Seese-Thornton Garden of Tranquility

The Duke Cancer Patient Support Program’s (DCPSP) Seese-Thornton Garden of Tranquility offers cancer patients and their families a quiet place for meditation and reflection.

The garden is a place of comfort to sort out the overwhelming emotions brought about by a life-changing disease, as well as a place for loved ones to remember and memorialize those who have been touched by cancer.

For many years, Rachel Schanberg and other friends of the DCPSP and the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center dreamed of a garden where patients, families and staff members could enjoy a beautiful, tranquil area as a respite from the clinic routine.

That dream became a reality when the Seese- Thornton Garden of Tranquility was formally dedicated on November 8, 2003.

The garden contains a beautiful sculpture The Promise by gifted artist John Safer. The shape is simple, but evocative. The upward spiraling form is traditionally one of hope, a feeling echoed by the title of the work.

Each year, we host the annual Spring Garden Celebration to celebrate the sense of life and hope brought by the Garden. We also dedicate newly named trees, benches, and bricks, and the donors and honorees named in the Garden of Tranquility.

DCPSP Dedications in the Seese-Thornton Garden of Tranquility

• Rachel Schanberg Walk of Honor
• Tree of Caring: in memory of Susan Moonan
• Tree of Compassion: in honor of all Duke Oncology Nurses
• Tree of Dedication: in honor of all Duke Oncology Physicians
• Tree of Gratitude: in honor of the NC Women of the Moose

Please visit the garden to view other dedicated trees, benches, and bricks.

For more information about the garden or to make a contribution to the garden, please contact Marie Palmer at 919-684-8760.

Locations

This service is available at:

• Morris Cancer Clinic
  Morris Building, 200 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710