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Two widows share how a park bench brought them together

The bench Leta Spatz dedicated to her husband, Frank Spatz Jr., at Navy Point Park in Pensacola Florida, in October 2019.
Gail McGill
The bench Leta Spatz dedicated to her husband, Frank Spatz Jr., at Navy Point Park in Pensacola Florida, in October 2019.

In 2007, Leta Spatz and her husband, Frank Spatz Jr., were planning to move to Pensacola, Florida, where they meant to spend their retirement. But that year, Frank was diagnosed with melanoma, and nine months later he died.

Leta later moved to Pensacola on her own, and had a bench in a local park dedicated to him.

Twelve years later, she noticed a bouquet of yellow daisies on the bench.
These flowers led her to Gail McGill, who placed them there.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired April 24, 2026 on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Halle Hewitt