[Photos by Michael Colbruno]
Otis Painter wasn't famous like most of the people on this blog, he was a clerk at a local store. But there is something special about this post, because of all the graves in Mountain View Cemetery the photo on his grave is my absolute favorite. He looks like quite the character with his mischievous grin, giant derby and oversized collar set off by a pipe that seems strangely out of place.
Unfortunately, Otis Painter wasn't around for long to make his mark on society. At the age of 20, he was attacked on Broadway Street in downtown Oakland by three men looking for money. During the attack Otis Painter's skull was fractured and although he somehow managed to make his way to Alameda County Hospital, he died eight days later.
And as if getting slugged and dying from a skull fracture weren't bad enough, there is a typo on his headstone.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the police ever solved the crime? Or what became of his mother and sister who are mentioned on the stone?
No question, though--he looks like he was a character!