Missed it by THAT much!

Would you believe that I dare you to read that title again without hearing Don Adams' voice in your head. Don "Agent 86 of CONTROL" Adams.

Anyone who has spent much time wandering through active cemeteries has almost certainly come across at least one headstone where the first two numbers of the death century were pre-carved as "19". Many people born in the early years of the 20th century were so confident that they would die before the year 2000 that they left only the decade and year numbers to be added to their headstone only to find themselves still around in the year 2000 and later! This necessitated crossing out the "19" and replacing it with "20".

Such cases never fail to make me chuckle. Among other things, I hear the negotiations with the stone carver. ""I'm sorry, Mrs. Seward, but we will have to charge extra to fix the date. Yes, I understand that it is not wrong. But, we did not make a mistake. We carved the stone precisely to your orders, as you can see here on the original paperwork. And it has been over 25 years since we carved and set it. You cannot possibly expect us to call this 'fixing a mistake.'"

Doris, on the other hand, clearly had other plans. I mean, you cannot fault her for expecting to live past 83 years (82 to be pedantic since her 83rd birthday would not come until much later in the year 2000). She simply did not make it, passing away 23  Sep 1999 a mere 100 days from being able to use the '20' year prefix. 

Missed it by that much!

I was curious enough that I was compelled to see what else I could dig up on her (if you will pardon the pun). Frankly, I was not expecting to find as much detail as I did!

Would you believe that right off the bat, I found photos! (Sorry. Not sorry for another Agent 86 crack!)

Doris in High School, 1934

Doris as a university student, 1937

Doris, again at University, but now as faculty, ca 1957.

Imagine my surprise when I also found an obituary. And not a basic, one-inch column version either.

I think it safe to say Doris was a most accomplished woman. More remarkedly so considering the expectations society held for women of the time. 

A detail from the obituary that raises more questions comes from the 3rd from the last paragraph. "Interment will be at the Columbarium." This seems to imply that the marker is, in fact, a cenotaph. 

Unfortunately, I can only speculate on this point. You see, the marker and columbarium are in Indiana, and I have not been there in person. 

I suppose an explanation is in order. I saw Doris's marker on the internet. The humor of the year change has not been missed by others. Someone had shared the photo, and it went viral. I will not be shocked in the least if anyone reading this drivel has not seen the image before. 

So,  clearly, I have to confess that this excursion was entirely virtual. However, that doesn't make it any less interesting. At least to me.