When their son died at 16, this B.C. family mobilized to rebuild the local baseball diamond in his honour

Hendriks Jon deems taylor spent many hours playing baseball game in his hometown of Summerland, B.C., often with fellowship by his face. 

His mom, genus melissa Taylor, describes her son as sensitive, loving and funny. 

"His best friend in the whole world was his dad," she said. 

At the age of eight, Hendriks was diagnosed with a small brain tumour. Though not a fatal diagnosis, Taylor said it led to many challenges in school and social situations, and caused him much suffering. 

Hendriks died by suicide during the summer of 2024, at age 16. 

"I can’t begin to describe the overwhelming loss and grief that we have faced since then," Taylor said. 

"We miss him." 

In their grief, his family decided to honour Hendriks’s memory by raising thousands of dollars to revitalize a local baseball diamond. Almost two years later, the baseball diamond at Living Memorial Park has officially opened, and renamed Field 96 after Hendriks's jersey number. 

One month before his death, Hendriks's team, which was coached by his dad Jeff and included his brother Aksel, took gold at the regional championships after a tough start to the season. 

It was his determination and passion for the game that moved his parents to improve their local facilities for other athletes. 

"The field was a lifeline to make our way out of grief," Taylor said. 

What was known as Field #2 at Living Memorial Park in Summerland, where Hendriks had spent many hours playing ball, had fallen into disrepair. 

The Taylor family launched an online fundraiser and applied for grants from the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) and the Jays Care Foundation, the charitable arm of Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays. 

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were donated through the fundraiser, and the RDOS and Jays Care gave $50,000 and $185,000, respectively. They also received an estimated $250,000 in in-kind donations and labour, Taylor said. 

"By investing in projects like this, the [RDOS] is strengthening opportunities for young people across the region while revitalizing Living Memorial Park as a place that fosters connection, pride, and lasting community impact."

The entire field was stripped and levelled last August. New grass, dirt and fencing were put in, and new bathrooms were built. A batting cage was added, a new scoreboard installed and an access road was built around the park. 

"It's really been a major transformation to the field. It's night and day down there," Taylor said. 

Taylor said they’ve applied for further funding to put in stadium lighting. 

Barry Hotson, president of the Summerland Minor Baseball Association, said the refurbished field means more to the community than just a fancy new baseball diamond.

"It creates a safe, welcoming place for kids and adults to play sports. It gives young people a constructive outlet and it restores pride in the community and the Summerland Minor Baseball Association," he said.

"Recreational sports and team play provides so many positives to our youth and has a long-lasting influence on their lives and their futures."

Almost 1,000 people came out Saturday to watch the first game played on the diamond, Taylor said. 

She described watching the first pitch while the crowd erupted with applause as "healing."

"I felt a lot of love and community spirit."

Hendriks, she said, would have been thrilled to see the new field. 

"He'd be so happy that his friends, his baseball team and all the other kids coming up, really for generations to come are going to have this beautiful park to play on … and that's really what this is about," Taylor said.

"It's for the kids of Summerland to have a park that they feel like they have pride in, that when they go there, they know [they] are cared about and valued and our families and our community built this for [them]."

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