Remembering Glenn Trimmer, One of Two Men Responsible for Stafford's Civil War Park
Trimmer died June 14.
By Scott Boyd
CONTRIBUTOR
More than 100 people gathered in the sweltering heat on June 24 at the Stafford Civil War Park to remember one of the two men most responsible for the preservation of that site—Glenn Trimmer.
Trimmer, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, died June 14 at age 69.
His widow Becky, son Ross, daughter-in-law Erin, and grandson Oliver were all at the ceremony, along with dozens of friends, colleagues, and fellow historic preservationists.
“He was definitely the coolest dad and I miss him a lot,” Ross Trimmer said as the first person to share memories of his late father.
“He loved this park. He spent so many hours here. It was his home away from home,” Becky Trimmer reminisced.
“The two things he loved the most were this place and Becky,” said Trimmer’s daughter-in-law Erin. “Glenn loved so hard, and he loved fiercely. You saw that in his marriage to Becky and the way he raised his son and the time he spent with Ollie [his grandson], and in the way he built so many relationships.
I think it’s amazing that he left such an incredible legacy in this park and in all of you and the stories that you have.”
Fellow Class of 1977 VMI classmate Tom Orrell said that Trimmer “poured his heart and soul into the creation of the park.”
“He had a rare combination of qualities to work well with people, focus on the objective, solve problems, motivate people, to get the job done, all the while never losing his sense of humor, often with a smile and a wink,” Orrell said.
The ceremony was held in the park’s Trimmer-Newton Pavilion, which a sign at its entrance notes is dedicated to Trimmer and D.P. Newton, “two men who desired a park to honor the thousands of Union soldiers that encamped throughout Stafford County during the winter of 1863; a period many called their ‘Valley Forge.’”
(Valley Forge was the winter encampment in Pennsylvania of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the Revolutionary War, from 1777-78.)
Construction of the park was a collaboration between hundreds of volunteers, local citizens, businesses, Army and Air National Guard members, and officials of Stafford County and the City of Fredericksburg—and is a “realization of Trimmer and Newton’s vision.”
Trimmer’s partner in the creation of the park, local Stafford County historian D.P. Newton, died in 2019.
In an area where four major Civil War battles were fought, the Stafford Civil War Park stands out because it was the site of an encampment, not a battle.
The 41-acre park near Accokeek Creek is where elements of the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the 11th Corps spent the winter of 1862-63, following the Union Army of the Potomac’s crushing loss at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862.
One hundred and fifty years to the day after the Union Army’s 11th Corps marched out of the camp to fight at Chancellorsville, the preservation of the site was marked by the grand opening of the park on April 27, 2013.
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This article is a great tribute to both Glenn Trimmer and D. P. Newton. I wish I would have known about the gathering, or I would have been there.
Glenn and D. P. Newton did a great job with building the Stafford Civil War Park!
I remember Glenn hosting a gathering of County officials at his home. He gave us a tour of his Civil War artifacts he found over the years while metal detecting. The artifacts were all on display in showcases like a museum. He had a demonstration cannon firing in his front yard and had the house decorated with flags and other Civil War era items.
D. P. Newton also had a large collection of Civil War Artifacts, and he founded the White Oak Museum. It's a shame Stafford Officials didn't try to save the museum upon Newton's death in 2019. It was a very impressive museum. Newton created maps of all the Civil War earthworks in the entire County.
In the late 2000's I was at a Board of Supervisor meeting early and was talking to Glenn Trimmer and D. P. Newton about their proposal to build a Civil War Park on property that was part of the landfill. I thought it was a great proposal and I added it to the agenda as a discussion item.
The Board decided to fund about $40 K in seed money for the two men to start planning the construction of the Park. After that it was all done with donations and volunteers.
Glenn raised the money and got the National Guard to build the roads as part of their two weeks of summer training. The County got a great park for practically nothing.
Thank you, Glenn Trimmer and D. P. Newton for your commitment to Stafford County!
Their legacies are now set in stone at the Park!