September 10, 2010 by Amy Elliott Bragg
Stroh Family Plot at Elmwood
Yesterday, a little less than an hour before closing time, a friend and I went to Elmwood for an evening stroll. We were so charmed by this beautiful hill-top grave site, so stately and serene in the midst of dozens of imposing obelisks and heavy Gothic headstones. It’s airy and open, and I love the grace of the circular fencing. Like a peaceful English storybook. I stepped in smiling and feeling light, a strange sense to have in your heart in a graveyard.
And look who calls this home!
Why, it’s the volk-sculptor-turned-beer-veep that I just wrote about a few weeks ago! Julius Melcher, lion-carver, father-in-law to Julius Stroh, mentor of many Detroit art greats (including Albert Kahn, as our friend Belle Isle Home pointed out in the comments).
And look at this bunny!
At first I thought this was probably a child’s grave, where you sometimes see stone figurines of lambs or small angels, and it gave me an ache. But Louise Stroh died in 1995 at the healthy age of 88, which just made me love this little rabbit even more.
One more reason to love the Strohs. And Stroh’s.