In 2003, Barbara Donahue reflected on her feelings during her mourning. She explained why she chose to create the fountains...
"We are too drawn out to cope with crowds of people and since Jim has donated his body to research, we have nothing to bury at the present time. So all thoughts of a "traditional" funeral have been set aside. Instead, we have decided to have built somewhere in Shrewsbury a "living fountain" in his memory and when that is finished we will have some sort of dedication ceremony. A living fountain is in a reflecting pool with jets that will spume water upward in time with music. At night, colored lights light up the columns of water and it is computerized. Jim and I saw one of these in
Jackson, Michigan and became entranced watching it, even going back in the evening to watch it in color. It was so relaxing and healing that we thought it would be a wonderful thing to someday bring to our town so all could enjoy it. I think now is the time. We are making the contacts to find out how to go about this, so this will be our tribute to Jim that the townspeople can enjoy. I'll let you know how it progresses. It will be a good project for me and will help me to heal as I work towards this memorial to Jim. I'm sorry if we have deprived anyone from "paying their respects", but we feel this is best for us and in our hearts we know Jim would approve. He was never one for show and was a rather private person in many ways. We think this fountain will be a much nicer tribute to him than a funeral.”
