He was so devoted to Old Glory that he has been dubbed Old Glorious.
Thomas "Ski" Demski, who owned the world's largest flag, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and also had the Stars and Stripes tattooed on his torso, painted on his house and flying from the 132-foot flagpole in his frontyard, has died. He was 72.
Demski, a disabled coal miner and construction worker and recovering alcoholic who supported himself by making Mylar bumper stickers touting 12-step programs to combat addiction, died Saturday at his Long Beach duplex.
No specific cause of death was known, but Demski had undergone multiple bypass surgery; suffered from heart disease, diabetes and gangrene; and told a Times columnist Dec. 30 that "I'm just waiting to roll over and die."
Super Flag, as Demski called his largest version of Old Glory, made specifically to capture the Guinness designation, cost $80,000, weighs 3,000 pounds and measures 255 feet by 505 feet. It was inaugurated on June 14--Flag Day--1992 when it was unfurled on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
The giant national banner also was displayed at Hoover Dam as the Olympic torch was carried across in 1996. Winds ripped it in three places during that outing, including one 90-foot gash. The repairs, made by a Huntington Beach sail and boat cover company in a blimp hangar at the Tustin Marine base, cost $5,000.
Somewhat sadly, Demski recently put Super Flag on the market for $100,000, worried that it had not been flown frequently enough.
But he owned many, many more. Demski followed Super Flag Jr.--a mere 47 feet by 82 feet--down Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation's capital a year ago as the only official California entry in the inaugural parade for President George W. Bush.
The 100-pound banner, which Demski had made in 1981 to salute the return of American hostages from Iran, was carried aloft on 13 poles held by 55 Navy ROTC cadets as another cadet pushed Demski's wheelchair along the 1.8-mile parade route.
A self-described political independent who repeatedly ran for Long Beach mayor and City Council seats, Demski told The Times at the inaugural, "Yes, I voted for Bush.... I'm just thrilled to death to be representing California and with Super Flag Jr.''
Demski and his giant flags gained newfound popularity across the country after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
