Roper YMCA statues rededicated to Terry siblings

Four words have gotten Leigh Ann Dyal through the last 10 years: friends, faith, family and forgiveness.

It was a decade ago — Oct. 10, 2005 — when her world fell apart. Her husband, who she was in the process of divorcing, shot and killed their two children, Elyse, 10, and Ian, 8, before ending his own life.

Within weeks, friends and neighbors had raised enough money to have statues created and placed near the Roper YMCA soccer field, a place where Dyal’s son and daughter spent so much time. There are individual statues of the two in soccer poses positioned on either side of the gazebo between the ball field and the swimming pool; another statue depicts them sitting together on a small bench, engrossed in a book.

The soccer fields were dedicated in memory of the two, as well.

On a recent Saturday morning, Dyal, with her family and friends, held a rededication ceremony of her children’s memorials. Ian’s statue had succumbed to Florida’s heat and toppled to the ground, so it was cleaned up and returned to its original location.

Dyal brought a dozen or so soccer trophies Ian and Elyse had received through the years, lining them up under the gazebo near colorful balloons.

In addressing the small crowd, she said knows she will one day see them again because of her faith in God — and she has even forgiven the man who took them from her.

Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at [email protected].