“Tragedy to Triumph” honors victims of a train crash just east of the Loomis Street crossing that shook a sleepy little town of less than 5000 people on April 25, 1946. Discarded train parts and hundreds of railroad spikes were molded by lifelong Naperville resident Paul Kuhn to sculpt this inspiring piece memorializing a tragic day in Naperville history.

Kuhn’s focus was on showing how a caring community can come together in the wake of tragedy, choosing to picture only the living to invoke a message of hope, rather than despair – of triumph over tragedy.