A Pennsylvania man is buried in his prized Corvette - May 25th, 1994

On this day in 1994, the ashes of Pennsylvania native George Swanson were buried in the driver’s seat of his beloved sports car. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a
show that proves there's more than one way to make history.
I'm Gabe Bluesier, and today we're talking about a car
enthusiast who refused to let a little thing like death

(00:21):
slow him down. The day was May twenty fifth, nineteen
ninety four. The ashes of Pennsylvania native George Swanson were
buried in the driver's seat of his beloved sports car.

(00:42):
Swanson had died from congestive heart failure on March twenty
ninth of that year at the age of seventy one.
He had mentioned many times that he wanted to be
laid to rest in his prized possession, a pearl white
nineteen eighty four Corvette. Fulfilling that final wish proved harder
than expected for his widow, Caroline, but she eventually pulled

(01:05):
it off. And while George Swanson wasn't the first or
the last person to be entombed in their favorite ride,
his story is an offbeat reminder to make the most
of your life and your death. George Earl Swanson was
born in Manor, Pennsylvania, on October sixteenth nineteen twenty two.

(01:28):
He served in the US Army during World War II,
eventually rising to the rank of sergeant. After the war,
he returned to his home state, started a family, and
later became a local beer distributor. Not long after his retirement,
George decided to treat himself by buying the car of
his dreams, a brand new nineteen eighty four Chevy Corvette.

(01:52):
According to his widow Caroline quote, it was the speed
that he loved. He liked to go fast. He always
said he would be barei in the Corvette from the
moment he got it, and he was absolutely serious. The
surest sign of his sincerity came roughly nine hours before
his passing. That's when George Swanson turned to his wife

(02:13):
and spoke his final words, don't forget to bury me
in my Corvette. It was a tall order to leave behind,
but George had taken an initial step toward making it happen.
Ahead of his demise, he bought a dozen adjoining burial
plots at Brush Creek Cemetery in Erwin, Pennsylvania. He figured

(02:35):
that would be more than enough space to accommodate his car,
but he didn't actually tell the cemetery's staff what he
was planning. That task ultimately fell to Caroline Swanson, and
as you might imagine, the conversation didn't go so well.
The cemetery balked at the idea of burying someone inside
a car, though the Swanson's lawyer was quick to point

(02:57):
out that it was basically just a fancy coffin. We
agree that this is rather elaborate, he later told the press,
but really it's no different than being buried in a
diamond studded or gold coffin. But the cemetery's staff disagreed.
They worried that other clients might be offended by having
a car buried next to their loved ones, not to

(03:19):
mention the added risk of vandalism and environmental harm. The
dispute dragged on for several weeks, delaying the burial of
George's cremated remains. Finally, an agreement was reached in mid May.
The cemetery would allow George to be buried in his
prized corvette under two conditions. First, the car had to

(03:41):
be drained of all its fluids, and second, the burial
had to be private, with absolutely no press allowed. Caroline
agreed to the terms and chose May twenty fifth to
be the day of George's final ride. On the morning
of the funeral, Caroline drove her own white nineteen ninety
three Corvette. In the procession, the urn containing George's ashes

(04:06):
was in the passenger seat right next to her. His
corvette was already waiting for them at Brush Creek Cemetery,
prepped and ready for burial. About fifty family members and
close friends came out to pay their respects that day.
Each one was greeted in a way by George's vanity
license plate, which read Hi Pal, a greeting he was

(04:28):
fond of using any time he forgot someone's name. After
a brief service, Caroline placed George's ashes in the driver's
seat of his Corvette, and everyone watched as a crane
slowly lowered the car into a sixteen foot deep hole
which spanned three grave plots. It turned out George had
gone a tad overboard in buying twelve plots, but better

(04:52):
safe than sorry. One detail other car fans will be
sad to note is that George's Corvette still had a
lot of life left in it. Although the car was
ten years old, it had been well cared for and
had only twenty seven thousand miles on the odometer. But
as Caroline Swanson later said at the reception, quote George

(05:14):
always said he lived a fabulous life and he went
out in a fabulous style. You have a lot of
people saying they want to take it with them. He
took it with him, and the Corvette wasn't the only
thing George took with him. A large bouquet of red
roses was placed on the car's hood, and inside the
vehicle were laid two driving caps, as well as a

(05:37):
lap quilt stitched by women at his church and a
love note from Caroline. As a final touch, and per
George's request, his favorite song was queued up and ready
to play on the car's cassette deck. It was a
bit of a strange pick when you listen to the lyrics,
but hopefully Caroline didn't read too much into it. You

(05:58):
can draw your own conclusion, though, because here's a sample
of George's favorite song, Release Me by Inglebert Humperdink.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
I have found a new and I.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Aways want.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
Song. Why youz out? Release me, my darling, Let me go.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
George Swanson's grave was marked by a large granite headstone
with his name placed just below an engraved illustration of
his car. George was buried alongside his first wife, Geraldine,
but a space for Caroline's name was left in the
middle of the headstone for when the time came. The
widow Swanson discussed these plans with the press shortly after

(07:15):
George was buried. I was planning to be buried alongside him,
she said. We were going to have a pipe put
in so that my ashes could go into the seat
beside him. But there's been such a hassle over this
that we decided not to do it. I have just
told my children to stick the box beside the car,
and I'll somehow sneak my way in. Caroline Swanson died

(07:38):
at her home in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, on March nineteenth,
twenty twenty. No word on whether she managed to sneak
her way in as planned, but if she did, I
hope George lets her take the wheel at least once
in a while. I'm Gabe Lucier, and hopefully you now

(07:59):
know a little more about history today than you did yesterday.
If you have a second and you're so inclined, consider
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(08:20):
Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays and
Ben Hackett for producing the show, and thank you for listening.
I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day
in history class.