The Arizona Heroes Memorial Is Still Growing, and Its Fall Calendar Shows How

"The Purple Heart represents the blood that has been shed in defense of our nation," retired U.S. Army Capt. John Grand told a crowd that stood through the August heat at Naranja Park, as reported by Inside Tucson Business. Grand is a Purple Heart recipient. On Aug. 7, 2026, he spoke for the Fort Lowell Chapter 442 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart as the Arizona Heroes Memorial unveiled its new Purple Heart Medallion. U.S. Army veteran Nicholas Danna received the first of his two Purple Hearts on Aug. 7, 1967. That was 59 years to the day before the Oro Valley dedication.

The memorial had its grand opening on Nov. 16, 2024. Its founders could have treated it as a finished monument. It has kept growing. A second medallion, honoring Gold Star Mothers and Families, was announced for Sept. 27. The weekly and seasonal calendar is built around the branches carved into its walls. Much of the site was designed so people from the surrounding community can add names to it. For anyone near Naranja Park's Tangerine Road entrance, the place behind the pickleball courts and the splash pad is still being added to.

What Opened in November 2024

The memorial sits inside Naranja Park at 810 W. Naranja Drive on a site of roughly 2.5 acres. Its centerpiece is a 24-foot obelisk of concrete and steel. It carries a five-point gold star and ribbons of red, white, and blue metal. A second five-point star, about 90 feet across, is set into the ground beside a landscaped plaza lined with benches.

A circular walk called the Pathway of Heroes passes eight walls, one for each of these:

• U.S. Army
• U.S. Navy
• U.S. Marine Corps
• U.S. Air Force
• U.S. Space Force
• U.S. Coast Guard
• NOAA
• U.S. Public Health Service

The memorial's mission also covers veterans, active and fallen military, first responders, and healthcare workers. An amphitheater on the site is meant for teaching and community gatherings. The Legacy Garden is a separate area for remembrance, and it holds the Forever Bricks that honor individual people.

The Town of Oro Valley calls the memorial a place of education where future generations can learn about people who put themselves in harm's way. It also calls it a refuge for families whose loved ones paid the ultimate price. Both of those roles help explain why the site keeps changing.

Nine Years From an Idea to an Obelisk

In 2015, Dick Eggerding pictured a memorial at Naranja Park and started pushing for town land to hold one. From the start, he meant it to honor veterans, first responders, and healthcare workers. A feasibility study and early concepts followed in 2016. Volunteers then formed a board that included Eggerding, Kay Williams, Alan Dankwerth, Steve Didio, and Vickie Shoopman. By July 2021, the group had taken the Arizona Heroes Memorial name, which reflected its broader mission that now included healthcare workers.

Construction came next. Spencer Construction, owned by Patrick and Lindsey Spencer, signed on as general contractor in October 2022. Ground was broken on Feb. 28, 2023, and the memorial opened 21 months later.

The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and an all-volunteer executive board still runs it. Its current roster lists Eggerding as founder. Executive Director Lisa Hopper handles daily operations, community outreach, and media relations. Because the memorial is run by volunteers and was built for teaching, the 2024 opening started its work rather than finishing it.

The Medallions Are the Newest Layer

The Purple Heart Medallion is topped with an image of Gen. George Washington. In 1782, Washington created the Badge of Military Merit, and in 1932 Congress authorized the Purple Heart based on that badge. The medallion honors "the sacrifice, courage and enduring spirit of warriors wounded defending our nation's freedom."

The local link goes back further than the medallion. In 2014, Oro Valley was one of the first towns in Arizona to become a Purple Heart Community. Vice Mayor Melanie Barrett and Councilmembers Dr. Harry "Mo" Greene II, Elizabeth Robb, and Mary Murphy were in the audience on Aug. 7. After the ceremony, a visitor photographed the new plaque while her husband stood nearby. He served in the Marine Corps for three years, six months, and six days. The couple have lived in Oro Valley for five years, and she said they had visited the memorial "many times."

Seven weeks later, a second medallion was scheduled. The memorial and the Greater Oro Valley Chamber both posted notices inviting the public to a Gold Star Mothers and Families Medallion dedication on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 8:30 a.m. in the Legacy Garden. The event page describes it as an unveiling and remembrance for families of fallen service members. So far, no published account of the ceremony has appeared. Anyone planning a visit to see it should check with the memorial first.

A Calendar Built Around the Eight Walls

Read the memorial's 2026 events list next to the Pathway of Heroes and the two line up. The Army's 251st birthday was marked on June 14 and the Coast Guard's on Aug. 4. NOAA has its observance today, Oct. 3. Each branch with a wall gets its own day. The fall dates still ahead follow the same pattern:

The memorial lists November and December as its end-of-year giving season. The Oct. 13 and Nov. 11 event pages give a date and a title but no start time or program. Check azheroesmemorial.org closer to each date. American Legion Post 132 in Oro Valley lists an all-day Veterans Day entry for Nov. 11, but it does not name a venue. The memorial's second anniversary falls on Nov. 16, five days after Veterans Day. No anniversary event appears on the calendar so far.

Saturdays at 5 P.M.

One item on the calendar repeats every week. Each Saturday at 5 p.m., Air Force veteran James DuPrey performs TAPS in the Legacy Garden, weather and availability permitting. The memorial calls it a solemn moment to honor fallen heroes.

That timing works with the rest of the park. Naranja Park is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The splash pad runs from April 1 to Oct. 31, so this month is the last chance this year to pair a late afternoon at the splash pad with the bugle call. The 2024 bond-funded expansion added a north entrance off Tangerine Road along with 440 parking spaces.

More changes are coming to the park itself. The Town's fiscal 2026/27 capital program sets aside $300,000 for Naranja Park shade. According to the Town Manager's September report, engineered drawings were nearly finished. They go to permitting next, then fabrication and installation. The Town is also building a 1.75-mile, 10-foot-wide paved path along the north side of Naranja Drive, between La Cañada Drive and First Avenue. It will link neighborhoods with the park, the library, and nearby businesses. Construction started in November 2025, and the September report says work continued in August. The report does not say the path is finished.

How a Name Gets Added

The medallions are the most visible additions, but most of what changes in the Legacy Garden comes from individual people. The memorial lists several ways to take part:

1. Forever Bricks. A brick can honor an active service member, a veteran, a first responder, or a healthcare worker. The person honored does not have to live in Arizona.
2. Legacy Trees. The memorial lists 13 trees at $5,000 each. Each has a personalized 6-by-6-inch bronze plaque at its base.
3. Volunteering. The listed roles are Memorial Greeter, Memorial Preservation Team, and Memorial Guardian Team. The memorial asks people to email about current openings.
4. The Dec. 7 OVCC Charity Classic. This off-site golf tournament raises money for the memorial.

The brick option has one practical detail. Since honorees can live anywhere, a family that moved to Oro Valley can honor a parent who served somewhere else, or a nurse who never set foot in Arizona. Those bricks then become part of the plaza that visitors walk through on their way to the Saturday TAPS.

Many people moving to northwest Oro Valley bring a story like the ones on these walls, and finding a place to honor it is part of feeling at home. If you're settling in, or helping a parent who served, and want a Tucson native's sense of places like the Arizona Heroes Memorial that a relocation checklist leaves out, Art Lopez AZ is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.