February 18, 1998
Couple find history at dead end
East Bay Township residents tour cemeteries for a glimpse at the past
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
Roadside attractions for some people involve braking for garage sales. Others pull over to barter for a rickety old rocking chair. There are even those who feel compelled to stop at tourist traps bearing the names "Mystery Spot" and "Seashell City."
But Sharry and Jim Hirtreiter of East Bay Township are attracted to walking among the dead.
While some might find exploring cemeteries macabre, the Hirtreiters see it as simply exploring history. A chance to glimpse at the past through names and dates covered in moss and lichens.
"We don't set out on a trip to the cemetery, but if we spot one in our travels we'll stop in," said Sharry, an aid at Munson Medical Center and self-professed "history buff" since a high school Civil War class.
It is this interest in history that has brought the couple to cemeteries and family plots throughout the Grand Traverse region. In Traverse City, they have examined the rows of headstones at Oakwood and Memorial Gardens. They also have visited graveyards in Mayfield, Kingsley and Suttons Bay and between Grawn and Interlochen.
Many times the pair will stop off at a cemetery while coming back from another pursuit: car shows. While Jim is a gatherer of historic dates and names, he also is a collector of historic cars. Often times the couple will be tooling along in the 1928 Chrysler Model 62 Jim restored eight years ago when they'll spot a site yet to be explored.
"It's not a car you go real fast in. It gives you time to look around," noted Jim, who, when not servicing restaurant and laundry equipment, keeps the Chrysler and a 1973 TR-6 British sports car up and running.
Over the years, "looking around" has taken them off the beaten path and right into some interesting bits of history.
While investigating a small cemetery in Yuba, Sharry said they found the headstone of a man who died in 1864 while serving as a sharp shooter for the Union Army. Another soldier, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, they found buried in a cemetery in Ohio. To date he has been by far their oldest discovery.
"Many old headstones have their own unique character, their own personality," said Sharry, whose grandfather's headstone in Mapleton Cemetery in Suttons Bay has hand-carved doves, which she cleans off every Memorial Day.
Despite finding numerous old tombstones, the couple has yet to discover any examples of epitaphs full of prose or "Here lies ... " gallows humor.
Instead, many of the older stones have carvings of a religious nature, such as hands lifted up to heaven and soaring doves. By comparison, Jim noted that some modern markers use acid etching to incorporate a photo of the deceased into the headstone or create images of earthly endeavors such as deer hunting or motorcycle riding.
But it is the simplest markers that have left the greatest impression on Sharry and Jim. Such is the case with a Suttons Bay cemetery where plain, iron-pipe crosses mark a far off plot of unbaptized children who were unable to be buried on consecrated ground.
"I wonder about some of the women who lost their children and I couldn't imagine the death of one child let alone three or four, sometimes just days apart," said Sharry, whose children Megan, 12, and Jordon, 9, have accompanied their parents on some trips.
Despite the nature of Jim and Sharry Hirtreiter's hobby, the two are far from preoccupied with their own mortality.
"All I told Jim was that I wanted a nice stone with a lot of flowers nearby," Sharry said. "Just a place where the kids can come and talk to me."