Buried: West Branch, Iowa
Died: October 20, 1964
See him: As president he was often booed – Great Depressions have that effect – but in every other part of his life Herbert Hoover was hailed as a hero, the man who fed tens of millions who might have otherwise starved after massive world wars. His name ended up as a verb: to Hooverize meant to be efficient and not wasteful with one’s food and resources. “I can Hooverize on dinner, and on lights and fuel, too,” read a Valentine’s Day card in 1918. “But I’ll never learn to Hooverize when it comes to loving you.”
The large marble slabs marking the graves of the president and his wife, Lou, are set in front of an ornate series of shrubs and bushes. The whole setting faces the West Branch, Iowa house where Hoover was born, bringing his story full circle. It doesn’t quite count as Hooverized, but when you get your own verb, you’ve probably earned your own elaborate gravesite.
