Monthly Archives: April 2008

Sagavanirktok

By Bob

16 April, 2008

That’s a river in the North Slope region of Alaska. It’s an Eskimo word meaning “strong current.” I love strange place names. One of my favorite books is Passing Gas, a book about strangely names places in the US. This AP article touches on some of the strangely named places in Alaska, like Eek,...
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It Is Time

By Bob

14 April, 2008

Here’s an email I sent out today to many folks I’ve worked with over the last seven years. Almost seven years ago, I answered an ad in the Dispatch looking for people to escort funeral processions. I knew the history of the situation, but applied anyway. What a ride it’s been. I’ve run almost...
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Escort Dies

By Bob

12 April, 2008

Steven Keith, the 51-year-old funeral escort hit by a drunk driver on 3 April, has died. Here’s his employer. You can send your condolences there.
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A Good Idea Then, But Now?

By Bob

12 April, 2008

In 1923, Plimmon H. Dudley, an engineer who worked for the New York Central Rail, left over $150,000 to Yale to establish the the Dudley Professorship of Railroad Engineering. His desire was that the professorship continue his research into railway safety, particularly as it applied to the development and improvement of designs of rails,...
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A Matter of Common Courtesy

By Bob

9 April, 2008

Stuff like this still occasionally happens, even up here in Central Ohio. I think the coolest time I ever saw it happen was three or four years ago, when 2 young boys, maybe 11 or 12 years old, stopped what they were doing, stood to, and paid their respects to the procession. It wasn’t...
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Escort Hit By Drunk Driver

By Bob

4 April, 2008

A funeral escort working Jackson County, Missouri was hit by a drunk driver April 3d. The escort suffered “life-threatening injuries” when a 20-year-old intoxicated male began passing the procession one car at a time, leapfrogging his way up. The escort, moving up to the front of the procession, was struck when the intoxicated driver...
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Funeral Humor

By Bob

1 April, 2008

The graveside ceremony had just ended when the sky flashed with the sharp crack of a nearby lightning strike, followed by more flashes and rumbles on the horizon. The widower glanced over at the pastor and said, “Well, she’s there now.”
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