It was just an ordinary afternoon walk when Zach Medlin took his dog, Serena, to Kiroli Park in West Monroe, Louisiana. The park stretched wide and quiet, blanketed with fallen leaves and pine needles. Serena, a one-eyed Staffordshire terrier, tugged at her leash, far more interested in chasing ducks along the lake’s edge than anything else.
But as Zach glanced down, something caught his eye.
Half-hidden beneath the litter of seasons past, a square stone jutted out of the ground. Curious, Zach brushed the pine straw aside until the carved words appeared.
The inscription read:
“Buddie, 1928 – 1941. Born a dog / Died a gentleman.”
Zach paused. The world went quiet. In front of him wasn’t just a stone—it was a story, a testament to a life once lived and a love that had endured through time.
A Dog Remembered
Who was Buddie? Why did he lie alone in the middle of a 160-acre public park, with only this marker to speak for him?
From the inscription, one thing was clear: Buddie had been more than just a dog. He had been family. He had been loved.
“It warms my heart to know that Buddie carried his owners through the Great Depression,” Zach reflected. “All dogs deserve a grave marker.”
Legend or Truth?
Local legend in West Monroe tells a heroic tale. Generations of visitors heard that Kiroli Park had once been a Boy Scout summer camp. Buddie, the story went, was their loyal mascot. One day, a boy nearly drowned in the lake. Buddie’s sharp bark raised the alarm, summoning other Scouts, who rushed in and saved the boy’s life.
It is a beautiful story. One that fits the inscription. A dog who lived as more than a dog—who died remembered as a gentleman.
But another account tells a simpler truth. Researcher Lora Peppers discovered a handwritten note from 1993 that may explain Buddie’s presence. According to Mrs. Dee Strickland, Buddie was the beloved Irish setter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Jones of Monroe. Mr. Jones often brought Buddie to Kiroli Park to run free. When Buddie passed away in 1941, the Jones family chose to bury him in the park he loved so much.
Hero or Companion—Always Loved
Perhaps Buddie never saved a drowning boy. Perhaps his heroism was quieter: the steady companionship through the dark years of the Great Depression, the warmth he gave a family during days of hardship, the loyalty that never wavered.
Whether he was a Boy Scout mascot or simply the Jones family’s cherished friend, Buddie’s memorial speaks volumes. Nearly a century later, strangers still stumble upon his grave, pause, and smile. They still whisper, “He must have been a very good boy.”
A Legacy in Stone
Zach left the park that day with Serena tugging him forward, but his heart stayed with Buddie. The simple marker, weathered by time, carries a lesson: love does not vanish. Devotion leaves traces, even in the most unexpected places.
“Born a dog, died a gentleman.”
That single line says it all.
Buddie may be gone, but the stone remains, and with it, the story of a faithful friend who continues to be remembered—by family, by legend, and now, by every passerby who pauses to honor the life of a dog who lived well.
🐾❤️
