Find-A-Grave Phone Call - Serendipitous Moment

I just received an unexpected phone call because of a photo posted on Find-A-Grave and this Blog. My home phone rang a few minutes ago from someone I didn't know. The caller knew my name and he mentioned his name. He mentioned that he found my name on a Picture that I had posted on Find-A-Grave. The picture was that of the headstone and Military Marker on the website.

OK. That's OK so far, but he continued, that he has just had a phone call from "Roger" from the Cemetery where that headstone had been. I know Roger and stop by to see him from time time time, especially when I am looking for someone in that Cemetery.

The caller told me about that call, because the Dates on the Military Marker was incorrect. Roger had called him to let him know that the new Marker had arrived and wanted to verify the dates. Unfortunately, the Cemetery has a good covering of snow on the ground and the new marker will be places later in the spring. The caller wanted to let me know about the new Marker.

This was the beginning of one of those Genealogy Serendipitous moments, when a series of events "were meant to be".

The caller told me a few of the stories about his father, whose headstone picture I had taken, and what he had in his hands. One of the stories was about the business his father had "in town". In fact, the caller had lived very close to where I had lived and he graduated from the same high school as my girls, but may be a year or two earlier.

We then talked about where his grandparents are buried, and a visit to that cemetery is now on my ToDo "visit a cemetery" list when the snow of gone.

Then he mentioned that he was going to come to town in a month or so, do to something for a friend of his. Mentioned the name, I told the caller, that the person he was talking about takes care of my cars, and is a friend as well.

Needless to say, when he comes to town, we will get together and go visit his father's grave site, so that an updated photo can be places on Find-A-Grave.

Oh, the kicker is, that I don't normally answer a phone who I don't know who is calling. I had been online to see what the telephone number was, when the phone number showed up on Caller ID. I picked it up this time, starting this conversation.

The caller mentioned that he had looked at all of the photos I had taken, and didn't think I was related to all of them. I said no, I just try to respond to Find-A-Grave photo requests. The photo that started this conversation was not one of those, but a photo that I had taken for Memorial Day.

Tombstone Tuesday - Barnett, Ralph William

Ralph William Barnett

New Jersey

CPL 1685 Engineers C BN

World War II

Dec 30, 1911 - Oct 13, 1960

Rockport Presbyterian Church

395 Rockport Road

Port Murray, NJ 07865

Church Telephone (908) 852-6515

http://www.rockportchurch.org/

Link to the Find-A-Grave website listing

Interactive map and GPS data:

GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 40.81112, Longitude: -74.89359

Tombstone Tuesday - Veterans of the DAR

Old Baptist Cemetery
Gleneida Avenue
Carmel, NY 10510

To Honor Veterans of the American Revolution

Charles Agor
Tracy Ballard
Daniel Cole
Ebenuzer Cole
Ens. Obediah Chase
Nathan Crosby
Lt. Elijah Fuller
Joseph Hopkins
John Kelly
Judah Kelly
Gilbert Merritt
Cornelius Organ
Lewis Robinson
Gen. James Townsend

Erected by the Carmel Garden Club - 1974