Tombstone Tuesday

It's "Tombstone Tuesday" - this is exciting - it's my first time participating! This isn't just an entry for the day - but yet another tribute for the Find A Grave website. This has to be one of the best sites ever. I'm sure there are loads of people who already know about this site - but it changed my life. More than just providing pictures for my eyes to feast on - it reassured me that I wasn't the only person in the world who enjoyed walking through cemeteries and graveyards and snapping pictures of the interesting stones. So - to the founders and contributors of Find A Grave, I offer my sincere thanks. This picture was taken by Betty Saltenberger, one of the fine volunteers there.

George Thomas Roark was born 23 March 1880, in Barry County, Missouri. From what we know, he lived most of his life in Missouri. He married Elnora Hussong 5 November 1904, and they had two children, Roy [1907-1919], and Mable [?1909-1988], both born in Galena, Kansas. George died 15 Jan 1914, in Joplin, Missouri; the cause of death was tuberculosis, and a contributing factor was working in mines (the 1910 census lists him as a 'powder man').

When I was searching for ideas for this post, I read a comment at Adventures in Grave Hunting that Lisa made about a cemetery in California, "Rumor has it that the larger the monument, the more a deceased person was loved." This might have been the case here. Their marriage license records Nora's age as over 18, but if her death certificate and funeral card are to be believed, she was only 16 when she married. When George died, Nora was just 26 years old; they had only lived together nine years . I can't imagine they had a lot of money, but this stone looks expensive. While I don't know how much Nora loved George, it would appear that she definitely appreciated him, and wanted others to know that.