Grave of George Swanson

George Swanson loved his 1984 Corvette so much, he made a promise with his wife that he be buried in it. In the historic Brush Creek Cemetery near Irwin, Pennsylvania, Caroline Swanson made sure that promise was kept.

On May 25, 1994, George, a local beer distributor and World War II veteran, was laid to rest in his beloved white muscle car. The urn with his ashes was placed in the driver’s seat, his favorite song—Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Release Me”—was cued up on the cassette player, and a crane lowered down the man and his machine for its final spin.

To make burial possible for a car the size of an ’84 ‘Vette, George had bought up multiple adjoining plots at Brush Creek. And keeping the health and safety of his future neighbors in mind, he and Caroline made sure that all the fluids would be drained from the car before interment.

George is buried along with his first wife, Geraldine (whose grandchildren gave her a lovely send-off too), and there is a space for Caroline when the time comes. On the simple Swanson family headstone, the engraving of a Corvette is the only sign that there is the ultimate car lover buried underneath.