Dorothy Kintz' "Tree-Cross" Monument
Location: Area H/Lot 161
Date of Placement: after 1922
Decedents: Dorothy A. Kintz
Monument inducted into the Hall in September 2023 (Class #3)
Location: Area H/Lot 161
Date of Placement: after 1922
Decedents: Dorothy A. Kintz
Monument inducted into the Hall in September 2023 (Class #3)
Dorothy Arbelinan Kintz did not have the opportunity to celebrate her "Sweet 16" birthday, as she would pass five months prior at Frederick's City Hospital from peritonitis. The daughter of Jacob Kintz and Johanna Christiana Heinrich was born August 8th, 1906. The family lived at 228 East 7th Street. Dorothy was an employee of the Union Knitting Mills at the time of her death.
Dorothy as she appeared in the 1920 US Census living in Frederick
The cross appears regularly in cemetery art and ornamentation. It generally represents a Christian, and more specifically Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. This monument is truly different than most cemetery crosses as it is crafted in marble to look as it were made out of tree limbs. On top of this, faux ivy was carved to appear covering this cross. Tree-stone memorials like this usually symbolize eternal life or fertility. This seems to be a fitting last testament for this young lady on the cusp of womanhood.
Frederick News (March 17, 1922)
