It's a small memorial garden, just a few square feet of greenery tucked inside the circular drive in front of United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas' Little Rock Adult Center.
There's an elfin Japanese maple at the center and Knockout roses and red begonias shining brightly in the morning light, along with about a dozen other varieties of plants.
The garden is tiny but tidy, and it's a garden that means the world to many people: the clients of the center, for a sanctuary spot; the parents of the clients, for a calming place; Gerald "Jerry" Kenworthy, the man who started the garden roughly five years ago; and Mary Busby, who oversees the garden now.
Kenworthy created the garden in honor of his son, Steven Kenworthy, a UCP client who died in 2010 at 37. The garden is the Steven R. Kenworthy Memorial Garden, and next to the maple is a plaque, stating, "They made the world a better place with their laughter and smiles. They showed us what love is and in return gained our undying devotion. They will be sadly missed, but in our minds and in our hearts they will forever remain and live forever."
The senior Kenworthy reverently oversaw the garden, working nearly every day pulling weeds, trimming plants or visiting with the center's staff and clients, until earlier this year, when the U.S. Air Force veteran -- who also served on UCP of Arkansas' board of directors -- was diagnosed with cancer.
Kenworthy knew the end was near; he wanted someone to take over the sacred spot filled with his plants and paved with memorial bricks for UCP clients, employees and board members.
Busby, a master gardener for more than 14 years, was brought into the conversation.
"I have been close friends with Mary for many years, and she is known for her generosity as well as her green thumb," says Haley Walker Klein, special events coordinator for UCP of Arkansas.
"After talking to Mr. Kenworthy and discussing his concerns about leaving the garden upon his passing, she was the first person who came to mind. When Mary and Mr. Kenworthy met, I knew it was meant to be. They talked for over an hour at their first visit about plants, mulch and flowers. Mary made sure to ask about his favorite flowers -- red begonias -- and had them planted in the garden that weekend."
Kenworthy died April 21 at 82.
Busby, a senior vice president at Stephens Insurance in Little Rock since 2007, now dutifully cares for the garden.
"He handed me a gift," Busby says. "Haley had expressed to me how special the garden was to Mr. Kenworthy. When you come in out here, people always talk about the garden, so it's special to everybody. When I met him, he knew better than anybody how ill he was, but finding someone to tend to his garden was so important to him. I told Haley I was happy to do it, and I realized the importance of it to her and to UCP. Then, when I met with him, and we got to talk about what plants he liked and didn't like, and we kind of laughed and talked. Just through visiting, it maybe made him feel comfortable that I know enough about what I'm doing that he felt OK with it."
She spends time at the garden at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, although she notes the upkeep is "fairly easy now," since everything is planted. She picks, weeds, trims and feeds, maintaining what Kenworthy started.
A Little Rock native, Busby's interest in gardening grew from her childhood and her father, who had a love for it.
"He just gardened a lot, and he was really smart about a whole lot of things," she says. "He would garden in our yard, and as a little girl I got to spend time with him doing that."
Busby got involved in the Central Arkansas Rose Society, an affiliate of the American Rose Society, but her primary focus is now the Master Gardener program, where she works at the program's greenhouse in Little Rock and on a program project building plant beds at the Arkansas State Fair Complex.
A holder of bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Busby also volunteers with organizations such as Our House, The Studio Theatre and serves on the UALR College of Business Advisory Board. But she never had been actively involved in UCP of Arkansas outside of monetary donations until she met Kenworthy and learned about his garden.
Now, she knows he's watching over her as she carries on the legacies of the Kenworthys -- Gerald, Steven and Sally, Gerald's husband and Steven's mother -- and brings a touch of beauty to the UCP of Arkansas' Little Rock Adult Center.
"I didn't have a chance to know [Gerald Kenworthy] very well, but I could tell that this [garden] was so important to him and that made me feel very committed to take care of it," Busby says. "If I tell somebody I'm going to do something, I try to always do it.
"When I come out here I always do pause and do think, 'OK, Mr. K. Thank you for letting me be here, and I know you're watching over us. Know that your plants are being taken care of.' ... And I will always think of it as Mr. K's garden. I think it's in honor and respect of him that we continue to acknowledge that it's his garden."
High Profile on 10/15/2017