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The Significance of Glenwood
Jack Stock
Glenwood Cemetery has a significant relationship with both me and my workplace, Kettering University. Personally, the physical beauty of Glenwood has always drawn me in as a pleasant, serene place to walk, contemplate and even observe nature. Admittedly, I'm an ardent birder, meaning I take binoculars outside and sit down and wait for birds to resume their busy lives. I identify them and make a list of my observations for both my own pleasure and for a small competition within my family. I have observed at least 25 different bird species there, most notably eagles, osprey, great blue herons, great egrets, a wide variety of ducks - and of course robins, blue jays, crows, blackbirds, woodpeckers, sparrows and so on. Suffice it to say that with the dense stand of pine and hardwoods and a spectacular view overlooking the Flint River, it is a great place for birding enthusiasts. I highly recommend it.
And speaking of views, you will never get a better one of our growing Kettering University campus as you look out from the northeast corner of Glenwood toward downtown and Chevrolet Avenue. It is really impressive and shows how connected we are. Some of the most prominent General Motors Institute (GMI) and Kettering University figures are buried there. The much beloved professor Reggie Bell, who taught for 50 plus years, is at a front-facing Court Street site. He is a legend. And then there is Albert "Major" Sobey, who founded Kettering (then the Flint School of Automotive Trades) back in 1919. He served into the 1950s and was instrumental in propelling Kettering into the nation's premier automotive engineering school. When you look over he and his wife's gravestone looking north, you see the modern-day Kettering campus on the horizon, and you cannot help but think that they, too, understood the significance of time and place when they chose this site.
Useful links
Glenwood Historical
Cemetery & Arboretum