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Welcome
Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
A Taphophilia Thank You...
Taphophilia (dot) Com would not be possible without the knowledge, experience and talent of DarkestWeb. From its conception and early development, DarkestWeb was faced with many challenges; from inspiring and motivating, to providing guidance and direction. The continued dedication and support has produced results greater than ever expected, and for this, I owe a huge debt of gratitude.
Announcements
Graveyards of Chicago:
The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries
By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery and to browse other available titles!
Men of Mortuaries Calendar
To purchase your 2008 calendar, learn more about the KAMMCARES Foundation, or to be featured in the 2009 calendar, please visit Men of Mortuaries.
Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman is now
available. Please visit
Studio Indiana for more information.
West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Anonymous Katrina Victims Buried in Miss. |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Thursday, 02 February 2006 |
Feb. 2, 2006
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer
PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Five months after Hurricane Katrina, a man and woman whose identities are still a mystery were laid to rest side-by-side Thursday, mourned by complete strangers in the first of what could be many such burials to come.
The Rev. Rex Yancey, who led the brief graveside service, urged the mourners to pray that the victims would someday be identified and reunited with relatives.
"I don't know your name, but you are not alone. We stand here with you as you journey home," the Baptist preacher said, reciting a poem he wrote for the occasion.
The bodies were found in different places about a week after the Aug. 29 hurricane. Nobody came forward to claim them, and after fingerprints, dental records and DNA tests failed to yield their identities, the local coroner decided the time had come to let them rest in peace.
More than 100 other unidentified victims of Katrina — mostly from New Orleans — still await burial. In all, more than 1,300 lives were lost to the storm.
Kevin Stephens, New Orleans' health director, said many residents driven from their homes by the hurricane do not have the means to return and look for missing relatives.
"We should take every reasonable measure to identify our citizens," he said. "Perhaps that justifies taking a little additional time."
On Thursday, several dozen people, including six sheriff's deputies serving as pallbearers, gathered at the city-owned cemetery to pay their respects. At the end of the service, many left flowers on the matching fiberglass caskets. Some wiped away tears as they walked away from the graves.
Lucille Nash, 70, of D'Iberville brought a red rose. Her daughter, 46-year-old Sheila Aultman, died in the storm, but Nash did not learn of Aultman's death until November. "It could have very easily been her here," Nash said.
Joe Stout, 55, said he felt compelled to attend even though he had no personal connection to the victims.
"God knew these people when they were born. He knew them when they died and he knew everything in between. They're only unknown to us," said Stout, whose home is in Pascagoula.
Sandra Mott, 53, brought a video camera to record the service. "I wanted somebody to be here because they cared, not just because it was their job," she said.
Mississippi's Jackson County was hit hard by the storm. Thirteen people died and thousands lost homes and businesses. For Thursday's service, a local funeral home donated the caskets, a florist furnished free flowers, the city set aside two burial plots, and Yancey, pastor at First Baptist Church, volunteered to officiate.
The granite headstones were not ready in time for the service. Michael Graham, assistant manager of Holder-Wells Funeral Home, said he and others are trying to come up with an appropriate epitaph.
Both bodies were badly decomposed when they turned up in different parts of Ocean Springs, a coastal city west of Pascagoula.
The man's body was found in a marshy area. He was a black man in his early 60s with a bald spot and a close-cropped mustache. On his left forearm was a tattoo with the number "8" inside a heart shape.
The woman was found between the slabs where two houses once stood. She was a black woman, about 5-foot-3 and 150 pounds. She was wearing black pants and a University of Michigan T-shirt with gold lettering.
Jackson County Coroner Vicki Broadus said she hopes the victims' genetic profiles can yield clues once they are run through various DNA databases.
"Just because they're buried isn't going to mean they're forgotten," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060202/ap_on_re_us/katrina_anonymous_dead_3;_ylt=Ar8xdL1PgbVsIZ2az7PANmkbLisB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Taphophilia Facts
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New Jersey is home to one Presidential gravesite, Grover Cleveland.
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Quote Repository
“In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.” #NAME?
Grave Epigrams
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Friends & Physicians can not save
My Mortal body from the grave
Nor can the grave confine me here
When Christ doth call me to appear. Dedham, MA 1798 |
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Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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