On January 17th, 2019 a room dedication was held at Imagine in honor and memory of Westfield resident Keith Hertell II who died in a car accident in 1997 at the age of 25. Keith’s father, Keith Hertell, made a very generous gift to Imagine to name the child loss support group room, Keith’s Room. The funding provides support for the over 320 children and parents currently attending Imagine on five different nights of support.
“It is an absolute honor for my family and me to be able to dedicate a room in my late son Keith’s name,” said Keith Hertell. “It is hoped that this room can provide comfort and solace for those parents that lose a child and provide a place to recount all the special memories that that late child brought to the mourning family.”
Darren Hertell shared, “Keith was a grandson, a son, and a brother, a musician, a comedian, and a performer. He absorbed the world around him and reflected back to it his voice, always in a humorous and loving way. He was honest, trustworthy, driven and motivated. He didn’t sacrifice his values to achieve his goals. This room offers each visitor the opportunity to reflect on the important place that loved ones take in our lives.”
“Imagine wouldn’t exist without Mr. Hertell and Dr. Gerry Glasser whose vision it was to create a children’s grief support center in his beloved Westfield community,” said Mary Robinson, Imagine Executive Director. I’ll never forget Dr. Glasser telling me he knew who could get the job done as our founding Board Chair, and that that person was Keith Hertell. No truer words were ever spoken. We are so very grateful for his contributions from day one of Imagine until today with this generous gift in memory of his son Keith.”
For more information about Imagine’s free year-round grief support groups visit imaginenj.org or call us at 908-264-3100.
About Imagine
Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss, is a grief support center for children, young adults and families dealing with the death or life-altering illness of a parent, sibling or child. We provide free peer grief support year-round for as long as is needed. We are currently serving over 285 participants from 55 towns in our center every two weeks. In addition to these services, we provide training through our education and outreach programs across the state to a variety of organizations including schools, houses of worship and corporations. We also provide onsite support after any trauma or loss. Our goal is to create communities where grief and loss are transformed into resilience, empathy and compassion; and create communities where no child grieves alone.
Imagine is completely privately funded through the generous contributions of our donors, and our work is only made possible through their support.
(above, l-r) Pictured in front of Keith’s Room is Keith Hertell; Connor Lavelle; Kerry Lavelle; and Darren Hertell.
