Brothers To The End
The fortunes of the Vans rose in the 1920s. By 1929, their holdings were valued at $3 billion, mostly as a result of the high valuation of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. Their house of cards tumbled when the Great Depression began, causing the Van Sweringen companies to falter in the 1930s. While Shaker Heights rose to join the ranks of Beverly Hills and Wellesley, Massachusetts, the rail empire suffered financial difficulties. Loans were foreclosed upon and assets were sold to meet interest payments for their debts.
M.J. Van Sweringen's health began to decline in 1934, and he died on December 12, 1934. O.P. Van Sweringen was quoted as saying: "I don’t know what to do, or how to do it, or where to go from here." O.P. died on board a train near Hoboken of coronary thrombosis on November 22, 1936. At the time of his death, O.P. was worth less than $3,000.
The brothers are buried together in Cleveland's Lakeview Cemetery under a tombstone that reads: "Brothers".
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