His Crosses To Bear

A carpenter’s memorials have appeared after countless tragedies around the country. This time, the tragedy struck very close to home.

- Andy Simmons

TWENTY YEARS AGO, 15 wooden crosses appeared on a hill overlooking Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado. It was April 28, 1999, eight days after a pair of students had shot and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher before killing themselves. At first, the crosses seemed to be a part miracle, part mystery. Before long, their creator stepped forward: Greg Zanis, a carpenter from Sugar Grove, Illinois, who had driven them nearly 1,000 miles to Colorado.

Since Columbine, Zanis has built and delivered more than 26,000crosses—Stars of David and crescent moons, too—to communities across America grieving in the wake of violence, natural disasters, and other catastrophes. He brought them to Paradise, California, after wildfires wiped out most of the town; Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were killed in a synagogue; Sandy Hook, Connecticut, when 26 children and staff were gunned down in their school; and Las Vegas, where 58 people died while enjoying a music festival.