Collapses, Dies At Grave Plot

A 59-year-old Ann Arbor barber dropped dead yesterday afternoon while planting a shrub on his own cemetery plot.
John E. Laverty, operator of a barber shop at 306 Thompson St., was the victim of a heart attack, Dr. R. Craig Barlow, a deputy medical examiner, ruled.
City police detectives said they learned Laverty purchased a shrub on Sunday and told relatives he wanted to plant it on his cemetery plot in Bethlehem Cemetery on Jackson Ave. at the west edge of the city.
Cemetery workers said they spoke with Laverty about 1 p.m. yesterday when they asked him if he needed help in planting the shrub. However the barber declined their offer of aid and proceeded to dig the hole on the two-grave site, officers learned.
Two hours later the workers discovered Laverty lying on his back on the grave. The hole for the shrub had been dug but the plant had not been placed in it, police said.