One of "Judge" Rutherford's last wishes was to be buried at his beloved "Beth-Sarim," the house that was built in San Diego to house the "princes" that would rule the earth after Armageddon. The local authorities would not permit his burial there and the JWs started quite a campaign in _Consolation_ (later _Awake!_) to have his wishes fulfilled. Witnesses even circulated petitions door to door (a lot of the "Kingdom preaching" hours in 1942 was time spent circulating petitions to submit to authorities to allow the Judge's burial at Beth-Sarim. The local authorities would not budge. Eventually, the Society gave up (seems like a couple of months were involved here--perhaps someone has access to the details in the older publications and could post it) and claims the "Judge" was privately buried back in New York (I believe at the property the Society had on Staten Island where WBBR studios were at).
The rumor that the Judge's last wish was secretly fulfilled has not gone away. I remember talking with a friend who had visited Brooklyn back in the mid-80's and in someone's room at Bethel had met Fred Franz. In the course of the conversation my friend asked him: "Where's Judge Rutherford buried?" The reply was a quick: "Beth-Sarim." If this is true one has to ask: "Who's buried in Rutherford's grave?" (Certainly, not Ulysses S. Grant!) Is it empty? Perhaps if ex-JWs ever do purchase the property where Beth-Sarim is a shrine should be erected to mark the spot where he is buried? Not a pyramid, however...
CatholicGuy
not my webpage but a favorite:
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZHOME.HTM