verb
BAD : Following his death, a statue was erected to memorize him.
GOOD : Following his death, a statue was erected in his memory.
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memorize = learn something so that you are able to repeat it exactly: 'Fortunately, I had memorized her telephone number and was able to ring her from the station.'
in memory of sb, to the memory of sb or as a memorial ( to sb ) = a permanent reminder of someone after they have died: 'The charity was set up in memory of the late Lord Hinton.' 'It was built as a memorial to all those who died in the war.'