This cache is a pretty simple field puzzle located in the Coopersville Polkton Cemetery on Cleveland Street in Coopersville, MI. The cemetery itself is fairly old, with some dates of death dating back to the 1850s. The cache container is NOT at the posted coordinates, but the posted coordinates will take you to the grave of my grandfather, Rolen E. Pfahler (Roley), who passed away on this date 17 years ago (November 12, 1999). The cemetery appears to have 3 driveways, but one is the exit (the furthest one west), and one is only for a couple small maintenance buildings (the furthest one east). Enter in the middle driveway, and head towards the back of the cemetery. Eventually the drive splits into 3, and the posted coordinates are on the west most fork. You are looking for a bench made of black marble that faces east. On it you'll see the name "Pfahler" and a scripture verse on top (Isaiah 40:31), and a picture of my Grandma (Carol) and Grandpa (Roley) on the front. You'll also need to explore the immediate vicinity as well. The stone immediately to the right (if you are facing the bench) is my grandfather's first wife (their marriage was the second for both my grandparents) Ranee, who passed away in 1974 from a burst appendix. Grandpa and Ranee were married on June 21, 1958, and had 16 years together before Ranee's sudden passing. If you are facing the bench, and then turn around, the row of stones immediately to the east of Grandpa's bench has two stones for Grandpa's family members. Samuel J. and Lena Pfahler were Grandpa's grandparents, and Eldon H. (Sam) and Mary J. Pfahler were my Grandpa's parents. Being born in 1985 myself, the only one of these 4 I knew was Mary (who we all called Mamie). After Ranee passed away, Grandpa married my Grandma (whose husband left them in 1974 and filed for divorce) on November 8, 1975. Grandpa loved sports, and was huge MSU fan (that one is for spartanalum and gvsu4msu, fellow lovers of the green and white :)), and would take the grandkids to all kinds of awesome stuff. My childhood memories include Tigers games, trips to Lake Michigan, trips to MSU football games, Christmas dinner every year, many New Year's Eves together, and one very stubborn I believe Dodge van that had a sliding door that would fall off the tracks constantly, much to Grandpa's chagrin. On a trip to a game once, that darn door fell off in the parking lot at a gas station and Grandpa drove about 100 miles an hour across that parking lot with one of my cousins and our family friend Teresa running along side the van holding the door up off the ground. :) As we got older the things we did changed, but still played cards together a lot, camping trips in their old camper out at Lakeview, and many other things. It was shock to all of us when Grandpa, who was a gym teacher, and exercised daily, and was one of the most in shape people I had ever known, got really sick in May of 1999. Always the stubborn one who did not like going to the doctor, Grandma finally took him in when he got home from a trip and collapsed in the entry way at their house. He was diagnosed with cancer in June, and went on chemotherapy, and during the summer seemed to get better, until finally in the first week of November it came back with avengeance, and he passed on November 12, 1999. His passing left a big hole in a lot of people's lives, and he was then and is still greatly missed by many in our small town. Rest in peace, Grandpa, and we'll meet again one day in heaven.
To find this cache, you need to gather information from the paragraph above, as well as some information of the graves of Grandpa, Ranee, and his parents and grandparents. Dates are of the format MM-DD-YYYY in all cases, even in the month is not one with two digits (like October, November or December). If the month is June for example, then it is 06, etc.
The container is located at:
N AB CD.EFG
W TU VW.XYZ
Find the following to locate the cache:
A = the second digit of the day of Grandpa's birth
B = the third digit of the year Grandpa was born
C = the second digit of the year Mary Pfahler passed away
D = the last digit of the year Ranee passed away
E = the last digit of the year that Grandpa was born
F = the second digit of the year Mary Pfahler passed away
G = the last digit of the year that Samuel J. Pfahler passed away
T = the second digit of the day of Grandpa and Grandma's anniversary
U = the last digit of the year that Grandpa and Grandma got married
V = the third digit of the year that Grandpa and Ranee were married
W = the last digit of the year that Ranee was born
X = the last digit of the year Lena Pfahler passed away
Y = the second digit of the month that Grandpa was born
Z = the last digit of the year that Eldon H. Pfahler passed away
Hopefully this was a fun and somewhat puzzling (although not overly so) cache, and most importantly enjoy yourselves.
While you are at their graves, stop and say hi, and sit awhile on the bench and reflect on not just my Grandpa, but any family or friends you may have lost and what they meant in your lives. If you feel moved to do so, stop for a moment from the busyness of life and have a moment of silence for those we all have lost, and reflect for a moment on what they meant to you. I would love to hear any stories about dearly departed loved ones you all would be willing to share in your logs. Happy caching!
FTF Prize: Grandpa was a graduate of Michigan State, and loved MSU football and basketball, so in his memory, the prize for the FTF (in the baggie labeled such) is a Michigan State key ring and lanyard. Sorry if you're not an MSU fan. :) STF Prize: Grandpa and I played cards a lot, particularly cribbage, so in his memory, prize for the STF, in the baggie so labeled, is a pack of Bicycle playing cards that have Presidents of the US on them. Play a game of rummy or cribbage in his memory with them :)
One last note: This IS a cemetery cache, so first please be respectful of the graves and your surroundings. Second, remember that by Michigan law all cemeteries close at dusk or 9 P.M., whichever comes first depending on the time of year, so please obey that. I would hate to see anyone arrested for night time cemetery caching. Thanks for visiting!