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Blog Entry 76 of 76 Grave Concerns: Inside Grand View Memorial Park

News you can use regarding Grand View Memorial Park, Glendale, CA's oldest cemetery, which has been closed for regular business since June 13, 2006, due to legal and financial problems.

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Cemetery's mausoleum doors finally opened

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Contributed by: Lisa Burks on 3/30/2008

While hundreds of visitors tended to graves on the grounds of Grand View Memorial Park during Sunday's visitation, a select few found additional solace in the long-awaited opportunity to visit crypts inside the cemetery's West Mausoleum.

The 80-year old mausoleum, once famous for being the world's largest house of the dead, has been in lock down since the cemetery operators closed the park for regular business in June 2006, remaining inaccessible during the dozens of visitation dates sponsored by the city of Glendale in the months that followed.

One such visitor was Terri Kennedy, a local resident who has been longing to visit the crypts of her paternal grandparents, Goldie and Elmer Lyons, for years. Terri and I have corresponded via email for over a year now, and it was delight to meet her in person, finding her at the Lyons' crypts, arranging silk flowers.

"My grandmother's name is misspelled on her marker," noted Terri who said that while that was an error she was interested in looking in to, she focused on her gratitude over finally having the chance to see the graves again after all this time.

Flora MacKay, of West Covina, who was visiting with her daughter, Laurel Day, was delighted to enter the mausoleum for a different reason. MacKay's family moved to Glendale in 1921 and she lived in the area of 40 years. Memories of her childhood, part of which she spent playing hide and seek in the mausoleum, came flooding back.

"I have wonderful memories of Grand View and playing here, especially at Halloween," said MacKay, whose parents are buried on the grounds nearby. "This is a historical site, it should be preserved as a landmark," she added.

The mausoleum is the final resting place for thousands of permanent residents that date back to the 1920s. Among them are silent film stars Edna Purviance and Harry Langdon, cowboy actor Lafayette McKee, baseball great Jack Lelivelt and world-famous war hero Sam "The Fighting Jew" Dreben.

In anticipation of Sunday's opening, I had the honor of helping attorneys and volunteers tidy up the mausoleum, best as we could, on Saturday afternoon.

"This is a gorgeous building and it will be gorgeous again one day," plaintiff attorney Mary Der-Parseghian told me as she ran a broom over the dust covered floors.

Also in attendance to lend a hand were David Baum, attorney for cemetery co-owner Moshe Goldsman, plaintiff attorney Paul Ayers, his sons Charley, 14, and James, 8, as well as Mary's receptionist, Meldia Mehraby, 18, and Meldia's best friends, Tina Amirian and Astgik Gevorgyan, both 18 and seniors at Herbert Hoover High School.

For more of my photos of Grand View this weekend, visit my Flickr online photo album.

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

Submitted By: Martha Crawford

posted on 3/31/2008 @ 11:52:05 AM

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I am very upset about all this. I just found out this morning. My Grandfather & Grandmother are buried there and my mother who is 81 was going to be buried in the same plot with them. I'm in Fresno, CA and cannot get down to Glendale to check on my Grandparents. Who should I contact to get some information? Thank you, Martha Crawford

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Submitted By: Leslie Schwabe

posted on 3/31/2008 @ 11:10:15 AM

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I heard on the news last night about the Sunday opening for families, but guess what they didn't let families know about it. We have 3 family members there & my Mom has left many many messages for the attorney to fin out when we could go, he has never returned her calls. We are beside our beside ourselves about this, my Mom is very upset that she might not get to be buried with her Mom & Dad.The state was suppose to be taking care of this????????? Do you know who we can contact that will call us back or answer the phone??? Leslie Schwabe

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Submitted By: Mary Stark

posted on 3/31/2008 @ 8:54:07 AM

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I have 6 immediate family members either buried or cremated @ Grandview. This is a crime and the owners of the property should be prosecuted to the fullest. It broke my heart when I saw this story air on the news. This is a very deep emotional issue crossing over into peoples deepest beliefs and where their relatives are laid to rest for eternal life. This is very disturbing. I will continue to follow up on this, including all the way to court.

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Lisa Burks

Burbank , CA

Lisa Burks has posted 76 blog entries and 4 comments since joining on 8/18/2006. Lisa Burks 's average blog rating is 4.93.

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