The murder of Half and Susanne Zantop, who were found stabbed in their home in Etna, N.H., garnered national media attention. Susanne Zantop was a German and comparative literature professor and the chair of the German department, while Half Zantop taught in the earth sciences department. Both had been teaching at the College since the 1970s.
Two local teenagers were eventually convicted of the crime.
At the ceremony, friends of the Zantops, including earth sciences professor Dick Birnie and German professor Gerd Gemunden, shared their recollections of the couple.
The garden, which will contain a variety of trees, ferns and perennial flowers, will flank the stairs in front of Richardson Hall, according to John Wilson, one of the project's leaders and associate director of the College's Office of Planning, Design and Construction. The project is also being directed by Susan Wright, wife of College President James Wright, and Spanish professor Silvia Spitta, who was a friend of the Zantops, Wilson said.
Wilson said the garden will serve as a quiet, contemplative area, and will be an ideal location for outdoor classes.
"It's great that this is finally becoming a reality, and I think it will be very meaningful for faculty and friends [of the Zantops]," Wilson said.
Friends of the Zantops have been interested in constructing a memorial garden to honor the couple for some time, he said. He added that several locations were considered, including College Hill, which is located next to the Bema, and an area near Kemeny Hall.
The space between Richardson and Wheeler was eventually chosen because of its prominent location near the center of campus, Wilson said.
"There was a general agreement that the memorial should be outdoors, and as most of [the Zantops'] activity was near the center of campus, this seemed an ideal location," Wilson said.
The Provost's Office is funding the project, according to James Wright. The project was also made possible by various gifts from faculty members and friends of the Zantops.
The project aims to create a memorial to the couple's rich and positive legacy at the College, Wright said.
Honoring the Zantops with a memorial garden to serve as a place of relaxation, as well as an outdoor classroom, was "very appropriate," Audrey McCollum, a former neighbor and friend of the Zantops, said.
"Their relationship with the natural world was very deep and very sustaining," she said.
McCollum described the two professors as good neighbors. For example, she explained how the Zantops were once eager to plant currant bushes, important to their German heritage, on their own property. When McCollum told them that the bushes act as a host for a disease that could kill local white pines, the Zantops graciously agreed to find an alternate place to plant them.
The Zantops were also "quite active politically," McCollum said, adding that Susanne Zantop was involved in Amnesty International.
"She was passionate about people who had been mistreated, abused or the objects of political evil," she added.
The College is working to minimize the impact of the construction on students living in Richardson and Wheeler, Wilson said. He added that the reconstruction of the drainage system along the road may slightly disrupt traffic flow. The drainage system should be complete by reading period, and the entire project is scheduled to be complete by June.
