Did You Know Popeye & Olive Oyl are Buried in Chester, Illinois?

If I had a nickel for every Popeye cartoon I watched when I was a kid, I'd be a rich man now. I'm not a rich man sadly, however I have learned that both Popeye and Olive Oyl are buried in Chester, Illinois.

I have two sites to thank for this new (to me) Popeye knowledge. Only In Your State did a feature on Chester, Illinois earlier this year and one of my favorite YouTube channels Faces of the Forgotten visited there, too.

E.C. Segar was raised in Chester, Illinois and he created the comic strip. What I did not know is that both Popeye and Olive Oyl were inspired by real people. Frank "Rocky" Fiegel was who Popeye was based on and he's still buried in Chester.

It's destiny that Dora Paskel who inspired the character of Olive Oyl is buried in Chester also.

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One of the neat things about Chester, Illinois is how it's embraced the history it shares with Popeye. If you visit the town, you'll see a small park with a Popeye theme.

There are statues everywhere around the town and the welcome sign lets you know that Popeye still rules culture here.

Chester, Illinois is situated just down the river from St. Louis and makes and easy day trip especially if you have other St. Louis things you have planned.

Eating spinach prior to the trip is not required, but highly recommended.