Edinboro's famous cemetery

Many of you think we do a lot of senseless whining here at YourBoro. Well for once, we’re writing about something we’re totally psyched about. Something we should all be proud of:

Our cemetery – quite possibly more inspired than 95% of the artists on campus.

Honestly, though, I’ve never seen a cemetery like this, and I recommend each and every one of you to check it out. Make sure you go all the way to the back of it. That’s where you’ll find this awe-inspiring treasure trove of unique gravestones. The most famous of which being this:

Yep. That is Yoda, famed Jedi Master from the Star Wars saga. I saw this headstone for the first time a few years ago, and honestly wasn’t that shocked by it. I thought these kinds of things were commonplace. There must be thousands of people with Star Wars themed headstones, right? Then, today, I checked out Google. I seriously searched dozens of terms; “star wars gravestone, star wars headstone, star wars cemetery, star wars tombstone,” etc. The only terms that came up with anything were “yoda tombstone” and the only applicable results were images of THIS VERY STONE. This website and this website do not show you the backside, however.

Of course it’s silly to put etchings of someone’s favorite sci-fi movie characters (and aircrafts) on their tombstone. But obviously, Mr. Scarlett’s family would not have done it if they thought it would not make him happy. And that seems to be a running theme throughout this part of the cemetery.

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A number of the gravestones are etched with portraits of couples, like these two examples. People always talk about loving each other “til death do us part”, but I really think this is a lot more romantic. Your lasting image of yourself to the rest of the world, and you’re sharing it with your husband/wife? It’s heart-warming and heart-breaking, all at the same time.

Others are simply tributes to someone’s personality. Virginia Kraus seems like she was awesome. Just look at the attitude in her face. I love it.

And there’s Michael Onda! You know him from the scenic Mike Onda Beach, directly across from the cemetery on Route 99.

Don’t know how to feel about this one.

My point in all of this is to explain why I think the Edinboro cemetery demands admiration, awe and respect. The departed souls of our town rest here, and the images on their graves tell deep and beautiful stories. Unlike graveyards of generations past, with large monoliths and ornate sculptures of choirs of angels and multitudes of saints, this cemetery embraces the idea of the self. These headstones are tiny legacies; beautiful, slighty tacky, at times geeky, but ultimately still beautiful.

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