Joyce Kilmer's Granddaughters To Participate In Mahwah Celebration Sunday

MAHWAH, NJ - Joyce Kilmer’s granddaughters, Deborah Kilmer and Noelie Kilmer Angevine, will take part in the upcoming celebration of Joyce Kilmer Day at the newly-restored Darlington Schoolhouse.

The event is Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free.

“I am happy to say that my sister, Deborah and I, accompanied by Tom, her husband, will be coming to Joyce Kilmer Day,” Angevine said.

Joyce Kilmer was killed in action in World War I, and France posthumously awarded him the Croix de Guerre for courage under fire. He was 31.

Angevine and Kilmer are among 10 children of Joyce Kilmer’s eldest son, Kenton. Michelini, the founder and president of the Joyce Kilmer Society of Mahwah, said the participation by the Kilmer granddaughters is a dream-come-true.

“We are thrilled to have two of the poet’s grandchildren in our program honoring their grandfather, who lived in Mahwah and wrote “Trees,” one of the most popular poems in the English language, in his house on Airmount Road,” said Michelini.

The celebration will also feature the launching of a “Plant A Tree” initiative by the Mahwah Environmental Volunteer Organization, a non-profit, the Mahwah Beautification Committee, and the Joyce Kilmer Society of Mahwah.

Photo: Joyce Kilmer/Wikimedia Commons