Soon after her brother died at his Pottsville home in April 1978, Valentina A. Lizak said a friend stepped forward to dedicate a memorial in his name.
"Dr. Thomas Ritter planted a tree in Garfield Square, a Japanese cherry tree, in honor of my brother, Dr. Gabriel M. Lizak. My brother died in April 1978. The tree was planted that May. Dr. Ritter said he wanted it right outside of my house, so every time I'd go outside my door, I'd see it," Valentina Lizak of Pottsville said Sunday.
After 36 years as a "fixture" at Garfield Square, the Kwanzan cherry tree died following a harsh winter, city Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Monday. Now, city officials are trying to figure out how it will be replaced.
The Garfield Square Monument Committee will meet in the near future to discuss the situation and make recommendations to the city council, Palamar said.
"We have to talk about how it will be removed and how it will be replaced and how those expenditures will be covered. And the committee will make recommendations to city council. But I know we want to replace the tree. It was a beautiful tree. Now, the tree branches are as brittle as toffee. There's no moisture in the tree at all, from what I saw," city Councilman Joseph J. Devine Jr., a member of the committee, said Monday.
Since May 1978, the tree has grown to more than 15 feet high and more than 20 feet wide. There is a plaque beneath the tree with an epitaph in raised letters: "This tree planted in memory of Gabriel M. Lizak, M.D., 1925-1978, who devoted 25 years to the practice of medicine in Garfield Square."
According to the website for the Arbor Day Foundation, this variety of Prunus serrulata traditionally has a life span of 25 years.
"The Kwanzan cherry has double pink flowers and a vase-shaped form with a rounded crown that spreads with age, making the tree wider than it is tall at maturity. The new leaves are bronze colored, turning to dark green, then yellow, orange or copper in fall. This is a fruitless cultivar. Kwanzan cherry is grafted onto Prunus avium (mazzard) stock or grown from cuttings. Trees propagated on their own roots are preferable. Easily transplanted, it prefers a site with full sun, loose, well-drained soil with plenty of moisture. It is somewhat tolerant of alkaline soil and drought but is sensitive to pollution and stresses in general. For these reasons and because of its susceptibility to pests and disease, the life span is limited from 15 to 25 years. The great beauty of this tree makes it well worth planting for this short period of time," according to www.arborday.org.
While doing spring cleaning in fall, Greg Glunz, who co-owns Pine Creek Landscaping, Pine Grove, with his brother, James, noticed the tree was dying.
"We fed the tree. We do our job there, but it was struggling. I think there might have been a few reasons why, a combination of things. It could have been root girdling, which is caused when a plant is grown in a container too long. Personally, I think it was buried too deep. Plants need oxygen to change starch into sugar. I don't think it was an insect problem. We won't know until we unearth it. But, I saw the tree was in decline," Glunz said Monday.
Its pink ornamental flowers traditionally bloomed in spring and caught the eyes of many photographers over the years. But this spring, the flowers did not bloom, Palamar said.
In May, Glunz told city officials the tree had died. And Joseph T. Orlowsky, chairman of the Pottsville Shade Tree Commission, confirmed it.
"The last straw could have been the severe winter," Glunz said.
However, Valentina Lizak believes the tree is still alive. "Last year, it was in full bloom. It looked like a big pink snowball. It was loaded with blossoms. I think it's got a chance," she said Monday.
According to Palamar, the other members of the Garfield Square Monument Committee are Mayor James T. Muldowney, Robert C. Bedford, Leo F. Haley and Eric Muldowney, who is the mayor's nephew.