Cemetery Profiles
You can read excerpts from some of my many cemetery profiles here.
Westchester in Repose
Some of my favorite cemeteries can be found in New York's Westchester County. They are cemeteries I return to again and again. For the July issue of American Cemetery & Cremation magazine, I featured several of them in an article.
Impresario Florenz Ziegfeld is buried in Kensico Cemetery with his second wife, actress
Billie Burke, who famously played Glinda the good witch in another classic
movie, The Wizard of Oz.
Buried in Sharon
Gardens is novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Sidney Aaron “Paddy” Chayefsky.
Chayefsky wrote the screenplay for the critically acclaimed 1976 movie Network,
a satirical glimpse into the frenetic world of network television.
Actress Judy Tyler was known to early television audiences
of the Howdy Doody Show as Princess Summerfall Winterspring. In 1957, Tyler was killed in a car accident, along with her husband
Greg Lafayette, also an actor. Tyler was cremated, and her bronze urn rests on
a shelf above Lafayette’s crypt.
1970’s uber-movie producer Robert Evans, but
they will certainly recall the iconic movies he produced for Paramount Pictures:
Rosemary’s Baby, The Odd Couple, Urban Cowboy, and The Godfather, among them.
Evans is entombed in a sunny corner of one of Ferncliff Cemetery's elegant private family
rooms.
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Westchester Hills Cemetery
Buried in Sharon Gardens is novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Sidney Aaron “Paddy” Chayefsky. Chayefsky wrote the screenplay for the critically acclaimed 1976 movie Network, a satirical glimpse into the frenetic world of network television.
Actress Judy Tyler was known to early television audiences of the Howdy Doody Show as Princess Summerfall Winterspring. In 1957, Tyler was killed in a car accident, along with her husband Greg Lafayette, also an actor. Tyler was cremated, and her bronze urn rests on a shelf above Lafayette’s crypt.
1970’s uber-movie producer Robert Evans, but they will certainly recall the iconic movies he produced for Paramount Pictures: Rosemary’s Baby, The Odd Couple, Urban Cowboy, and The Godfather, among them. Evans is entombed in a sunny corner of one of Ferncliff Cemetery's elegant private family rooms.
Several cemeteries are located in the small, but picturesque, village of Hastings-on-Hudson in New York's Westchester County. One of the most remarkable is Westchester Hills Cemetery - Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. United by a common faith, some of the country's best-known entertainers, scientists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and corporate titans, lie within the cemetery's 14 compact acres.
Dr. Stephen Wise, the founder of the Free Synagogue movement, established the cemetery in 1929 with a parcel of land acquired from nearby Mount Hope Cemetery.
Across the way is the mausoleum of impresario Billy Rose who, in the early 20th century, made a name for himself as a nightclub owner and lyricist.
During his three decades as the artistic director of New York City's Actors Studio, Lee Strasberg trained some of the best-known names in show business. Among them: James Dean, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, and Robert DeNiro. Marilyn Monroe, too, was a student of Strasberg with whom she developed a close friendship. In fact, when Monroe died in 1962 it was Strasberg who gave her eulogy. The grave of the famed acting coach, known as the “father of method acting in America” can be found in a secluded rear corner of the cemetery. His monument bears a stanza from John Keat's Ode on the the Poets.
10 Famous Graves of Noted
Retailers
There's a reason why New York City is
one of the world’s shopping capitals – so many of America's best-known shopping
destinations got their start there. Stores like Bloomingdale's, Tiffany's, and
F.A.O. Schwarz are all synonymous with high-end shopping, and the final resting
places of their founders can be found in some of the city's most notable
cemeteries. Some of the retailers are buried in graves that are simple and
modest, while others are entombed in mausoleums that are often grand like the
stores they created.
Here's a look at the burial sites of
ten of America's most notable retailers.
Abraham Abraham – Salem
Fields Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
Abraham & Straus began as a small dry goods store, in
1865, and quickly became one of New York's most popular department stores. Its
flagship store on Fulton Street, in downtown Brooklyn, was known for its
elegance and catered to the elite carriage trade.
When company cofounder
Abraham Abraham (whose parents lacked obvious creativity in naming him) died,
in 1911, newspapers reported the cause of death as a “sudden attack of acute
indigestion.” On the day of his funeral, all the
Abraham & Straus and Macy’s (owned by Abraham’s business partners Isidor
and Nathan Straus) locations were closed for the day. Other retailers drew
their blinds, as a contingent of more than 50 honorary pallbearers
escorted Abraham’s casket into Brooklyn’s Temple Israel for the religious
service. They were led by New York City Mayor Jay Gaynor, who also gave the
eulogy.
Benjamin Altman –
Salem Fields Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
One of New York City’s first department stores, B. Altman
and Company, on tony Fifth Avenue, was opulent and extensive. In addition to
its selection of Waterford crystal and Oriental rugs, it contained a spacious
salon for the sale of mourning attire. In fact, in 1911, an article in
the Millinery Trade Review noted that B. Altman had “devoted the greater part
of their window space to the display of mourning goods.”
When Benjamin Altman, the store’s founder, died in 1913,
thousands lined the streets to witness his funeral procession. Two years later,
Altman’s granite tomb was dedicated in a ceremony attended by B. Altman
employees. Designed by the New York architectural firm of Trowbridge and
Livingston, which also designed Altman’s flagship store, the monument is
ornamented by a Greek key motif and rests upon a platform at the center of an
oval space, surrounded by mausoleums and flanked by pine trees. In 1985, Altman’s
flagship store was designated a New York City landmark. The building now houses
a branch of the New York Public Library.
Henri Bendel –
Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York
Louisiana native Henri Bendel opened Henri Bendel, Inc. in
1895. Before long, his fashionable store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue was a destination for the
rich and famous, who came to browse Bendel’s selection of imported French
fashions, including those of Coco Chanel. As the years passed, Bendel’s moved
with the times, employing a young pop artist Andy Warhol as an in-house
illustrator in the 1960’s and, more recently, serving as a filming location for
the HBO hit Gossip Girl.
Bendel’s grave, on Pocantico Avenue, is marked by a bronze
statue of a woman casting roses onto a granite pedestal. Also buried in the grave
is his friend A. Beekman Bastedo, who assumed the presidency of the department
store after Bendel’s death.
Despite its closure in 2018, the store’s distinctive
brown-and-white striped boxes and bags will forever be associated with the
Bendel brand.
Lyman Bloomingdale – Salem
Fields Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
The luxury department store, which was founded by brothers
Lyman and Joseph Bloomingdale, celebrated its 150th anniversary
in 2022. It’s longevity more than disproving the prediction of rival retailers,
upon its opening in 1872, that the store “wouldn’t last a year.”
Boasting over three dozen locations across the United
States, the flagship store on Lexington Avenue and 59th Street
has welcomed shoppers from all over the world, including, in 1976, Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Philip. For their bicentennial visit, traffic on
Lexington Avenue was reversed so that the Queen could exit her vehicle from the
right, as protocol dictated.
When Bloomingdale died, in 1905, The New York Times
reported that his funeral “was one of the largest ever held in the Jewish
community.” In a sign of how widely respected he was, the newspaper felt
compelled to need to note that “there were also a number of Christians
present.”
Bloomingdale’s Doric-columned mausoleum was designed by
McKim, Mead & White, the acclaimed architectural firm also responsible for
the design of Bloomingdale’s summer home in Elberon, New Jersey, where he
died. His brother, and business partner, Joseph, died a year before and is
entombed in Linden Hill Cemetery in Queens, New York.
Max Fortunoff – Mt. Ararat Cemetery, Lindenhurst, New York
The name Fortunoff is a significant one, especially for
Long Islanders. Generations of shoppers could always find the perfect gift
there for any occasion. From fine jewelry to backyard furniture, Fortunoff’s,
in Westbury, had it all. The company’s founders, Max and Clara Fortunoff, began
their business, in Brooklyn, by selling housewares. In 1964, the couple moved
their business to Long Island, where the store became known for its outstanding
customer service, competitive prices, and wide selection.
The Fortunoff family plot is located under a massive tree
on a shady corner, at the far end of the cemetery. Max Fortunoff’s footstone
reads: He Lived the American Dream. It is a fitting tribute to
a man who built an iconic Long Island institution.
Rowland H. Macy – Woodlawn
Cemetery, Bronx, New York
Macy's is an American institution, founded by Rowland
Hussey Macy, in 1858. Once known as “The World’s Largest Department
Store,” Macy's Herald Square – which occupies an entire city block in
Manhattan -- continues to be a shopping mecca for New Yorkers and tourists
alike. R.H. Macy began the Christmas window tradition, a concept soon
followed by other retailers, and was the first department store to have an
in-house Santa Claus. Since 1924, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has
heralded in the holiday season. When Macy died, his New
York Times obituary noted, “From comparatively nothing he became one
of the best-known and most successful merchants of the day.”
Despite his tremendous success – with hundreds of locations
across the United States – his final resting place is surprisingly understated.
The monument itself is a columned structure, topped by a granite urn. Inscribed
on its base are the words: “The memory of the just is blessed.”
Frederick August Otto Schwarz – Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
His tombstone may be small --with not enough room to spell
out his first name--but his stature was huge. Frederick August Otto
Schwarz was the founder of F.A.O. Schwarz, the world’s most famous toy store.
Its location on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, where employees dressed as toy
soldiers greeted customers, became a must-see tourist attraction. Elaborate
display windows beckoned shoppers into a wonderland for children and adults
alike, filled with unique toys and plush stuffed animals. It soon became more
than a place to shop – it was an experience.
The store became a popular backdrop for movie scenes, most
notably 1988's Big in which actors Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia
do a memorable dance on the store's giant piano. F.A.O. Schwarz closed its
doors in 2015.
Schwarz, who was inducted posthumously, in 2012, into the
Toy Industry Hall of Fame, died from hepatitis in 1911. But F. A.O.
Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States, was given a new lease on
life when it reopened in 2018 in Rockefeller Center.
Isidor Straus –
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York
The Straus memorial on Myosotis Street is one of the
most arresting sites in Woodlawn Cemetery. Designed by noted architect James Gamble
Rogers, the memorial is comprised of three separate mausoleums, which are
joined together by a common courtyard. In the foreground, a sarcophagus in the
shape of an Egyptian funeral barge symbolizes the transport of the dead into
the afterlife. It also contains the remains of Isidor Straus, a partner in
both Abraham & Straus and Macy’s, and serves as a cenotaph for
his wife, Ida, whose body was never recovered. The couple perished together on
April 15, 1912, in the RMS Titanic disaster.
Etched into the memorial are these words from the Song of
Solomon, which serve as a testament to the indestructible love and
devotion the couple shared: Many waters cannot quench love —neither can
floods drown.
Charles Lewis Tiffany – Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New
York
Tiffany & Company’s little blue box is an American
symbol of luxury and elegance. One of the world’s most iconic jewelers,
the company was founded by Charles Tiffany in 1837, and it has a long and
storied history. For decades, it has played a part in pop culture in
books, movies, and song, from Truman Capote’s book, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,”
which spawned a movie by the same name, to the 1995 song by rock band Deep Blue
Something, to a recent ad featuring Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Famed writer, F.
Scott Fitzgerald, was a Tiffany customer, so it was fitting that the company
partnered with producers of the 2013 remake of The Great Gatsby for the custom
pieces worn by the actors.
When Tiffany turned 90 on February 15, 1902, his employees
presented him with a gold loving cup inscribed with the words: May your
remaining years be blessed and filled with the peace which passeth all
understanding. Tiffany died three days later. Buried just steps away is his
son, stained-glass artist, Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Franklin W. Woolworth – Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York
It
took a lot of nickels and dimes to pay for the grand,
Egyptian-themed mausoleum in which
Woolworth founder Franklin Winfield Woolworth is entombed. But with more than a
thousand F.W. Woolworth five-and-ten-cent stores around the world, it should
have been easily affordable. Designed
by architect John Russell Pope -- whose works include
the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives -- the Woolworth mausoleum
sports two guardian sphinxes, Egyptian carvings, columns, and bronze doors
depicting figures exchanging an ankh, the Egyptian symbol for life.
Sharing space with Woolworth is his granddaughter and heir, Barbara Hutton.
Known as the “poor little rich girl.” Hutton was a socialite who, despite seven
marriages, never found her happily-ever-after. Both Woolworth and Hutton
died at the age of 66. Woolworth in 1919, and Hutton in 1979.
Founded in 1848 by the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, who purchased 115 acres in an area then known as Blissville, the cemetery was named for the hill in Jerusalem on which Jesus was crucified. Included in the purchase was land belonging to the Alsop family, which was used as a private burial ground. The small Protestant burial ground, within the larger city cemetery, remains intact to this day.
Shortly after its formation, 29-year-old Esther Ennis became Calvary’s first official burial. She was followed, over the years, by Anna Moore Schayer, the first person to pass through Ellis Island; baseball Hall of Famer William “Wee Willy” Keller; and Steve Brodie, who according to urban legend survived a jump from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Over the years, Calvary’s population swelled by outbreaks of cholera and influenza. There were days when Calvary had 250 bodies awaiting burial.
So, it’s little wonder that Calvary's popularity as a burial place was such that 100 years after it began there were already an estimated 1.5 million interments. The sprawling grounds are filled with catholic symbolism, and nods to the resurrection: Christ figures, Virgin Mary statues, angels, and crosses. Exquisite statuary can also be seen, especially in First Calvary, the oldest section of the cemetery. One such statue, an effigy of a young woman named Rose Furno, who died in 1927, stares hauntingly at visitors. Another large statue marks the grave of Florence Scannell, a New York City councilman who was shot in a barroom brawl in 1870. John J. Scannell, New York City’s first fire commissioner, avenged his brother’s murder. They are buried together.
The largest structure on the grounds is St. Callixtus, a Romanesque-style chapel, beneath which there is a chamber for the burial of priests.
The towering dome of the Johnston mausoleum, the second largest structure on the grounds, can be seen from the nearby Brooklyn Queens Expressway. With room for 30 entombments, the mausoleum contains the remains of only six, among them John and Charles Johnston, who along with their brother Robert (buried in Woodlawn) were proprietors of a high-end Manhattan dry goods store, in the 19th century. The dome can also be seen in the background of Don Corleone’ s funeral scene in 1972 film The Godfather.
Today, Approximately 1.8 million people are buried within its four sections, each of which bears the name of one of the ancient catacombs of Rome. First Calvary is known as St. Callixtus; Second Calvary, St. Agnes; Third Calvary, St. Sebastian; and Fourth Calvary, St. Domitilla. First Calvary, is the oldest section of the cemetery, bordered on the north by the Long Island Expressway and on the east the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. They come from diverse backgrounds but are united by a common religion. Among them, New York City Mayors Robert F. Wagner Jr. and John V. Lindsay; Lt. Joseph Petrosino, of New York City’s “Italian Squad,” who was murdered in Sicily while investigating the Mafia; Alfred E. Smith, who served four terms as Governor of New York; and Mob bosses Tommy Lucchese and Joe “the boss” Masseria also take their place in the pantheon of Calvary’s history.
With limited space, graves at Calvary are coveted.
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Explore the secrets and hidden history of Queens’ Calvary and Saint John cemeteries
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