Contractor discovers drywall signed by his father 50 years ago while demoing a bathroom

Updated Jun 19, 2015
Herzog holds the piece of drywall his father signed more than 50 years ago. Credit: Bill Diller/Huron Daily TribuneHerzog holds the piece of drywall his father signed more than 50 years ago. Credit: Bill Diller/Huron Daily Tribune

Just in time for Father’s Day comes a story out of Michigan where a contractor recently made unexpected contact with his father for the first time since he was a boy.

According to a report from the Huron Daily Tribune, Jon Herzog, owner of Herzog Construction in the city of Bad Axe, was ripping out drywall in a bathroom of a home his company is remodeling when he made a goosebump-inducing discovery.

The drywall, installed more than 50 years ago, was coming out slowly, in small pieces. But all of a sudden a large piece fell to the floor. One of Herzog’s employees noticed it had writing on it:

Vincent Herzog, 1961, January. Twenty-nine years old.

Vincent is Jon’s father and died when Jon was only 7 years old, the paper reports. Vincent apparently signed the drywall when he was installing it all those years ago. Now, the work had come full circle.

“I just sort of giggled, and said, ‘That’s weird, I’m going to save that,’” Herzog told the paper. “When I get my new office built, I’m going to put it on my office wall.”