underserved in terms of open green spaces.
Images
Mature trees provide welcome shade
Sometimes you just need an open place to play
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
On April 15, 1955, Katherine Ryan married Ben Vineyard, the beginning of a long and happy union. When Katherine died in 2010 Ben wanted to leave a lasting memorial to his wife. In 2015 he approached the city with a proposal to donate 20 acres of land on the east side of St. Joseph with the stipulation that it be developed as a park and named in honor of his wife. This generous offer helped to fill a real need for parks on the east side. Then City Manager Bruce Woody said of Mr. Vineyard’s proposal: “He’s doing a very nice thing for St. Joseph, which helped as a businessman as he went forward, but also a nice thing for his family, of course, by naming it after his late wife.” Ben Vineyard died in 2017, and his children continued to honor his dream by deeding an additional small portion of land to the city.
Since then, Katherine’s Park has been slowly developed as a park providing much-appreciated green space on the east side of St. Joseph.
Sources
Jessica Shumaker, “City Works on Plan for Donated Land,” News Press, April 18, 2015.
Jessica Shumaker, “Man Shares Vision for New Park,” News Press, Sept. 26, 2015.
Brendan Welch, “Katherine’s Park Continues to Grow,” News Press, Dec. 20, 2017.