Visiting Babe Ruth's Father's Grave at Loudon Park Cemetery - Entrepreneur Generations

After I visited Babe Ruth's mom's grave earlier this summer, I got it in my head that I should also seek out his father's grave, as well. Babe's father, George Herman Ruth, Sr., divorced Babe's mother (Catherine Ruth) in 1906, accusing her of drunkenness and infidelity, and she died six years later, at age 38, penniless and suffering from TB. Make sure you go to that other blog entry for more of a backstory here.

After divorcing Babe's mother, Babe's father remarried, this time to a woman named Martha Sipes. I can't find their marriage date, but I did find a biography stating that at the time of his death, they had been married a short time, so perhaps 1916 or 1917 would be a good hypothesis for their wedding.

George Herman Ruth, Sr., died on August 24th, 1918, when the Babe was pitching for the Red Sox; in fact, that day, he pitched the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over St. Louis.

George Herman Ruth Sr.'s death came as a result of a convoluted family fight. His wife's brother, a 30-year old fireman named Benjamin H. Sipes, got in a fight with another brother-in-law, Oliver Bleefelt over the treatment of one of Martha's sisters, at George Sr.'s bar, located at 38 South Eutaw Street. George Sr. came upon the aftermath of the fight, and struck Benjamin in the cheek. According to his story to police, Benjamin fell to the ground, but was able to get up and hit George Sr. back, but George Sr. fell and hit his head on the curb. He never regained consciousness and died in the hospital. George Sr. was 47 years old.

Babe came back to Baltimore for the funeral, and one relative described that the moment when George Sr. was lowered into his grave was the only time he had ever seen Babe cry. On September 5th, ten days after his father died, Babe Ruth was starting the opening game of the World Series. Babe Ruth, now an orphan, basically severed ties with Baltimore after his father's death.

I visited Loudon Park Cemetery to see George Herman Ruth, Sr.'s grave, and was amazed by the cemetery's breadth and beauty. It stretches across 5.2 acres in West Baltimore, and the national part of it was one of the 14 national cemeteries established in 1862; as such, there are many Civil War soldiers buried there, as well as 7,000 others. Besides George Herman Ruth, Sr., other notables buried here are John T. Ford (who started Ford's Theater in DC, where Lincoln was shot); Ottmar Mergenthaler (namesake of Mervo High School, he invented the linotype); Mary Young Pickersville (she sewed the flag at Ft. McHenry that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner"); and H.L. Mencken, notable Baltimore writer and social critic.

I visited recently and took some photos.

Babe Ruth's father's grave is marked as the husband of Martha, but she's buried next to her last husband, George Frederick Strohrmann, at Western Cemetery. Unlike Babe Ruth's mother's headstone, which highlights her relationship with Babe, George Herman Sr.'s doesn't mention it... probably because his mother's grave was unmarked until 2007, whereas George Herman Ruth's headstone was placed upon his death in 1918. Martha, meanwhile, lived until 1967, almost 50 years longer than her 2nd husband did.

John Ruth (1868-1932) and Mary Ruth (1871-1944) were Babe Ruth's Aunt and Uncle. That small green marker, with the flower, is also marked for John Ruth, with the same birth and death dates.

Ruth's grave is in Section T of the cemetery; we couldn't figure out the organization of the cemetery at all, but it's somewhere in the middle and we were eventually going to find it.

One more view of the Ruth family plot, showing the backdrop as well.

That's Babe Ruth, Sr., on the right, at his bar at 38 South Eutaw, and Babe Ruth, the baseball player, in the middle. He helped out at the bar during the off-seasons. Look how much they look alike!

These graves are right to the left of George Herman Ruth's. I thought the wear on them was beautiful.

This shot is of a fenced-off portion of the cemetery, which is the Civil War national portion, reminiscent of Arlington.

H.L. Mencken's grave. He's buried at his family plot, and the coordinates are N 39° 16.693′, W 076° 40.683′. It was actually a little difficult to find.