Bill Herrin, Bevier Class of ‘60 is a great grandfather who digs graves the old fashioned way in Macon County MO. Herrin’s grandfather dug graves by hand until he was 77 years old. “I might not make it that long,” Herrin said, but you wouldn’t know it to watch him work. Hand crafting the final resting place of a fellow human being sounds simple enough, and yet it’s no longer the way that most folks in the U.S. get buried. There are machines that dig much faster than Herrin can, despite the fact that he can dig a grave in two days if he’s in a rush.

Herrin makes $475 for a grave deep enough to sink a vault. He digs four shovels deep, the shovel is 16 inches long, and he fills the grave after the funeral. Herrin’s not the sexton of Bevier cemetery, but since they don’t have money to hire one, he does that job too. Anyway, no one knows as much about who’s buried where in Bevier as Herrin does.

This week, Herrin dug the grave of a Navy Seal Adam Smith who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Herrin remembers watching Adam play basketball and knows his father. During Vietnam Herrin was a member of the Rifle Honor Guard and fired salutes at many soldiers’ funerals. Though Herrin is meticulous with all his graves, he is taking extra care to ensure a perfect resting place for Adam. Herrin hauled away more dirt than usual from the graveside to make it more attractive for Adam’s family.

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Herrin takes one of his brief but frequent breaks while topping off a recently filled grave. Backhoes haven’t changed the way he digs graves in Macon County, MO. He has hand-dug over 3,600 graves since 1962.