The Washington State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (WSSDAR), Mary Ball Chapter, invites the Joint Base Lewis-McChord community to a dedication ceremony at Memorial Park this Sunday, April 22, at 10:30 a.m.

The event will mark the dedication of a commemorative bench honoring women, with the theme of "Women Who Serve, Yesterday -- Today -- Tomorrow."

JBLM Garrison Commander Col. Nicole Lucas will accept the gift, which is the first monument on the base to honor women.

The WSSDAR is part of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). The NSDAR is more than 125 years old, and the WSSDAR began with the Mary Ball Chapter of Tacoma in 1894. The chapter is named after Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington.

Membership in the NSDAR is limited to direct lineal descendants of soldiers or others of the Revolutionary period who aided the cause of independence.

This historical connection led current WSSDAR Regent Julie Pittman to research the roles of the state's women veterans.

"She learned that there were no monuments dedicated to the many thousands of women who have served our state and our nation since we became a state in 1889," wrote Lee Gentemann, NSDAR spokeswomen, in an email.

In 2016, Pittman and her colleagues determined to find a way to recognize and honor the 64,000 Washington State women veterans of the armed services, as well as the women in the state who serve as police officers, emergency medical technicians and firefighters.

"A bench was chosen as it represents rest and comfort," Pittman wrote in an email. "A bench is a place to sit, rest, relax and contemplate ... a place of respite."

Pittman and Gentemann said that JBLM has been receptive of the gift of the commemorative bench and has worked alongside the WSSDAR to locate it at Memorial Park.

Created by Quiring Monuments of Seattle, the bench is made of black granite and cost about $3,600.  

Ironically, the company has a long history with JBLM. In 1930, it crafted the 91st Division Monument at the west end of Watkins Field to honor the then-Fort Lewis soldiers who had served in World War I.

"This commemorative bench recognizes the contribution of the women servicemembers who in the present have continued to push at the ceilings of rank and responsibilities," continued Gentemann. "Equally important, it also represents from the past through the present and into the future all the other women who have lived on or near this base or at McChord who have for over 100 years supported and sustained their husbands and their family unit in countless and unacknowledged ways."

Memorial Park is located at the corner of South Division Street and Stryker Avenue on JBLM.

For more information about the WSSDAR, visit wadar.org.  For those wishing to attend Sunday's commemoration, RSVP to Maureen Vanek at vanekdar@gmail.com or call 253. 468.8158.