Grover Krantz taught human anatomy all his life at Washington State University. When cancer caught up with him in 2002, in Port Angeles, he decided that his final lesson would be about something he had never taught in a classroom: loyalty.
He donated his body to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., with one nonnegotiable condition: that his remains remain alongside those of Clyde, his Irish wolfhound. He told collections manager David Hunt that he had been a teacher all his life and wanted to continue being one after death. “Grover wanted to be with his dogs because he loved them”, explained Laurie Burgess, another Smithsonian anthropologist.
The museum assembled both skeletons recreating one of their favorite photos: Clyde leaning over Grover, in an embrace that death could not undo. Today they remain together teaching about loyalty and love, just as he requested.