Dear Ancestor,
Your tombstone stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and the date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who cares
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Walter Butler Palmer (1906)
Dear Ancestor,
Your tombstone stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and the date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who cares
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Walter Butler Palmer (1906)
Inscription
F SMETANA
• Note on Headstone:
The above is all that is visible because the stone has sunken into the ground. Franz's name does not appear on main headstone.
• Memorial Sponsored:
Find A Grave memorial sponsored on Saturday, May 9, 2009.
Gravesite Details
Grave marker has sunken into the ground. See photo.
Family Members
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Frances Smeton Reed
1890–1918
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Frederick Smeton
1892 – unknown
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Frank Joseph Smeton
1894–1973
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Anna Elizabeth Smeton Kramer
1896–1953
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Stephen James Smetona
1898–1919
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Stanley John Smeton
1899–1966
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Marie Smetana
1901–1904
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Josephine Theresa Smeton Hayes
1904–2000
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George Edward Smeton
1908–1967
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Joseph F. Smetana
1914–1972
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Catherine Emma Smetana Ruehl
1916–1995
