Adventures in Grave Hunting by Lisa Burks

It's Jack Stephan!!!

On a recent run to Inglewood Park Cemetery, I accidentally discovered the future crypt (and fabulous name plate) of Jack Stephan, California's King of Plumbing.  It adjoins the crypts of other Stephan family members along the exterior wall on the west side of Manchester Garden Mausoleum.

Snapped at Inglewood Park Cemetery on 11/10/2009

Anyone in SoCal who listens to the radio or pays attention to local television ads should recognize the tongue-in-cheek meaning behind Jack's name plate, which is an exasperated response to the announcer's botched attempts at getting his name right. Jack Stephanino, Jack Stephonsky, Jack Stephanovich. According to Reeves Journal, the campaign came about organically because the announcer really did keep making mistakes.

In case you missed it, here's the commercial courtesy of the actor portraying the plumber, Rob Brakenridge:

Jack Stephan

Rob Brackenridge | MySpace Video

Further good reads about this commercial at losanjealous.com.

Or maybe you've seen one of their vans around, featuring the phrase incorporated into the company logo. This one was snapped by Flickr Pro, SoCalMetro:

An interesting bit of trivia gleaned from Jack's brother Harold's epitaph (or at least it was news to me seeing as I'm not up on local plumbing history) is that "Adee Do!" (established in 1949) is part of the Jack Stephan empire (established in 1946.)

Which leads me to wonder if competitor Mike Diamond "The Smell Good Plumber" has a pre-arranged burial spot. There's a built-in grave hunting joke at the tip of my typing fingers tongue, but I'm not going to go there.

We Both Screamed For Ice Cream

Fifi and I went to Home of Peace Memorial Park today to visit little Linda Joyce Glucoft, a follow up to yesterday's post.  Thanks to my graving buddy, Luis Mata, who made the call to get her location, we easily found her within the Chapel Mausoleum. (Hugs to you, Luis!)

It was an unsettling and emotional experience, one I'm not quite ready to write about tonight.  I did, however, start a Findagrave memorial page for her, which was a priority goal.

On a much lighter note, while in the mausoleum we also sought out Burt Baskin, co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins "31 Flavors" Ice Cream parlor chain.  He's in a modest crypt in the gorgeous Corridor of Peace.

Although we visited many, many graves today, this was my favorite because it provided one of those terrific "I think they wanted to be found" moments.  

Fifi was walking ahead of me as I lagged behind snapping photos.  I could tell something had happened when she back-tracked to me with a "you won't believe what just happened" look on her face.

She lead me to the Corridor of Peace and showed me the crypt of Dora Baskin, high up on the right side of the hallway.  She thought this might be Burt's wife.  However, Burt was nowhere to be seen near her. 

We're thinking Dora might be Burt's mother

She told me that she then backed up to get a better look at the names and bumped into a crypt.  "Oh, excuse me," courteous Fifi had apologized aloud. Turning around to see who she had disturbed, she discovered it was none other than Burt himself, ha!

To celebrate Mr. Baskin's apparent wish to be noticed, and following the graving tradition to patronize businesses of the departed, we stopped at the local Baskin-Robbins on our way home for a cup of his yummy ice cream.

This was actually a no-brainer idea on a hot day like today. Which of the flavors to choose though? I had mint chocolate chip and Fifi had Oreo cookies and cream.  Mmm, the perfect way to top off a day of summer grave hunting!

“My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy the ice cream while it's on your plate” ~ Thornton Wilder

Tombstone Tuesday ~ The Magic of WD-40

This week's Tombstone Tuesday is dedicated to WD-40 mastermind, John S. Barry, who passed away on July 3 at the age of 84.

John S. Barry 1925-2009 (LA Times photo)

The petroleum-based lubricant was originally created back in the 1950s to protect rocket parts from rust and corrosion. Thanks to Barry's marketing genius it's now a must-have household product that can be found in upwards of 80% of American households, not to mention countless grave hunter tool kits.

Customers have discovered over 2,000 uses for WD-40, with "protects and polishes bronze grave markers" and "helps clean oxidization from bronze grave markers" making the official list.

Here's how it works, using the headstone of actress Carole Landis as an example:

The top photo shows how I found Carole's bronze marker when I visited her at Forest Lawn Glendale in November 2005. The bottom two show how it looked after brushing off the dirt and spraying a light coat of WD-40.

It's important to note that WD-40 should only be used on bronze-type markers, never marble or other porous materials.

No information is currently available about Mr. Barry's final resting place.  However, I think it's safe to say that if he is marked in bronze, grave hunters such as myself will use his product to keep it preserved as the years go by, as a way of saying thank you.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ March 24, 2009

Ralphs Grocery Founder George S. Ralphs (1850 - 1914)
with author Mark Masek (and his Ralphs Rewards card, of course!)
 
Snapped at Evergreen Cemetery (Los Angeles, CA) 3/1/2008