The Sacred Heart Cemetery in Cando, North Dakota, holds the graves of my great-great-grandparents, William Michael McGee and Isabel/Isabella Carney. In 2008, my 3rd cousin, Rita Matejka, went to Cando and cleaned up the gravestones and chopped away at the bush that was covering the headstone and took some pictures. She posted the images on Find A Grave. So when I went to the cemetery, I was expecting to see what I had seen on Rita’s pictures. But no such thing — the gravestone looked very new and very, lovely and the bush was covering the stone. But I didn’t have my computer with me so I couldn’t really examine the differences. With help from our new friend, Gerald Maurseth, I chopped away at the overgrown bush so my husband could take pictures. The next day, I contacted Rita’s aunt, Betty Teichmann, to see what she might know about a new gravestone. Betty gave me her brother Gary’s name and phone number to see what he knew. I had a lovely conversation with Gary as we drove across North Dakota. We didn’t solve the question of what appeared to be a new gravestone, but did solve two other family mysteries!
Mystery #1: Who was the McGee that my uncle John met in Minnesota right before he was transferred to Florida? Well, it was Jerry. Someone Jerry worked with decided to introduce the two McGees and what a surprise to all of them to find out Jerry and John were cousins (2nd – meaning their grandfathers were brothers). Before they could meet up again and talk, John was transferred.
Mystery #2: Why did Aunt Tress visit “strangers” in Minnesota and not her own nephew, John McGee? Jerry had the answer to this also. Jerry’s parents had gone to Cando for some event, and my grandfather’s sister, Theresa Irene McGee Lampman (aka Tress), was there also. At the family event, Jerry’s parents invited Tress to come home with them for a visit. So Tress made an unplanned visit to Minnesota to spend some more time with her cousin.
Now back to the gravestone. After looking at the pictures my husband took and comparing them to Rita’s images on Find A Grave, I realize that the tombstone is not new but maybe has a new face? Here is the link to William McGee on Find A Grave – http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=29228651
My new pictures have pushed Rita’s pictures off the front page, but if you click on the photo tab, you can see both of our images. Is it possible to “polish” up granite and bring back that kind of detail? Or did someone come in a do a more elaborate refinishing? Who is the person who spent the time and money to do this?
Strangely enough, while I was talking to Jerry, he told me that his daughter Rita was in Orlando, Florida, on vacation — very close to where John McGee and most of his family now live.
