washu - tyson memorial grove

The Memorial Grove is dedicated to the individuals who have supported medical education through their contribution to the Body Donor Program at Washington University School of Medicine, helping students and health-care providers gain the detailed knowledge that is critical to the advancement of medicine, science, and education. The cremated remains of individuals who participated in the program are scattered at Tyson Research Center, the University’s 2000-acre environmental field station in Eureka, MO.

A one-acre site adjacent to the field station, the Memorial Grove serves as a place of peace, comfort, and reflection for the families and friends of donors. Three granite engraved tablets of steeled-faced Sierra White Granite stand at the center of a radial concrete plaza that leads to a meandering walk through the delicate native Missouri landscape. A semi-circular board-formed concrete wall forms a backdrop and enclosure for the memorial’s stone tablets while retaining the hillside to ensure the memorial is accessible to all.

The grove is intended to foster an ecologically resilient, sustainable landscape that is diverse and seasonally attractive. The trees, grasses, and wildflowers form prairie-like and woodland environments within a native Missouri ecosystem that is home to an abundance of native species and provides habitat and food sources for wildlife, birds, and pollinators.