On June 8, friends and colleagues of slain professor Maria Osterhoudt, planted a memorial garden at the Tarpon Springs Campus in her honor. Osterhoudt was found shot to death in her Spring Hill home in February. Her husband Alan has been charged. The garden serves as a tribute to the adored professor, who loved art and gardening. There will be a formal dedication of the garden in August when classes resume in the fall. For more coverage on the Osterhoudt Memorial Garden, please also see Bay News 9. Front row kneeling: Jim Waechter, Susan Cornett. Standing left to right: Olin Conran, Jeanna Ojeda, Conferlete Carney, Heather Roberson, Tina O’Daniels, Laura Smith, Chrissy Risberg, Sandy Cohen, Ouriana Stephanides, Jim Wallis, Jennifer Haber, Abby Haber, Katie Haber, David Liebert.
Bay News 9 covered the efforts of colleagues to honor slain SPC Tarpon Springs professor Maria Osterhoudt. The June 8 report described the planting of a campus garden that will serve as a tribute to Osterhoudt. “She loved gardening. She loved nature,” said Dr. Conferlete Carney, SPC Tarpon Springs Provost, in the report. “She loved people and she was an artist. She painted and she loved colors. And I think when they sit here and enjoy this beautiful garden they will remember her and the things she loved and how she spent her time and dedication to the things she loved to do.”
Osterhoudt taught for 11 years at the college. She was found shot to death in her Spring Hill home in February.
A scholarship also has been established in Osterhoudt’s honor.
