Friday, November 28, 2014

J.J. Lundy - Rest in Peace

As I mentioned in a post some months back J.J. Lundy was a fine craftsman of stone monuments in the area around Independence Iowa.  I was through there again recently and dropped by the cemetery where the Lundy family is resting.  I was expecting something grand and over the top.  Here is what I found.


The Lundy family plot.  Nice, but I admit I was expecting something more.


The marker for Lundy's only child.  His death must have been a hard burden.  J.J. himself only survived for one more year.

As I went here and there about the very Catholic cemetery I saw a lot of conventional stone work.  Having seen a few examples of his more artistic creations I was a little disappointed. Maybe small town folks are just a little less ostentatious in life and in death.


A tree themed bench, showing the unfortunate structural weakness inherent to the design.


I am seeing more of these deteriorating monuments these days.  Another headless Dove of Peace.


There were a number of these "mini Rustic Crosses" in this cemetery.  This one has been cemented back together but not very securely.

The prize of this visit for me was something I had not seen before.  I am very sure J.J. Lundy's hand carved it.  A nice tree themed planter dedicated to the common burial plot for a group of nuns.


1 comment:

danski said...

Hello
I was trying to remember some genealogy stuff this AM and couldn't recall the name of the monument maker that was distantly related to me.
I searched a bit and then found the Lundy articles in your blog.
My grandfather (Daniel Gleason- 4/8/1876--9/12/1944) had a sister who was married to John J Lundy on 10/12/1912. Her name was Ella (6/18/1874--6/15/1940).
My grandfather worked occasional at Lundy's and may have maintained part of the business after JJ's death.
My mother moved East during the war and had pieces of polished granite and marble as mementos from Lundy's shop. I was fascinated as a child with the aspect of having a tombstone maker in the family tree, but on my one adult trip back to Independence, I was more interested in the Gleason graves than the Lundy's.
Sorry I missed out on that.
Thanks for the great pix.
Dan Rogalski