'They were very special to us': Harrow school memorializes students and mother tragically killed

A Harrow school is memorializing two students and their mother, who were tragically killed in June.

Staff at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School have installed memorial benches and have given names to two main hallways in the school.

Carly Walsh, 41, her daughter Madison, 13 and son Hunter, 8, died from what police say was a case of intimate partner violence on June 20, 2024.

“We did our grief counseling in June,” principal John Mazloumian said Friday. “We wanted this to be a celebration, to recognize the lives that they lived, because they were very special to us.”

The school hosted a private ceremony Thursday blessing three new benches; one out front of the school in memory of Carly and two in the rear playground in memory of Madison and Hunter.

The landscaped area is proudly called the ‘Sabre Safe Zone’, according to Mazloumian.Staff at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School have installed memorial benches in Harrow, Ont., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

St. Anthony’s school mascot is a Sabre.

“We want it to be a space where you can just be you,” said Mazloumian, who has already noticed students taking advantage of a special place to be during recess.

“I see them out there sitting on those benches and sitting with friends, and, sometimes I just see one student sitting out there by themselves, which is what they might need too,” he said.Staff at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School have installed memorial benches in Harrow, Ont., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

They have also renamed the two main hallways in the school in memory of Madison and Hunter and their track suits from last year will forever be in the sports display case.

“Their memory is always here with us in our school and they (will) always part of our school family,” said Mazloumian.

Following their deaths, Mazloumian was reminded of a phrase made famous by the late actor Robin Williams: everybody is fighting a battle you know nothing about so be kind, always.

That is now the schools’ motto, according to Mazloumian.

“It's about walking together, through this path called life and, making it the best we can. And it's important, I think, to lean on each other,” he said.