I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
I came across the grave of Bobbi Jo Eaddy in Gardens of Faith cemetery. Eternal Faith Cemetery in my novel Chapel Street is based on Gardens of Faith. I went there one afternoon to shoot photographs to illustrate one of my chapter reads of novel. I was immediately drawn to that happy smiling face in that sad place of death. I had to know more about her. However, before I could even research her, a couple of people recognized her in my chapter read video. They remembered her fondly and told me of her sad fate. I thought I should share it here.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 29 April 1999:
By Liz Atwood
On a day when clear skies and dry roads should have afforded drivers a safe and easy commute, more than a dozen accidents ensnared thousands of motorists yesterday, leaving one driver dead and creating a 10-mile backup in Interstate 95.
The accident affected both ends of the daily commute, with one deadly crash crushing a car between two trucks and snarling evening rush hour -- jamming some of the same motorists frustrated by the morning accident of I-95.
"It was definitely unusual," said Dave Buck, a spokesman for the State Highway Administration, who was caught in an accident on the Jones Falls Expressway going to work.
The problems that turned the typical morning rush hour headache into a full blown migraine began about 5:30 a.m. when the hydraulic flatbed of a tractor-trailer rose unexpectedly and crashed into an overhead sign on I-95 in Rosedale.
The fluke accident was the first of more than a dozen that snagged drivers on area roads. A rush-hour commute that normally takes an average of a half-hour in the Baltimore area took three times as long for many.
A fatal accident near White Marsh about 1:30 p.m. closed a portion of eastbound Pulaski Highway for more than four hours. Baltimore County police said a car was crushed between two trucks at Middle River Road and Pulaski Highway killing Bobbi Jo Eaddy, 18, of the 4000 block of Baker Lane in Parkville causing a vehicle fire.
I'm sorry but I have a real problem with the story above. The writers (or editor) chose to emphasis the snarled rush hours. Really? The emphasis should have been on the loss of life, not temporary commuter inconvenience. I doubt few if any of the commuters even remember that specific drive, but I bet Bobbi Jo's family still feels her loss everyday. Please. There was a way including all of the necessary story elements without burying the lead, as it were. That's worse than sloppy. It's insulting.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 20 April 1999:
BOBBI JO EADDY, 18, KENWOOD HIGH STUDENT
Services for Bobbi Jo Eaddy, a senior at Kenwood High School, will be held at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Schimunek Funeral Home, 9705 Belair Road, Perry Hall.
Miss Eaddy died Tuesday afternoon of injuries she suffered in a traffic accident in White Marsh. The Perry Hall resident was 18.
At Kenwood High, she played cello in the school orchestra, was on the junior varsity basketball and volleyball teams, and worked with physically and mentally challenged students.
She is survived by her father and stepmother Randal Eaddy Jr. and Carri Ann Eaddy of Perry Hall; her mother and stepfather Lisa and Robert Loeffler II of Perry Hall; her paternal grandparents, Randal Eaddy St. and Sylvia Eaddy of Darlington, S.C.; her maternal grandparents, Calvin Fletcher Sr. of Perry Hall and Saundra Petrisillo of New Bern, N.C.; a stepbrother, Rob Kovalchek of Perry Hall; a stepsister. Gabrielle Loeffler of Edgewood; two half-brothers Casey Loeffler and Randy James Eaddy, both of Perry Hall; step-grandparents, Robert and Charlotte Loeffler of Baltimore and friends Lisa Krenzer and Jamie Hurcombe, both of Middle River.
Bobbi Jo's life and death wasn't as long or colorful or controversial as some of the other folks in this series, but I am certain her death had no less a profound affect on her family and friends. People still miss her and think of her. I am happy to honor her here.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one...
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The House
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is Us
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, Arrival
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, Methodology
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's Tale
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
No comments:
Post a Comment