Golden eagle containing Ski Demski's ashes.

Ski Demski soars with the eagles... or at least his ashes do

Long Beach, California

We were saddened in January by the death of Ski "Owner of the World's Largest Flag" Demski. He was a well known character in Long Beach, CA. One of his wishes was to have his ashes placed inside the golden eagle atop a 132-ft. tall flagpole, dubbed "The Pole," at his headquarters.

The flag still flew proudly when we visited "The Pole" in April, a few blocks from Long Beach Harbor. No one answered the door, but we could hear Ski's birds chirping and squawking cheerily in the upstairs sun room. The place looked unchanged... two flag vans parked along the curb, near a statue of Ski and his parrot "Peppy," erected in 2000. Still, there was no way to tell whether Ski was inside the eagle or not...

After the trip, we got in touch with Jim Alexander, Ski's good friend and Trustee for his living trust. Jim is carrying on the giant flag business, as Ski intended. "We have a lot of flag rentals going on right now as the demand is high," Jim said. The World's Largest was scheduled for display in San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2002 -- and continues to be available for rental at superflag.com.

"Ski's bumper stickers are still being sold and holding their own. The house is occupied and the birds are being cared for. Maria is helping. The flag continues to fly." Without Ski around, some of the clutter will be eliminated. "We are cutting down on some of his 'toys' that we do not need. We will be selling the Chevy Van and have a 1920 Model T that is for sale. "

"All his wishes were carried out. On display in the garage for two days, funeral at St Anthony's Catholic Church, Over 1,000 people came by for the viewing. And yes, his ashes made it in the bird."