TRACY, Calif. — It's been more than a week since 64-year-old Parmjit Singh, a Sikh grandfather, was stabbed to death on his routine evening walk in Gretchen Talley Park.
Now, Singh's family is asking the city of Tracy to consider changing the name of the park where Singh was killed in his memory.
"This is our request to the Tracy officials and administration and if they consider it, we will be very thankful to them," said Harnek Singh Kang, Singh's son-in-law.
The City of Tracy's Parks and Recreation Department told ABC10, while they typically don't rename parks that have been dedicated to other people, there is a formal process the family will have to go through to put in this request, and that there are "thousands of ways" [the family] could consider in honoring Singh at the park.
The park is currently named after Gretchen Talley, a community organizer for more than 50 years who died in 2016. She was 83.
Kang said they hope for the name change because the park is a place the whole family is forced to pass by every day.
"It's kind of hard. We swing by the park the same time every day, almost, [since] that incident happened," Kang said.
Police arrested 21-year-old Anthony Kreiter-Rhoads of Tracy in connection with the murder.
Since that arrest was made, Kang says the family put in a request with the Tracy Parks and Community Services Commission to change the name of the park from Gretchen Talley Park to the Parmjit Singh Memorial Park.
"It will help our wounds or our pains to go down if they change the name of the park under his memorial, under his memory, as his name," Kang said.
"It's hard to pass by the same place because the kids are going to go to the school and all of the family members are going to pass by from here. It's going to pinch us all the time," Kang said.
"We have a feeling that if it can be renamed it would be a good, soothing feeling for the entire community," said family friend, Param Jid Singh.
Param Jid Singh told ABC10 he lives next door to the park and supports the idea to let Singh's memory continue to live on through the name of the park.
"This is a very timely request and I would support this request because this park should be [re]named and the community is well behind it. In some way or another, we would love to have his memory attached to this area," Param said.
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Tracy officials told ABC10 a representative must fill out an application and turn in a small number of signatures to the Tracy's Parks and Community Services Commission. The commission will review it and then make a recommendation to the Tracy City Council. The council will then get the opportunity to vote on it.
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