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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, May 12, 2024, pg. 8 'Tis the season to place flowers on the graves of loved ones in local cemeteries. Most flowers are placed in urns that were purchased many years ago at a nearby flower shop or variety store. They come in all shapes and sizes. You can tell when a grave hasn't been visited in many years, because the urn contents haven't been touched or replenished for quite some time. Often these neglected urns are filled with weeds, grass, and dandelions. There is one type of flower urn in Riverside cemetery in Albion that has a special local significance. During World War II, Albion's factories were in War production for the U.S. military. At the Longergan Manufacturing Company, 704 N. Clark St., production switched from manufacturing oil burning space heaters and water heaters, to ordnance production including bomb parts and parts/materials for the 20 mm. anti-aircraft gun. The Navy reported in November, 1943 that the bombs produced by Londergan were used by pilots of bombers attached to the escort aircraft carriers to destroy German U-boats. At Union Steel Products, 500 N. Berrien St., a "bomb line" was instituted in 1942 in Department 13A. In the three years the line was in operation, Union Steel delivered 122,277 depth bombs to U.S. Navy depots. They also manufactured torpedo parts. Furthermore, Union Steel provided the military with post and field bakery equipment, airplane landing mats, shell baskets, and handling baskets used for handling military shot, shell, casings, fuses, motor parts, etc. Following the War, there existed surplus War production parts from these factories. A local entrepreneur, Phlauris E. Rausch (1911-1958) served as the mechanic for the Albion Fire Department during the 1950s. Mr. Rausch was quite creative, and had a knack for fashioning things out of metal. It was Mr. Rausch who built the metal bridge over the Kalamazoo River from fire chief Sam O'Dell's house to the Victory Park spring on the other side. It was a lift-bridge which was operated with a small motor. He also made ash trays out of hubcaps. Rausch asked these factories for some of their surplus materials, and subsequently fashioned flower urns with them. Some of these are still in Riverside Cemetery today. Rausch welded two round Lonergan bomb ends together at the bottom to form a base, and another round bomb part measuring 17 ¾ inches across for the top. He used Union Steel oven rack metal strips that had notches in them to form handles with a decorative design. On a normal oven rack, the notches are where the heavy wires would be laid. The urns were painted with a silver color. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of one such special flower urn, at the grave of the paternal grandmother of yours truly, Aloyza (Obraz) Pacic/Pasick (1886-1926) in Section 129 of Riverside Cemetery. A Croatian immigrant, she died of childbirth complications in 1926. Years later in the 1950s, my uncle Steve Pasick (1910-1992) purchased one of fireman Rausch's urns for his mother's gravesite where it remains today. Notice the creative details that went into the design. This urn is really a work of art, with a great local historical background. How many of our readers will be placing flowers on the graves of your loved ones this Memorial Day season?  One of Fireman Rausch's Urns, At The Grave of Aloyza (Obraz) Pacic/Pasick
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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