Friends and family of Danielle Nicole Walp came together to plant a memorial tree in her honor in Lehighton on Saturday morning.

Walp passed away in Lebanon County in June of 2016 before her senior year at Wilson High School.

Her family, working with the Lehighton Shade Tree Commission and Mayor Clark Ritter, was able to plant the Green Mountain sugar maple directly across from her grandparents’ home on South Street, right on the edge of the park. At the foot of the tree rests a plaque reading “In loving memory of Danielle Nicole Walp.”

“Her mother, her sister, my wife and myself, we came up with the idea. The idea was to put a living remembrance of our granddaughter, and we are lucky enough that we can see it from our house at all times now,” Jim Walp, Danielle’s grandfather, said.

Members of the shade tree commission and Scout Troop 82 helped to put the tree in place.

“I bet it’s a good sense of comfort. It’s almost like she’s here with them,” Dianne Hoffman, vice president of the Shade Tree Commission said.

Following the planting of the Green Mountain sugar maple, Walp’s mother Nicole Walp-Miller spoke of her daughter and the monumental effect she had on her life.

“You’re an angel. You came into my life in a moment of chaos, when everything was falling apart, and everything was taken away from me. You showed happiness, and taught me laughter, and allowed to feel what it was like to love for real,” she said.

Walp’s grandfather spoke of their shared interests, his voice gently quivering as he remembered his darling granddaughter.

“More than a granddaughter, I lost a friend. My Harley riding buddy, we both loved archery, shotgun, rifle and pistol shooting and fishing,” he said.

Family friend Bill Lester read a prayer for the group to conclude the ceremony, after which friends and family retired to the Walps’ home.

People spoke of the young girl and her passion for shooting, piano, guitar, and cooking, but most of all, her loving personality, which her family hopes will be preserved through her memorial tree.

“Now I can sit on my porch or look out my window and see her tree. Danielle was very important to us, and doing this memorial tree, she would have thought this was really neat,” Linda Walp, Danielle’s grandmother, said.