Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Last updated
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Portal of the Folded Wings.JPG
Portal of the Folded Wings, Shrine to Aviation
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Details
Established1923;101 years ago (1923)
Location
CountryUnited States
Size63 acres (25 ha)
Find a Grave Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood and Burbank, California.

Contents

The cemetery has an entrance called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for aviation pioneers—barnstormers, daredevils and sundry architects of aviation. It has memorials to Amelia Earhart and others, honoring their accomplishments.

Among those interred are celebrities from the entertainment industry. [1]

The shrine, with a colorful tiled dome and female figures stretching their arms to the heavens, was built as the entrance to the cemetery. It was named for the hall of Odin, the Norse god of slain warriors.

Founding

Valhalla was founded in 1923 by two Los Angeles financiers, John R. Osborne and C. C. Fitzpatrick. The Spanish Mission Revival entrance structure was designed by architect Kenneth McDonald Jr. For the decorative stone castings, McDonald hired Italian-born sculptor Federico A. Giorgi, who had created 30-foot-tall (9.1 m) statues of elephants and lions for the 1916 epic film Intolerance , and helped to craft the exterior of downtown's Million Dollar Theater. The gateway to the new cemetery cost $140,000.

The rotunda was dedicated March 1, 1925, with a concert by English contralto Maude Elliott. Picnickers spread blankets on the surrounding grassy expanse between three reflecting pools and flat cemetery markers, which were a new concept at the time. It became a tourist attraction and was used for concerts that were broadcast over radio station KELW by station owner Earl L. White. Just five months after the dedication, Osborne and Fitzpatrick were convicted of fraud. They had repeatedly sold the same burial plots—as many as 16 times—and netted a profit of $3–4 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. They were fined $12,000 each and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but served less than three years. [2]

State control

Fountain at Valhalla Memorial Park Valhalla Memorial Park Fountain.JPG
Fountain at Valhalla Memorial Park

The cemetery was taken over by the state of California. It is unclear how long the state owned the 63-acre (250,000 m2) cemetery, but Pierce Brothers bought it in 1950 and, within two years, closed the rotunda to vehicle traffic and moved the entry to the cemetery from Valhalla Drive in Burbank to Victory and Cahuenga boulevards in North Hollywood. There, they opened a two-story office building and mortuary.

On December 17, 1953—the 50th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's 12-second powered hop at Kitty Hawk—the rotunda was rededicated as the Portal of the Folded Wings, through the efforts of aviation fan and cemetery employee James Gillette. [3] During the ceremony, the cremated remains of Walter R. Brookins, the first aviator to take a plane to an altitude of a mile and the Wright brothers' first civilian student, were interred.

When sculptor Giorgi died in 1963, he was buried outside the structure, near his masterpiece. Gillette was also buried outside, near the shrine he helped found.

Fountain, GW Memorial, Valhalla Cemetery Fountain, GW Memorial, Valhalla Cemetery.jpg
Fountain, GW Memorial, Valhalla Cemetery

The memorial was featured in Visiting... with Huell Howser Episode 426. [4]

Earthquake

The cube-like shrine building was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake but restored and rededicated in 1996. Two years later, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sale of property

Amelia Earhart Memorial at Portal of the Folded Wings Amelia Earhart Plaque at Portal of the Folded Wings.jpg
Amelia Earhart Memorial at Portal of the Folded Wings

In 1958, Pierce Brothers sold its family-owned chain of Southern California mortuaries and cemeteries to Texas financier Joe Allbritton, who sold 20 acres (81,000 m2) of Valhalla for development. [2] In 1991, the cemeteries and mortuaries were acquired by Service Corp. International of Houston, but the Pierce Brothers sign remains at Valhalla.

Pioneers' resting place

Beneath the memorial tablets rest the remains of other aviation pioneers, including:

Notable burials

Note: this is a partial list. Use the following alphabetical links to find a name.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

Grave of Oliver Hardy Oliver Hardy Grave.JPG
Grave of Oliver Hardy

I

J

K

L

M

Gravestone of Mae Murray Mae Murray Grave.JPG
Gravestone of Mae Murray

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

Y

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passy Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Paris, France

Passy Cemetery is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City</span> Cemetery in Culver City, California, US

Holy Cross Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary</span> Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, US

Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery (Santa Monica, California)</span> Cemetery in Santa Monica, California

Woodlawn Cemetery, Mausoleum & Mortuary, formerly Ballona Cemetery, is located at 1847 14th Street, alongside Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California, United States. The cemetery was founded in 1897 and sits on 26 acres. It is owned and operated by the city of Santa Monica and is the final resting place of more than 54,000 people. The cemetery has an eco-friendly section.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Fernando Mission Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California

The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The property adjoins the San Fernando Mission and Bishop Alemany Catholic High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kensico Cemetery</span> Cemetery in New York, United States

Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York was founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full, and rural cemeteries were being created near the railroads that served the city. Initially 250 acres (1.0 km2), it was expanded to 600 acres (2.4 km2) in 1905, but reduced to 461 acres (1.87 km2) in 1912, when a portion was sold to the neighboring Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferncliff Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Westchester County, New York

Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is a cemetery in Greenburgh, New York, United States, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1902, and is non-sectarian. Ferncliff has columbariums, a crematory, a small chapel, and a main office located in the rear of the main building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Los Angeles, California

Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, southwest of Downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Moisant</span> American businessman, revolutionary, and aviation pioneer (1868–1910)

John Bevins Moisant was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, flight instructor, businessman, and revolutionary. He was the first pilot to conduct passenger flights over a city (Paris), as well as across the English Channel, from Paris to London. He co-founded an eponymous flying circus, the Moisant International Aviators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Quimby</span> American aviation pioneer (1875–1912)

Harriet Quimby was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter. In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license and in 1912 the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Although Quimby died at the age of 37 in a flying accident, she strongly influenced the role of women in aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matilde Moisant</span> American pioneer aviator (1878-1964)

Matilde Josephine Moisant was an American pioneer aviator, the second woman in the United States to obtain a pilot's license.

Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street, Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California, in the West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown. It is beside Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, one street east, at the southwest corner of Catalina and Venice Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation</span> NRHP registered memorial at Valhalla Cemetery in North Hollywood and Burbank, California

The Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation is in Burbank, California. The shrine is a 75-foot-tall (23 m) structure of marble, mosaic, and sculpted figures and is the burial site for fifteen pioneers of aviation. Designed by Kenneth A. MacDonald Jr. and sculptor, Federico Augustino Giorgi, it was built in 1924 as the entrance to Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery. Aviation enthusiast James Gillette was impressed by the rotunda's close proximity to the airport and Lockheed Aircraft Company. He conceived a plan to use the structure as a shrine to aviation and worked to that end for two decades. It was dedicated in 1953 by aviation enthusiasts who wanted a final resting place for pilots, mechanics, and other pioneers of flight.

Dedicated to the honored dead of American aviation on the 50th anniversary of powered flight, December 17, 1953, by Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker USAF (retired). Beneath the memorial tablets in this sacred portal rest the cremated remains of famous flyers who contributed so much to the history and development of aviation. The bronze plaques upon the marble walls memorialize beloved Americans who devoted their lives to the advancement of the air age. Administered under the auspices of the Brookins–Lahm–Wright Aeronautical Foundation, this shrine stands as a lasting tribute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early Birds of Aviation</span> Organization devoted to the history of early pilots

The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928 and accepted a membership of 598 pioneering aviators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen</span> American aviation pioneer

Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen was the founder of the Women's International Association of Aeronautics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldfriedhof Dahlem</span> Cemetery in Berlin, Germany

The Waldfriedhof Dahlem is a cemetery in Berlin, in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf on the edge of the Grunewald forest at Hüttenweg 47. Densely planted with conifers and designed between 1931 and 1933 after the plans of Albert Brodersen, it is one of Berlin's more recent cemeteries. Its graves include those of writers such as Gottfried Benn, composers such as Wolfgang Werner Eisbrenner and entertainers like Harald Juhnke, and put it among the so-called "Prominentenfriedhöfe" or celebrity cemeteries.

Tom Day Crouch is an American aeronautics historian and curator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park</span> Aviation contests held in Elmont, New York

The Belmont Park aviation meet was an international air show that took place in 1910. The Belmont Racetrack in Elmont, New York, United States, was the site of the aviation meet. The event took place over nine days and featured aerial races, and contests involving duration, distance, speed and altitude.

References

  1. Fleming, Charles (February 9, 2019). "A great L.A. Walk: Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Bloom, Stephen G. "Valhalla Cemetery Records History of Famous, Forgotten". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  3. Koontz, Giacinta Bradley. "History of Portal of the Folded Wings". Portal of the Folded Wings. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  4. "Library/Memorial – Visiting (426) – Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University".
  5. Lee, Bill (2015). The Baseball Necrology: The Post-Baseball Lives and Deaths of More Than 7,600 Major League Players and Others. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p.  5. ISBN   978-1476609300 . Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  6. Bartlett, James (October 19, 2017). "On Halloween, a Deceased Child Star Gets the Sendoff He Deserves". LA Weekly . Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  7. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3d ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p.  801. ISBN   978-1476625997.

34°11′25″N118°21′13″W / 34.19028°N 118.35361°W / 34.19028; -118.35361