The one thing everyone remembers about Ice is his unbelievably deep blue eyes.
Ice, a white Boxer, and his owner Corey Meyer were regular fixtures at the off leash park near the canal spillway. Ice, who was deaf would eagerly await the arrival of the city parks and rec truck. Although he was deaf, he always had a rousing response for parks employee Heather Springer.
“He fell in love with Heather, he really did,” recalled Meyer.
Springer a former Boxer owner herself, said she has a soft spot for dogs and makes a point of trying to get to know them and their owners — a sort of informal public relations program between the city and the community.
“When you see all these dogs out here and they’re all so happy, you have to stop and pet them,” she says. “Ice was special, he was one of a kind.”
Then this winter tragedy struck. Ice died of a rare form of canine heart disease exclusive to the breed. Springer recalls seeing her friend walking the trail this spring alone, without Ice. “I knew right away that he was gone,” Springer recalled.
Ice’s K9 pals seemed to instinctively know too. His friend Dooley wandered around the pathway seemingly lost without his companion. It was a gaping hole in what is an otherwise close-knit community of dogs and their owners.
Then one day earlier this spring Meyer was out on her regular walk when she saw it — a small little sign in the shape of a dog bone on the path that read “In loving memory of Ice” painted in the hues of his uncharacteristically blue eyes.
Although it was totally unexpected, the long time resident knew immediately who was responsible. “It was very touching,” she says. “To know that others loved Ice as much as we do.”
Although it isn’t an officially sanctioned memorial, city parks and recreation manager Kathy Russel said it was a warm gesture on the part of a long time employee who took her own initiative to comfort a friend.
Even Meyer is beyond words, who says she’s touched by all the employees and managers who who lent their approval. “This isn’t about Ice,” she says. “It’s really about the support of the community.”
