Pringles

Pringles are especially known for their packaging, a tubular can with a foil-coated interior, and a resealable plastic lid (with the Pringles famous logo), that was invented by Fredric J. Baur. Mr. Baur was an organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. Mr. Baur died on May 4, 2008 at Vitas Hospice in Cincinnati. He was 89. Mr. Baur was so proud of his accomplishment that a portion of his ashes has been buried in one of the iconic Pringles cans. Baur's children said they honored his request to bury him in one of the cans by placing part of his cremated remains in a Pringles container in his grave in suburban Springfield Township. Mr. Baur's daughter, Linda Baur of Diamondhead, Mississippi has stated that the rest of his remains were placed in an urn buried along with the can, with some placed in another urn and given to a grandson. Lawrence Baur of Stevensville, Michigan, Fredric Baur's son, said Baur requested the burial arrangement because he was proud of his design of the Pringles container.

I was listening to NPR in the car and they were discussing Mr. Baur's burial and asked listeners to email what they would like to be buried in or with or wearing. So, I thought about it for a while (obviously no kids in the car so I could actually think about something for longer than 3 seconds) and couldn't come up with a single thing that I cared about enough that I would want to be buried with it. And then pondered further and decided I don't really care where I'm buried or if I'm buried or cremated or what happens to my earthly body after my soul departs to meet Jesus. This is why I try not to think very often, it often turns morbid... But, really, I've always thought cemeteries odd places and I know we should respect the dead, but I guess I feel like it's so much more important to love and respect people when they're alive and give them up to God when they are not here anymore. I want my children to remember me in so many other ways than in a hole in the ground or in a Pringles can, which is probably why I haven't visited my mom's grave yet. I would rather think of so many other memories than what she looked like in her grave and her legacy was so much bigger than anything she could have been buried with. I'm sure Mr. Baur was a pretty smart guy and designed a great product package, but to his family he was so much more than a can of Pringles. And Jesus sure doesn't care what our package looks like when we meet Him!