If you’ve visited Woodland Cemetery, you may have seen this life-size, imposing monument of a man, its statue often startling guards at night. The man’s specifications and dimensions in stone match his exact measurements in real life, with careful attention to every detail, from the buttons on his suit to his piercing eyes.

One of Wiedeke’s products, the Ideal Roller Tube Expander, is visible on top of the monument.

But who is this guy? Gustav Wiedeke lived from 1849 to 1910, and was an inventor and manufacturer. Wiedeke Dayton started in September 1892 as a small business located in a building at the rear of his home, designing and manufacturing specialized tools for servicing heat exchangers and water-tube boilers.

After his death in 1910, Gustav’s sons took over the company, and the company continued as a family business for 32 years. Eventually the company was acquired by Elliot Tool Technologies, which continues to produce tube tools in Dayton, Ohio.