| Before everyone headed home after the Black Cat Strut, we wanted to do something else in the Toledo area. Woodlawn Cemetery was a natural. In addition to seeing some interesting monuments, we wanted to track down the gravesite of a man who perished on the Titanic. It turned out to be a beautiful day- no rain, and some Fall color. |
 We met by the front gate.Two hearses, two cryin cars, and a big old sedan. We just may have confused some passersby. |
 The first stop was the Bessie Ludwig chair monument. It features a stone replica of a chair. The story is that it's modeled after the chair Mrs. Ludwig slept in for the last few years of her life. |
 A close-up of the chair. She was convinced that she would die if she reclined on a bed. From there we tried unsuccessfully to find the monument of the filmmaker. We were pretty sure we knew where it was, but didn't recognize it. We decided to move on.... |
 The Gunckel Pyramid is a great photo-op location. He was the founder of the organization that eventually became the Boys and Girls Clubs. Here we've got Bill Frisk's 81 Armbruster Stageways 6-door, Terry & Gayle Miller's 82 Buick B&B hearse, John Creno's 79 Cadillac Superior Crown, and Patrick Martin's '84 H&E 6-door. |
 Our little group- tour guide Bill Frisk, Patrick Martin, John Creno, my wife Peggy, the Millers, and Ken Kvasys. Ken didn't know it yet, but he was to get his own hearse just a few days from when this picture was taken! |
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 Helooo, anybody home? Terry and Gayle check out the Ritter mausoleum. Some mausoleums still have their original stained glass, others had their glass stolen in the 70's and 80's. The buyers were usually told that the windows "came from an old church that was torn down". It's worth checking to see if the original stained glass is still there. |
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 The Tiedke mausoleum. They operated the big middle-class department store in Toledo, which was famous for their innovative displays and 5-ton wheel of Christmas cheese. They had the air intake for the store near the coffee grinders, so the aroma of freshly ground coffee would waft throughout the store. Mmmmmm coffee- gotta get some! Their chipmunk-y radio jingle still brings tears to the eyes of Toledoans. |
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 This Celtic cross has been overtaken by a holly. Gayle is almost hidden on the left. Holly isn't a fast grower, so you know it's been there quite a while. |
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 One last look at our line-up. Oh- the Titanic monument? Bill found it at last! The burial vault had apparently collapsed, and the headstone had sunk by a few inches. Fallen leaves had filled the depression, so the headstone was shorter than expected and the "Titanic" was covered. Here's what it should have looked like. You can read more about him- William H. Harbeck and the story has an interesting twist at the end! |