Blake Ludeking recently started Solaced Loved Ones, offering silk floral arrangements and placement in local cemeteries.
In his lifetime, Blake Ludeking has found himself in some interesting locales – culinary school in Australia, feeding tourists at zip-line and ski resorts out west and working as head chef on a private island. So how does it happen that this chef by trade and training ends up spending so many hours each day in a cemetery? Initially, the answer was proximity.
When the Decorah native moved back to his hometown to be closer to family, he ended up living next to the Decorah Lutheran Cemetery.
He began helping there as a groundskeeper when he took a job in the Luther College bakery that freed up his afternoons.
It was while working those afternoons in the cemetery he observed the urns left empty on hundreds of gravesites after the historic local greenhouse transferred owners and changed business models. Ludeking set about researching what it would take to bring a cemetery flower service back to Decorah and this spring he launched “Solaced Loved Ones.”
New business
Solaced Loved Ones offers a silk flower service “assisting families in honoring lost but not forgotten loved ones at their grave sites,” according to Ludeking.
After researching options for mounts and vases that are beautiful yet practical for year-round placement in cemeteries, Ludeking landed on a ground mount option that fits well with all types of monuments. New customers will choose from a silver or copper mount and vase, from there they can choose from a variety of silk floral arrangements and schedule seasonal placements.
“It’s not just for families living out of town, a lot of folks just can’t get out to the gravesites. I deliver the flowers, lightly clean around the stone and send a photo to my clients,” explains Ludeking.
Cemetery work
Since starting Solaced Loved Ones, Ludeking has also taken over caretaker duties from long-time Decorah Lutheran Cemetery caretaker Don Nesteby. “This makes me the second baker turned cemetery caretaker here,” laughed Ludeking,
explaining that Nesteby worked in the K&S Grocery Store bakery before he took on the caretaker job over 20 years ago.
Caretaker duties include more than just mowing and trimming. Most graves are dug with a backhoe and then filled by hand. Ludeking said one of the more interesting things he’s learned from Nesteby is the art of dowsing. The basic technique is to straighten two wire coat hangers, bend one end to a right angle as a handle, and hold the wires loosely and parallel to each other and the ground. Walk slowly, and as soon as you get to where something is buried in the ground, the rods will cross. They will uncross as soon as you get away from the plot.
Ludeking doesn’t mind his time in the local cemeteries, “There is always something interesting to discover, from handcrafted headstones to the headstone of a Medal of Honor recipient I wasn’t aware of.”
The man Ludeking is referring to is Luman L. Cadwell, who earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Civil War. In honor of Memorial Day Ludeking placed one of his floral arrangements at Cadwell’s grave at the Phelps Cemetery. “It’s not something you come across every day. I thought I’d pay my respects in this small way,” Ludeking added.
Although he is the caretaker of the Decorah Lutheran Cemetery, Ludeking offers Solaced Loved Ones floral services to all Decorah cemeteries. He can be reached at 563-419-6478 or online at Solaced-Loved-Ones.square.site.
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