If you’ve walked through Calvary Cemetery chances are that you’ve seen the gravestone of Clemens Focke, known as Clemmy. Clemmy was the oldest of fifteen children born to Henry and Mary Focke.

Clemmy and his mother had just left early mass and headed to his grandmother’s house for a visit. When they arrived, Clemmy joined his younger brother Edward outside while their mother and grandmother headed into the house. The boys played outside for a bit and some other boys from the neighborhood joined them. It was hot outside and one of the boys suggested they go take a swim.

Clemmy was a bit nervous to get in the water, as he did not know how to swim. When he finally got in, he stayed near the bank, fearful to get in too deep. Some of the older boys teased him about this and tried to bully him into the deeper water. They even took his clothes and threw them on the opposite bank, hoping to force him to swim over to get them. When that didn’t work, one of the boys pushed him into the deeper water. Clemmy sank to the bottom and didn’t surface. The boys panicked and left the water, leaving Clemmy without help. It wasn’t until a woman named Mrs. Wolf grew suspicious of a boy walking by, soaking wet in dry clothes and carrying a bundle of clothes, and stopped him.

After questioning him, she finally got enough information to learn of the horrifying situation and summoned help. Several men went to search for Clemmy in the water. They found him a few feet below the surface near where he had entered the water. Edward ran to his grandmother’s to tell his family what happened. The family was devastated. They had a monument made in his honor based on a photograph of him leaning against a prop tree stump. Clemmy was just a few days short of his 8th birthday.