Pictures of Gerald R Ford's Crypt

Click here for pictures of President Gerald R Ford's crypt at Find A Grave.

Update 24 Feb 2007

Gerald R. Ford Funeral Flyover

The video can be seen at Youtube.




This video was produced by Storytelling Pictures of 801 Broadway Ave NW; Grand Rapids, MI.

It can be purchased from them on DVD for $3.49 (2.99+S&H)

Some of the story about this video can be found at WOOD-TV, MSNBC, and the Grand Rapids Press.

The Gerald R Ford Museum during the Day

Crypt located in the light blue circle.

The Gerald R Ford Museum at Night

Image slightly foreshortened. Crypt located right below the timestamp on the picture.

A Dignified Resting Place

President laid in crypt designed by Jenison resident 25 years ago
by Jeffrey Cunningham

Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Grand Valley East Advance
This is not otherwise on the web. This really should be on the AP or UPI wire.

Ray Sheler was just 33-years-old in 1979 when his design firm was hired by Grand Rapids architect Marvin J. DeWinter to design the landscaping for a project that would forever change how the world viewed the City of Grand Rapids.

"At the time I knew I would never work on another project like this," Sheler, of Jenison, recalled last week.

The project in this case was the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum for which DeWinter was the architect.

Sheler had worked for DeWinter on several other projects in West Michigan, but their work on the Gerald R. Ford Presidnetial Museum was their best work, Sheler said. "It had to be."

Twenty-five years have passed since the museum was dedicated, but the shining moment for the museum may have been under the national spotlight as the host for last week's public repose and final resting place for the 38th president.

DeWinter, 74, is retired as an architect but still works in land development. Sheler, 60, is also retired. He suffered a stroke four years ago and while he has fully recovered physically from the stroke, he is still working daily to regain the ability to talk.

Sheler and DeWinter would work on several other projects around Grand Rapids in the 1980s, but have not worked on any projects since.

Still, they remain linked via the Ford Museum, although to most it is DeWinter's
name that is associated with the project. DeWinter designed the triangular building that sits on the creast of the knoll that created a vista of Grand Rapids.

Many may not recall, Sheler said, that he designed the landscaping, the reflecting pool, and the crypt where the former president is now buried.

At the time the museum was designed, the building that DeWinter designed was called "Celebration of Space" and the grounds and exterior facilities, which were designed independently by Sheler, were called "Celebration of Water."

The 44,000-square-foot building cost $11 million and dedicated in 1981.

Since it was dedicated 25 years ago, the two "Celebrations" have grown together as the two designers had intended.

Over the last week, the museum and grounds have been on display as the country and world said their final farewells to the late president Ford.

DeWinter said after the funeral that he was pleased that the building and grounds continue to reflect the modest man for which it was built. "We used basic materials - concrete and glass for the building that reflected Ford the man," he told the Advance last week. "If I was designing this building for another president, I would have used different materials."

He said he also appreciated that the area around the crypt has grown up to become a "dignified cove for Ford's final resting place."

Originally Ford hadn't thought about where he was going to be buried, DeWinter said. "There wasn't much input originally as to Grand Rapids being Ford's final resting place," he said.

As part of the design process for the museum itself, DeWinter visited the libraries of former president Harry Truman and Herbert Hoovers and realized that both of the late presidents were buried at their libraries.

The Ford library is at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. DeWinter wondered after the visits to the other presidential libraries what Ford thought about being buried in Grand Rapids. "So I asked Mr. Ford what he thought and he said that he would talk to Betty about it and get back to me," DeWinter said. "They decided it would be good (to be buried in Grand Rapids) and they left the design up to us."

DeWinter originally hired Sheler's firm to design the landscaping for the museum in 1979 because the two had worked together on other projects.

In the end, Sheler would design not only the landscaping for the 20 achres but the reflecting pool and fountain, and eventually the placement and design of the crypt where the Fords were to be buried.

Sheler said the design of that space was rather simple. "I just looked at the area and kind of pulled the design out of the air," Sheler said last week as he sat at his home on Lamplight Drive in Jenison, going through the design plans for the crypt and reflecting pool.

The engineers would figure out how to make everything work, like how to move the slabs of concrete that cover the crypts, he said. "But the actual design of the crypt and the landscaping plan arouns was mine and it was nice to see that 25 years later, it looks good."

Sheler also pointed out that it was his idea to plant a large white pine tree on the grounds. "It is the only tree that grows naturally in all 50 states," he said.

Over the last 25 years, DeWinter's name has remained associated with the museum as the designer of the building. While Sheler's name is not associated with the project as frequently, Sheler said he takes that in stride. "It takes many to build something like this and many to design something like this," he said. "Yes, I would like for people to know that I designed the outdoor parts of the Ford Museum - but I was glad to have just the chance to work on the museum and I know what we did together," he said.

In the end, everyone who worked on the project did thier best and last week when President Ford was laid to rest, that was all that mattered, Sheler said. "I was proud."

There are pictures attached to the article of both Mr Sheler and the crypt. The caption on the crypt picture implies that the receiving vaults for President and Mrs. Ford lie behind the vertical concrete slabs that form the semi-circular wall of the crypt and on which are mounted their names.

Note that as long as MLive keeps the article up, you can access the original by clicking on the link at the top of this entry.

Want to see the rest?

Use of U-M blanket warms his heart

From The Grand Rapids Press, Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Grad sees memento used in Ford funeral
By Tom Rademacher (Press Columnist)

Mark Harmsen cherished for nearly 30 years the stadium blanket given to him by his parents upon his graduation in 1978 from the University of Michigan.

Yet it took only a phone call last Tuesday for him to part with it -- and with the bittersweet knowledge he would never hold it again.

The next day, Harmsen was surprised and overcome with emotion while watching live coverage of President Gerald R. Ford's funeral, to see his blanket folded on a pew and serving as a somber substitute for Bo Schembechler, the late U-M football coach who was invited to serve as one of Ford's honorary pallbearers.

In ensuing TV coverage, Harmsen was moved as well to see that Ford's widow, Betty, carried the maize and blue blanket on her lap as she visited her husband's interment site by wheelchair at the presidential museum.

"I was just stunned," said Harmsen, a real estate developer who lives in Plainfield Township. "I got incredible goosebumps."

Harmsen was tapped for the blanket by friend and former U-M running teammate Greg Meyer, who represents the university.

"Greg said 'I can't tell you what it's going to be used for,'" said Harmsen, "and that I wouldn't get it back, although he did offer to replace it."

Harmsen provided the blanket with no questions asked, and wasn't sure what role it would play until he tuned in to coverage of the funeral last Wednesday at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids.

What made Harmsen's contribution even sweeter is this: Harmsen, like Ford, attained the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth, and while a member of the very same troop to which Ford belonged, No. 215.

Harmsen said he never got the chance to meet Ford or shake his hand, and hopes that, when Betty Ford glances at the blanket, "it serves as a reminder to her of the countless number of people who didn't have the opportunity to tell her husband our stories."

Looking skyward

While Harmsen and others were watching Ford's funeral on TV, John H. Cooper of Grand Rapids was outside the church during the service, casually scanning the skies with a powerful set of binoculars.

"I guess it goes back to my days with the Air National Guard," said Cooper, 65, referring to the years he served, from 1962 to 1968. "I'm always scanning the horizon and field of view."

What he beheld overhead as the funeral was in its closing moments is something he will never forget: What he insists was a lone American bald eagle circling far above the intersection of Hall Street and Plymouth Avenue SE.

"I had a pair of 10-by-50 binoculars so I could get a good view of the funeral party," he said. "Then I looked up in the sky and saw this solo bald eagle."

He spotted East Grand Rapids Mayor Cindy Bartman standing nearby, and invited her to look. She doesn't dispute his assessment: "With the binoculars, you could clearly see the white head," she said. "And we have had reports of bald eagles on Reeds Lake."

If Cooper's sighting isn't riveting enough on its own, know this: Cooper was holding an itinerary of the funeral proceedings that had been printed and distributed that morning by The Press.

According to Cooper's best guess, Sgt. First Class Sgt. Alvy R. Powell of the U.S. Army Chorus broke into his solo piece just moments after Cooper spotted the eagle.

The song Powell boomed out that afternoon in his trademark bass-baritone?
"On Eagle's Wings."

Kids sent cards

On a less-somber note, but entirely entertaining, Caledonia resident Laura Bartleson still is recounting the joy she experienced 34 years ago when, as a teacher at Oakdale Christian School, she invited her first-graders to write birthday cards to then-President Richard M. Nixon.

Then-Congressman Gerald Ford delivered the messages, and had them entered verbatim into the Congressional Record of Jan. 9, 1973.

A kid of 6 then, Tom Knol included a $1 bill with this note (original spelling): "From Tom Knol. I put a doller in. I voted for you. I am gladd that you wan." He then added, "Happy Birthday presdent Nixon, when you are haveing a picnic I hop the rain dusint spoyul it."

Knol lives in Caledonia now and works in sales. He said Monday that he only vaguely recalls the letter he wrote.

If Knol's name sounds familiar, it's because he grew up to be something of a political hopeful himself -- running unsuccessfully for both the Grand Rapids city and Kent County commissions.

Bartleson shared this week that Ford's decision to enter the kids' letters shows Jerry Ford was "the guy next door who loved to laugh."

Tom Rademacher's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. E-mail: trademacher@grpress.com

This is not my work. It is just too good to hide from Google.

Note that as long as MLive keeps the article up, you can access the original by clicking on the link at the top of this entry.

Want to see the rest?

Grand Rapids Press Gerald Ford Special Editions

The GR Press has published three special editions about President Gerald R Ford since his death.

December 27th: Gerald R Ford - A Man of Character
A history of his life from the University of Michigan, through the Navy in World War II, the US House of Representative, and the White House.

January 3rd: Farewell to our president
The Washington Funeral, his body arriving in GR, the houses where he lived, and covering people waiting to visit him in repose.

January 4th: He Was One of Us
His Funeral in EGR and burial in GR, reminiscences from local people, more stories about the family, and a chronicle of the repose vigil.

If you wish a hard copy of the commemorative edition, you may contact The Grand Rapids Press.

For those of you who could not be present

C-SPAN is offering a DVD package covering the Gerald R Ford Funeral.

The Gerald Ford Funeral Video Compilation features official ceremonies in Washington, DC, services in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and final interment at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. Official events in Washington include the arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, the funeral motorcade to the Capitol, official funeral services in the Capitol Rotunda and the National Cathedral.

Package price is listed as $24.95

They also have offerings of Reagan's Classic Speeches and Funeral, plus a two pack which contains both.

Update: Life Portrait of Gerald R. Ford is also available from C-SPAN.

Gerald "Our" Ford is back in town

On the way downtown
President Gerald "Our" Ford arrived in GR shortly before 3pm this afternoon. I was among the many people who lined the roads on his way downtown. (Picture is a bit blurry because I was using the multi-picture mode on the camera.)

The Ford Schedule for Next Week

Tuesday, January 2nd

• Morning: Funeral at Washington National Cathedral
• 02:15pm: Casket arrives at (GRR) Gerald R Ford International Airport (Grand Rapids, MI)
• 03:30pm: Casket arrives at the Gerald R Ford Museum. President Ford will lie in public repose thoughout the night.

Wednesday, January 3rd

• 02:00pm: Funeral at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids (East Great Falls from American Pie). Private internment will follow in the crypt north of the museum.

The Secret Service and TSA have designated this an extreme high security event with physical security to the areas of the museum, the church, and routes between. I have business that will take me to all sides of the city that day, so will have to route via the outer beltways rather than going through the city center.

The south parking lot at the museum is already full of TV satellite trucks and they have started shutting down some of the roads in preparation for this event.

Its a good thing that school doesn't resume until Thursday as we have 3 Universities, a Community College, and an Art School all within a one mile radius of the Ford Museum. The Secret Service doesn't need to deal with students that "have to get to class" in addition to accommodating Shepherd Smith and the other newsreaders.

The Crypt at the Museum

The Gerald R Ford Crypt
The fence appears to be only a year or so old. Other work (besides adding the "2006") includes caulking around the primary slabs at the back of the circular area. This may have been in preparation for moving the slabs to access the burial site. These changes can be seen more clearly in the following picture.


Crypt Close-Up
There are few memorial gifts at the North sign to the museum.


The majority of the chaos is at the South end where the TV satellite trucks are parked.

Ah-Nab-Awen Park

The following link to Google Maps shows the Gerald R Ford Museum. The Museum is the triangle shape to the left of the words Ah-Nab-Awen Park. You can see the location of the "crypt" just north of the museum. There is a semi-circular walkway leading from the front sidewalk to the "crypt" area.

Across the Grand River you can see the DeVos Place convention center and the City/County buildings with the Alexander Calder painting on top. There is a Calder stabile in the plaza in front of the buildings, but it isn't very visible in the satellite photo.

This whole area will be blocked off for the funeral (much like they did for the dedication when we hosted another gaggle of Presidents/former-Presidents). The Secret Service will make it more fun than dealing with the TSA.

The Wikipedia entry provides a fairly accurate description of Grand Rapids.

Update: PDF of current plans for President Gerald Ford's lying in repose and funeral in Grand Rapids from today's Grand Rapids Press. Note the use of the Grand Hall of DeVos Place for screening people prior to viewing the casket. This allows plenty of room for the metal detectors in a warm, weather protected location even though the lines will end up outdoors and across the river.

Update:

The Plan for Visiting the Repose

The Actual Lines

Its no wonder that it took people 4 to 5 hours waiting in line. At least they used the three football field sized (160,000 square foot) DeVos Place Exhibit Hall to hold a good deal of the lines so that people weren't standing outside the whole 5 hours.

The passing of President Gerald R Ford

I was looking for something else and came across this. My first thoughts were that it was a dummy entry like the test posts that the NYT occasionally releases, but after checking Google News I found that that Betty Ford had just announced it.

Needless to say this will make for an interesting two weeks here in GR. The planned resting place is on the grounds of the Gerald R Ford Museum on the west bank of the Grand River. The "crypt" location sits north of the museum proper (which is to the right of the picture of museum on the web site). This overlooks Ah-Nab-Awen Park, a broad grassy area (6+ acres) that is used for the musical performances that accompany the Fourth of July celebrations as well as the September Celebration on the Grand.

(Now if I can just get my act together and get my posts from the past year out of "draft")

Update: Major local coverage can be found at MLive and the Grand Rapids Press

Another Update: The Grand Rapids Press published a Special Section about President Gerald R Ford. Note how they attributed the "played too much football with his helmet off" quote on page 7 to one Linden Badness Johnson. (I think that was a transcription error and they meant Lyndon Baines Johnson.)