June 2018 LA Gravecation

One of the causes of the lack of content on this blog is due to a job I got in February 2017 at a big box grocery store. Just haven’t had the time to write. Anyway, a year of hard work led Uncle Sam to give me a really FAT tax return. So dumbfounded on where to hightail it to when my vacation time came up at work. I decided to once again jet set to LA for the fourth time. I’ll be grave hunting the first few days then the rest of the trip my friend Kelly will be joining me from Sacramento to do some touristy things.

Tombstone Tuesday – Marilyn Monroe

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Hollywood, Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane Mortenson, Playboy Magazine, Westwood Memorial Park, Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery

Norma Jeane Mortenson better known, the world over as the 1950s blond bombshell and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926, and died August 5, 1962.

Born and raised in Los Angeles Monroe had dreams of making it big in Hollywood she spent her early childhood in and out of foster homes and married by age sixteen. By 1944 as part of the war effort, she was working in a radioplane factory. This job led her to be introduced to a photographer with the First Motion Picture Unit. This simple introduction is how her modeling and acting career started.

Between 1947 and 1962 when she died Monroe was in thirty motion pictures. If your interested in checking out her film credits check out IMDb. She also appeared on the cover of the first issue of Playboy Magazine. On August 5th, 1962 Monroe died an overdose of barbiturates.

If you’re interested in reading more about her death and demise. I highly suggest you visit the Marilyn Monroe page on my friend Scott’s website Find A Death.

We Are Back Again

It’s been a year since I have posted anything. The last time I resurrected the website back from the dead I was dealing with some health issues. Well, I’m happy to say I’m all healed up from what I was dealing with. On top of that, I have a part-time job now. I’m going to make a serious effort to post on the blog. Being that its the dead of winter I’ll be covering other topics related to cemeteries and death. So please stay tuned to that.

Tombstone Tuesday – Anthony Krotiak WWII Medal of Honor

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Chicago, Grave Hunting, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Medal of Honor, Memorial Day, Pfc Anthony L. Krotiak, The Gravecast Blog, Tombstone Tuesday, WWII

Today’s Tombstone Tuesday highlight is the grave of WWII Medal of Honor Recipient Anthony L. Krotiak. Born in Chicago in 1915 Krotiak enlisted in the United States Army on November 24th, 1941.

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

He was an acting squad leader, directing his men in consolidating a newly won position on Hill B when the enemy concentrated small arms fire and grenades upon him and 4 others, driving them to cover in an abandoned Japanese trench. A grenade thrown from above landed in the center of the group. Instantly pushing his comrades aside and jamming the grenade into the earth with his rifle butt, he threw himself over it, making a shield of his body to protect the other men. The grenade exploded under him, and he died a few minutes later. By his extraordinary heroism in deliberately giving his life to save those of his comrades, Pfc. Krotiak set an inspiring example of utter devotion and self-sacrifice which reflects the highest traditions of the military service.

For the sacrifice of his life to save those around him. Pfc Krotiak was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor the following year during a ceremony on February 13th, 1946. He was laid to rest in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois next to his parents in Section: 23 Block: 14 Lot: 8.

Sources:

Medal of Honor: Ancestry

Overview: Wikipedia

 

 

Tombstone Tuesday – Henry Billings Brown

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Detroit History, Elmwood Cemetery, Grave Hunting, Henry Billings Brown, History, Michigan History, Sarcophagus Gravesite's, The Gravecast Blog, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

United States Supreme Court Justice Henry Billings Brown

Henry Billings Brown started his career in litigation as an admiralty lawyer (shipping law on the great lakes). He eventually rose to become a district court judge in Detroit before a nomination from Benjamin Harrison ascended him to the high court of the United States. During his thirty-one years as a federal judge, Brown authored hundreds of opinions regarding rights and laws in this country. In 1913 at the age of 77, Brown passed away from heart disease at a hotel in Bronxville, New York. Brown is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.

One of the things I really love about this sarcophagus are the dual babyface carvings on both sides of Henry’s name. I think it add’s character to the grave. Questions or commentary feel free to leave a comment.