Pet Cemetery Mysteries

Here are two grave stones that have me stumped.  I have been unable to find the stories behind them, despite the specific details that the pets’ owners had inscribed on their memorials.  I’ll post them here in the hope that someone may know their stories and share them with me.  Failing that, let us read these memorials and be heartened by the knowledge that our animal friends are capable of heroism.

Jockey, Gordon Setter, Fire Hero of Belle Harbor. Aspin Hill Memorial Park
Jockey, Gordon Setter, Fire Hero of Belle Harbor. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.

I was unable to find newspaper reports of a fire at Belle Harbor in the 1930s or 1940s involving a dog named Jockey, or his owners, Mr. and Mrs. George Panopulo.  Another mystery is why Jockey was buried at Aspin Hill Cemetery for Pet Animals (now known as Aspin Hill Memorial Park) instead of the much closer Hartsdale Pet Cemetery.

Inscription:
Jockey
Gordon Setter
Fire Hero of
Belle Harbor
L. I. N. Y.
of Mr. & Mrs.
George Panopulo
Died at the Age of
16 -- 1946
Location:
Aspin Hill Memorial Park
Rex Kidwell - A Dear Little Hero. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
Rex Kidwell – A Dear Little Hero. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.

I’ve always been touched by the epitaph on this memorial to Rex Kidwell, “a dear little hero dog.”  I wish I knew how he saved the lives of two men, but my newspaper searches have come up empty.  Nevertheless, I continue to be touched by the devotion of Rex’s owners, who used every bit of space on his tombstone to tell of his finest qualities.

Inscription:
REX KIDWELL
A dear little hero
dog died June 5th 1949
He saved the lives of
2 men. Intelligent
friendly faithful
We will miss him forever.  
Location:
Aspin Hill Memorial Park, a cemetery for pets.
N 39° 04.764 W 077° 04.581

6 thoughts on “Pet Cemetery Mysteries”

  1. Wouldn’t the town of Belle Harbor, Long Island, NY have anything on the Panopulou family? It would be nice to be able to follow up a bit more. Good luck.

  2. our family dogs are buried there. One is named GiGi and Micky I live in WV and do not have a car if you see their graves i would love to hear from you Tham\nk you

    1. You might find the marker on a site called Find A Grave, I know I have added some grave markers to it myself from the Cemetery. I remember seeing a couple stones with several names on it.

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