Brooklyn Dodgers First Baseman Gilbert "Gil" Hodges

-
Buried in Brooklyn's Holy Cross Cemetery, visitors often leave baseball memorabilia at the grave of the beloved former first baseman and New York Mets manager. Hodges suffered a fatal heart attack in 1972 after playing a round of golf in Florida. Hodges was immensely popular, and on what would have been his 48th birthday, over 1,000 people waited in line outside a Brooklyn funeral home, hoping to be admitted to pay their respects. 

On the day of Hodges' funeral, fans gathered behind police barricades to catch a glimpse of his casket as it was brought into the church. Many notable figures from the baseball world were present, including Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, players Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, pitchers Tom Seaver and Sandy Koufax, and sports announcer Howard Cosell.

Brooklyn Bishop Francis J. Mugavero was the principal celebrant. At the same time, Hodges' pastor and friend, Father Charles E. Curley, gave the homily." Gil was a hero. All of us need heroes, though lately, they seem to be in short supply. Here is one to look up to and imitate," he told the congregation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Mother's Grief

-
Image
  Near the edge of Green -Wood Cemetery, a sculpture of a beautiful woman –Rose Guarino--reclining across stone steps stops visitors in their tracks. Open-eyed, with lips parted and long hair flowing, she is dressed in a flowing gown, and wearing sandals. She clutches a bouquet in her hands. For generations, Brooklyn locals have believed that the monument commemorates a mafia bride gunned down on her wedding day in a revenge killing. The true story behind the statue does involve a murder and is just as tragic.  In the summer of 1909, Dominica Merello and her daughter, Rose Guarino, were dining with family members on the lawn of their NJ summer home when Pietro Silverio, an irate domestic employee, rushed the women, gun in hand, to exact revenge for losing his job. As the women attempted to flee, Silverio gave chase and shot Guarino in the back.   She died three days later. Guarino's body was held for two years in the cemetery's receiving vault while the monument w...
Read more

Spyros Skouras: A Greek Immigrant's Story of Success

-
Image
One summer day, while wandering the grounds of the Gate of Heaven cemetery, I came across an alabaster statue of Mary cradling Jesus in an open grassy field. The statue was striking, but the Greek surname on the gravestone, which is not often seen in Catholic cemeteries, caught my attention. There was also something faintly familiar about the name. I soon realized that I had stumbled upon the grave of Spyros Skouras, a movie executive and former president of 20th Century Fox Studios. I wondered how many others had passed by, unaware of who he was and what he had accomplished. Born to humble beginnings in Ilia, a small village in Greece, Skouras boarded a boat to America with two of his brothers in search of the American dream. He truly found it. The man who once sold popcorn in American movie theaters rose to become the president of 20th Century Fox. During his 20-year tenure—from 1942 to 1962, the longest in the company's history—he oversaw the production of major films such as Th...
Read more

William Robertson and Mary "Mai" Rogers Coe

-
Image
Wealthy industrialists William Robertson and Mary "Mai" Rogers Coe,  are entombed within a stately mausoleum in a leafy alcove toward the eastern end of Memorial Cemetery of St. John's Church on Long Island's north shore.  Their former Oyster Bay homestead has served as a state park—Planting Fields Arboretum—since 1949, are entombed within a stately mausoleum in a leafy alcove toward the eastern end of the cemetery.
Read more