NASHVILLE CEMETERY TOUR - HERMITAGE MEMORIAL GARDENS

 

In my last post I started off my cemetery tour of Nashville with a visit to Spring Hill Cemetery where I visited the graves of a number of Grand Ole Opry Stars including the King and Queen of Country Music, The great Roy Acuff and Miss Kitty Wells.

In this post, I am going to continue my Nashville Cemetery Tour by traveling east of Nashville to the Hermitage Memorial Gardens. This 43-acre cemetery is located just stone’s throw from “The Hermitage,” which was the home of President Andrew Jackson.

This is a true memorial garden because it has all flat markers. That makes for a lot of walking. Most of the time before I visit any cemetery I search the Find-A-Grave Website for the graves that I want to try and find. A lot of the time the Find-A-Grave site will have GPS Coordinates that really helps me in locating the Graves.

But one thing you must keep in mind is that Find-A-Grave is supported by individuals who create and update individual memorials. Sometime this information including the GPS Coordinates is incorrect.

If the GPS Coordinates are correct, it can save me a lot of time. If they are not correct, I just hope that they can get me in the General Area where I don’t have to do too much walking. Most of the coordinates for this visit were correct.

Probably the most notable grave here at the Hermitage Memorial Gardens is that of the Ole Texas Troubadour himself, Ermest Tubb, who was born on February 9, 1914, in Crisp, Texas. In 1941 he recorded his biggest hit, “I’m Walking the Floor over You,” which led him to joining the Grand Ole Opry in February 1943.

He remained an Opry Member almost 40 years. Ernest was a heavy smoker for most of his life and in his later years he suffered from Emphysema. By early 1982 he was in such poor health that he was forced to retire. He passed away just a couple of years later on September 6, 1984.

Resting next to Ernest is his son, Justin Tubb who was also a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Justin was just 20 years old when he Joined the Opry on September 10, 1955. At the time he was the youngest member of the famed radio and stage show.

His biggest hit was “I was looking Back to See,” which he performed with Goldie Hill. In 1978 he recorded a song entitled, “What’s wrong with the Way we’re doing it Now.” The song defended Traditional Country Music and questioned the trend some people called “Urban Country.”  Some of the upcoming country music stars were offended by the song which led to Justin having a dispute with the Opry Management. As a result of the dispute Justin didn’t appear on the Opry for several weeks.

The dispute was eventually resolved and Justin not only returned to the Opry but his first night back actually sang the song.

Justin was not only a successful performer, he was also a successful songwriter, penning such hits as “Keeping up with the Jones,” and “Lonesome 7-7203.” Justin Tubb passed away on January 24, 1998, and was resting beside his parents.

Another Grand Ole Opry Performer resting in this cemetery is a long-time member of the Opry Staff Band, Hal Rugg who was a legendary steel guitar player.

Hal began his musical career working clubs and dance halls in Arizona, Illinois and Minnesota. In 1961 he moved to Nashville where his music is featured on hits sung by many country music stars including Loretta Lynn, Ronnie Milsap and George Jones.

In 1963 he began a sixteen-year career as a member of the Grand Ole Opry staff band. Later, he became a band leader for the many of the televised awards shows originating from Nashville. For seven years he was the music director for the Statler Brothers' TV Show and in 1989 he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

Hal Rugg Passed away on August 9, 2005 at the age of 69 following a two-year battle with cancer.

NASCAR Driver Bobby Hamilton is entombed in one of the outdoor mausoleums here at the Hermitage Memorial Gardens. Bobby Hamilton was born here in Nashville on May 29, 1957. He began his racing career at the Nashville Speedway, racing weekly at the track. He went on to win the track championship in 1987.

Bobby joined the NASCAR Busch Series in 1988 and made his debut in the Winston Cup Series in 1990. That same year, he was asked to drive a stunt car for the motion picture "Days of Thunder."

 In 1991, he was Winston Cup rookie of the year, but his biggest success came as a driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he won the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Championship.

Just three years after winning the Truck Series Championship Bobby Hamilton passed away on January 7, 2007, from complications of cancer.

It’s always interesting when I run into another “graver” when visiting a cemetery. You can usually teel the difference between us and family visitors because we almost always have, cameras and a notebook.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, I was approached by an older gentleman who was accompanied by a young boy who I later learned was his grandson.

As we compared notes about the graves with had found, he pointed me to a name that I didn’t have on my list. Thanks to his kindness and great directions, I was able to find the grave of Rudolf Walter Wanderon Jr. who is better known by his nickname “Minnesota Fats.”

 

Rudolf Wanderone was born in New York in 1913. He started playing pool as a child and eventually dropped out of school and became a traveling pool hustler. Using the name 'Minnesota Fats,' he gained enough attention to star in a TV show where he would play one of the best pool players in the country, Willie Mosconi. Mosconi beat 'Minnesota Fats' soundly. For a few years, there were rematches on TV between 'Fats' and Mosconi. Each time Mosconi would beat 'Fats' without much trouble. These proved to be popular with television audiences and contributed greatly to his fame.

Minnesota Fats, for the lack of a better word, “a Pool Hustler”, and a master of self-promotion” He was perhaps the best-known pool player in the United States, despite of the fact that he never won a single major pool tournament.

Minnesota Fats died at the age of 82 on January 15, 1996. He continues his shameless self-promotion with the inscription on his grave marker. “Beat every living creature on earth, St. Peter, Rack’em Up. – Fats”

There are still a couple of other graves in this cemetery that I would like to Visit. So, next time I will try an find the graves of Professional Wrestler Steven Doll and Country Music star Joe Diffie who passed away during the COVID Epidemic.

Next post, I will continue my Nashville Cemetery Tour.