History & local legend
At Brush Creek Cemetery near Irwin, George Swanson's unusual burial fulfilled a wish he had planned well before his death: he wanted his ashes placed inside his white 1984 Chevrolet Corvette. Swanson, a beer distributor and World War II Army veteran, died on March 31, 1994, at age seventy-one. He had purchased twelve cemetery plots to make room for the car.
After negotiations with cemetery officials, the burial took place on May 25, 1994. His widow, Caroline, brought his ashes in her own Corvette and placed them in the driver's seat of his. A quilt, a love letter, and a recording of Engelbert Humperdinck's “Release Me” accompanied him. A crane lowered the car into the prepared grave as family and friends watched.
Swanson's distinctive HI-PAL license plate reflected the greeting he used when he could not remember someone's name.
