Memorial in GRSM

[Rick Smith]

 

 

WBIR (Knoxville, TN) NBC-tv

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 6:46 PM EDT

 

 

 

 

Smokies memorial honors ranger killed in 1998

NPS Ranger Joseph D. Kolodski was shot and killed while responding to a call on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

 

 

Credit: Preston Farabow

New memorial honors ranger killed in line of duty in 1998.

 

 

 

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A new memorial honors the life and service of a National Park Service ranger killed in the line of duty in 1998.

"My hope is that it invites just a quiet moment of contemplation, a quiet space to sit and consider the sacrifices that our national park rangers make for us," said Knoxville artist Preston Farabow, who created the sculpture of the cut tree and a ranger's signature hat.

It has been placed at the Sugarlands Visitors Center in the national park. Tuesday marked 24 years since Kolodski died in the line of duty.

Joseph D. Kolodski was responding to a call about an armed man at the Big Witch Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Kolodski was stationed at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Jeremiah Locust Sr. of Cherokee, N.C., shot and killed Kolodski. He was convicted in federal court in the murder.

Locust, now age 71, is an inmate at a federal prison in South Carolina.

 

Credit: Preston Farabow

Sculpture in national park honors Joseph Kolodski, killed in June 1998.

 

 

Rick Smith

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