Trust but verify

That's what Ronald Reagan had to say about our tenuous relationship with the former Soviet Union.

The maxim also applies to obituaries.

In a post a couple of days ago, I mentioned a survey of recent local obituaries in which I found reference to three supposed burial sites in Central Florida that I had never heard of in all my hopping around this neck of the woods.

Well, as it turns out, they don't exist. Whoever prepared the obituaries in question must've gotten a little careless with the facts. The three sites mentioned were evidently the locations of some memorial services:

* Congregation of Reform Judaism - http://www.crjorlando.org/

* San Pedro Catholic Retreat - http://www.sanpedrocenter.org/

* Temple Israel - http://www.tiflorida.org/

The two Jewish burials probably occurred at either Ohev Shalom or in the Beth Israel section at Woodlawn.

The Catholic burial could have taken place just about anywhere, I guess . . .

Bottom line, don't trust everything you read in the obituary column!

A bird's eye view for ye rabbits

Yours truly created a Google Map of all the hopping grounds already mentioned in this blog, and will commit to updating it on a weekly basis.

Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!

View Larger Map

Memorial vs tombstone

This dapper fellow is Aaron Jernigan (1813-1891), the first permanent American settler in what is now Orlando.

Disclaimer: He is also my great-great-uncle.

He is mentioned here today to remind all ye rabbits out there of the difference between memorial stones and tombstones.

You see, old Uncle Aaron is buried out at Lake Hill Cemetery in the Orlovista neighborhood just southwest of the city limits.


Sadly, Lake Hill is not as well maintained as other area cemeteries, especially when you consider it is the final resting place of so many of our pioneers. The low cinder block wall barely shields it from the hustle and bustle of adjacent Old Winter Garden Road. Yours truly has encountered vagrants on the premises on more than one occasion. Empty beer bottles and cans dot the grave sites, some of them holding wilted flowers.

Anyway, near the center of the cemetery grounds is a utility building. And, just in front of that building is this fairly recent memorial:

But, do not be confused!

This does not mark Aaron Jernigan's final resting place!

To find that, you have to turn to the right.

Just before the fence that separates Lake Hill from the Jewish interments at neighboring Ohev Shalom Cemetery, you will find the plot containing the much more humble tombstones of Aaron, his wife Mary, and many members of the extended family.

See, I told you there was a difference between memorial stones and tombstones!

(Lake Hill and Ohev Shalom are located at 5950-6000 Old Winter Garden Road, just east of Kirkman Road, west of Orlando.)