The Platon T. Berkey Memorial Bridge
My grandfather was burried at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Arneytown, NJ. Visiting his grave involved navigating across a natural ditch that would get muddy and dangerous after it rained, so my grandmother donated several thousand dollars to errect a bridge dedicated to my grandfather.
It’s not obvious from the pictures, but the bridge hasn’t aged well over the 5-7 years since it was constructed — I suspect that the wood wasn’t properly treated. And knowing what my grandmother spent on that bridge, that cheap vinyl plaque irritates me. I want my mother to make a donation to re-build the bridge and plaque out of more permanent materials once the estate is dissolved, but that will take some convincing…
PS: The T. that comes before the Bryce Yehl in my name comes from my grandfather, who of course inherited it from his Russian immigrant father. I sometimes joke that my mother got the naming tradition thoroughly mixed up.
