By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Orange was Leah Deni’s favorite color, so it was fitting that an orange ribbon was tied to a branch and that orange flowers surrounded the base of a small copper beech tree in the north cemetery at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville on Sunday afternoon.
The tree, which stands about 20 feet tall, was dedicated to Ms. Deni’s memory at a special ceremony, nearly eight years after her death due to a blood infection at the age of 25. It was donated by he mother, Kris Deni, and her mother’s husband, Richard Levandowski.
The copper beech tree replaces an American beech tree that fell during a storm in October 2009. The stump of that tree, which is believed to have been more than 200 years old when it fell, still stands in the middle of a privet hedge that borders the church on Main Street.
The American beech was cut down, and it was sent to a lumberyard to be cut into small boards that were turned into breadboards and cheese boards. After they were sanded and oiled by members of the church’s men’s group, they were sold to cover the costs of removing the tree.
The Rev. Jeffrey Vamos, minister of the church, asked rhetorically Sunday afternoon why should one mourn a tree, which is just a piece of wood. The answer, he said, is in the Book of Genesis, where trees play a role.
The tree of life in the Bible is a symbol of the enduring quality of life, remembering the past and what is to come, said Rev. Vamos. By dedicating the copper beech tree, one is seeking to reduce what has been lost.
Ms. Deni told the audience that it was “a day of true celebration and renewal.” She said one could only imagine what the American beech tree had observed during its 200 years of life. She said she envisioned the roots of the old tree reaching out to the roots of the new tree the “sister trees.”
Leah Deni worked for the Urban Ecology Institute in Boston, where she coordinated an after-school program for urban youth. That was her “charge” in college to work with urban youth, Ms. Deni said. The Urban Ecology Institute tries to educate city residents about the environment.
”Leah taught (the children) about the birds and the trees in Boston. She taught them not only to preserve, but to enhance the ecology and to value our environment,” Ms. Deni said.
Then, children from the church’s kindergarten class sang songs. Ms. Deni presented the class with a book.
Councilman Michael Powers, who also took part in the ceremony, said Lawrence has been designated as a Tree City USA and noted the importance of trees to the environment.
Mr. Powers also acknowledged the age of the tree that fell, adding that he hopes “300 years from now, someone will look up Leah’s name and think of this beautiful day. We will all be gone 200 years from now, but the tree will still be standing here and people will see (Leah Deni’s) name.”
”Her legacy will go on,” Mr. Powers said.

