*****THE CACHE IS NOT AT THE POSTED COORDINATES*****
After stopping to find a premium cache in this cemetery, the size of this location made me realize there had to be room for at least one more cache. Using an app my wife recommended for genealogical research, a famous Wisconsin Rapids native stood out among those buried here: Grim Natwick, the creator of Betty Boop!
Grim’s family is noteworthy for more than just his animation. His grandfather was one of the earliest Norwegian immigrants to America. His brother was President of his class at UW-Madison, a high hurdler, and invited to compete at the 1908 Olympics!
Grim was originally born in Grand Rapids (now part of Wisconsin Rapids). He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and then the National Academy of Design.
While in Chicago, drawing cover art for ragtime sheet music, a friend encouraged him to try drawing animated cartoons for a local company: William Randolph Hearst Studio. A few years after that, he began working for Fleischer Studio. It was working here that he designed the girlfriend to the studio’s lead cartoon, Bimbo. She evolved into the iconic Betty Boop we know today.
Not long after this, he left the Midwest and headed to the burgeoning art mecca that became Hollywood. Given a choice of jobs, he decided to work at Ub Iwerks over Disney Studios. During his time there, he was responsible for animating Flip the Frog and designing Willie the Whopper.
Instead of becoming more responsible for the work at Iwerks, he moved to Disney. Disney had struggled at animating realistic female characters, and his work with Betty gave Disney hope he could lead a team in their first major animated motion picture: Snow White. Grim was responsible for animating over 120 scenes in the movie, including the classic “Some Day My Prince Will Come” sequence and Snow White cleaning during “Whistle While You Work”. If you have never heard of Grim before, you know his work.
His later work also includes Mickey Mouse in Fantasia, Mr. Magoo, Felix the Cat in the 1960s cartoon series, and even Sonny: “I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!”
He died in Los Angeles just two months after celebrating his 100th birthday, but he was returned to this cemetery to be buried beside his father and mother.
The cache is not hidden at the posted coordinates, although it is not far away. The posted coordinates will take you to the headstones of Grim’s family. Use the information found there and the clues below to make the find.
N44 AB.CDE W89 FG.HIJ
A: Death month – birth month
B: Mother’s birth year last digit
C: Death year last digit
D: Birth year decade - 2
E: Father’s death year last digit x 2
F: (Birth date / birth month) x 2
G: Death date + 1
H: Father’s birth decade – death decade + 2
I: Mother’s birth decade
J: Birth year last digit
The D rating is for the actual hide, not the puzzle, once you find Grim.
The "SQ" in the cache name above signifies Spirit Quest, a project started in Indiana (GCHRFJ) to distinguish caches that are set in cemeteries. The idea has since spread throughout the Midwest and elsewhere.
Wisconsin cache owners are joining in as of 2007, with the designation WSQ prefixing their cache names. As elsewhere, this is a voluntary effort to help designate and highlight these special areas.
Please be respectful of the area, and observe their rules and posted hours which are typically sunrise to sunset. Permission to place cache given from Matt Lightly.
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.