SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.— The headstone at Rose Hill Cemetery in Shenandoah, Iowa, reads, “Thomas E. Offenburger, 1934-1986.”
Across the top is engraved, “We Shall Overcome.”
The marker is a reminder for Giants reliever Tony Watson and his family of the small role his great uncle played in the Civil Rights Movement.
“It’s a piece of family history that everyone’s held onto,” said Watson, born one month before Offenburger died. “I think it’s very cool, very significant.”
It becomes particularly poignant on the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who died 51 years ago this Thursday.