'Somber:' Wauwatosa woman hosts virtual Memorial Day Facebook tribute

WAUWATOSA, Wis. -- Paying tribute to the fallen is more challenging due to the coronavirus pandemic, but a Wauwatosa woman is making sure they’re not forgotten.

For Memorial Day, event producer Dianne Crowley had the desire to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, so she got creative. She organized a live Facebook tribute event.

“It included a lot of music. It included a lot of variety of content and variety of people talking about their experiences,” she said.

The event was inspired by Crowley’s father, James Simonet, who served in the Army. “He was in WWII, passed away in 2013, so I have a great love for those people."

The nearly two-hour event streamed Saturday and garnered more than 6,500 views. There were performances from multiple local acts, including 11-year-old Liamani Segura of Racine who sung the National Anthem.

Tristan Wallace, production technical manager for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, also worked on bringing the virtual show to life. He says the tribute was emotional, but also had moments of joy and laughter.

“We were trying to make this as in memoriam as we could, but also keep it entertaining. It is a very somber situation,” Wallace said.

To view the tribute video, CLICK HERE.