Angel Warriors

Louisville, Kentucky

The grave monument of Richard Alan Herman Jr is one of the more enigmatic of the 136,000+ in Cave Hill Cemetery. Richard, who was 16 when he died, is depicted in bronze, dressed casual but stylish in a sweatshirt and loose-fitting trousers, holding a sword in an "on guard" stance, sporting a pair of angel wings.

Next to Richard stands a young woman, similarly armed and winged. You think it's his teenage sister, but it's not. It's his mom. And she's not yet deceased. Left-handed Lorri Heffner Herman wears boots and a peasant blouse with an open midriff, making her a rare angel in funereal art with a belly button.

A lengthy epitaph, titled "(God is Love)" includes the lines:

Is it any wonder to you
To see two angels here
We rest in peace with immortal love
Alive and well somewhere

Except, as noted, Lorri Heffner Herman isn't dead. Some accounts have her currently alive and well somewhere in Florida.

The statues of Richard and Lori are impressively lifelike, yet their angel warrior wings are stylized, like cut-outs for a Halloween costume, not the muscled, feathery masses usually portrayed for heavenly flight.

The entire monument, one of the most visually striking in the entire cemetery, which seems designed to be seen, is hidden from view behind a hedge.