Special Features – Page 7 – Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries

Same Churchyard – Two Counties!

gate color Grandpa and Grandma can be buried in the same exact cemetery plot and in the same cemetery and yet be in two different Illinois counties.

Whoa!

Impossible you say. Ask any ten people in the area where the St Mary’s Catholic Church (Buffalo Grove) cemetery is located and they will tell you “The church and cemetery is in Lake County of course, north of Lake-Cook Road on Buffalo Grove Road in Lake County” And they will boldly emphasize “Lake-Cook Road” as their proof positive. Well, they are only half right. The Cook County-Lake county boundary line actually (and rudely) cuts right through the cemetery, east to west. Half the cemetery is in Vernon Township-Lake County and the other half of the cemetery is in Wheeling Township-Cook County. How can this be you ask, when the cemetery is clearly NORTH of Lake-Cook Road, named after the dividing line between the two counties.

Continue reading “Same Churchyard – Two Counties!”

Can a Cemetery co-exist with the living?

There is much discussion as to how (or if) a cemetery can be used for other than burials. Some consider it sacred ground and say that nothing other than visitation is appropriate. Others take a wider view, saying that a cemetery is a place where history can be celebrated with cemetery tours and reenactments of historical figures.

Cemetery Street Names

“If we get separated while walking through the cemetery, meet me at Highland Avenue and Main Avenue”. amtrak7 062.jpg

Yes, streets, roads, and avenues actually have names in some cemeteries. I would guess that this topic may not have been often mentioned before. I was fascinated by seeing actual street signs in Jewish Waldheim. I am not sure how many of the larger cemeteries name their streets, but I would like to know more. The two Chicago area cemeteries are Graceland on Chicago’s north side and Jewish Waldheim in Forest Park.

If you are into giving trivia questions, one or more of these street names are sure to be tough to guess. As a side note, St. Adalbert’s Catholic Cemetery has a city street (Newark) bisecting it. And All Saint’s Catholic Cemetery has two sections, on both sides of River Road.

In order to be politically correct, I have omitted signs like “Dead End” or “One Way- Do not Enter”’ Addition and comments welcome! Continue reading “Cemetery Street Names”

Leaving a stone at a gravesite

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The Jewish faith, as well as some others, have a wonderful and thoughtful custom of leaving a small stone on the grave. Placing a stone on the grave is an act of remembrance and serves as a sign to others that someone has visited the grave. It also enables visitors to honor the burial and the deceased.

Why stones you ask? Stones are lasting and fitting symbols of the lasting presence of the deceased’s life and memory. Why not Flowers? Flowers are a good metaphor for life. Life withers; it fades like a flower. For that reason, flowers are an apt symbol of passing, but while flowers may be a good metaphor for the brevity of life, stones seem better suited to the permanence of memory. Stones do not die. Continue reading “Leaving a stone at a gravesite”